The F1 season has started to heat up and the Singapore Grand Prix is next on the calendar. Charles Leclerc’s terrific win in Monza has set up things nicely, but Lewis Hamilton still leads the charts in the Driver’s Standings by a country mile.
With the European season over though, things will get interesting as the stress of the travel and flyaways start falling on the racers and the teams. Singapore is the first pit stop for the rest of the season, and will provide an interesting insight into how the likes of Leclerc and Max Verstappen will be looking to challenge Hamilton in the remaining 7 races.
Here are a few things you should know about the Singapore Grand Prix:
1. It’s a breathtaking street circuit
Like Monaco, Marina Bay is open to normal traffic throughout the year and is converted into a racing circuit only for the weekend. It includes over 1500 artificial lights, 1600 TecPro barriers, 2600 concrete barriers and over 10km of debris fences to ensure the drivers stay safe during the race. It is a true engineering marvel, and the infrastructure is world-class.
However, being a street circuit it is tight and twisty but it does give racers quite a few opportunities to overtake. Turn 6, Turn 7 and Turn 14 all provide getaways for racers to make a quick move. Being the only night race in the F1 circuit, it also makes for excellent viewing for the fans.
2. It is physically demanding
A 5-kilometer long, 23-corner street track would be a nightmare for most racers but when you throw in the high humidity and jetlag, the Marina Bay turns worse. Racers train specifically for Singapore and alter their schedule, as the late-night flag-off makes it all the more taxing for the body.
As if staying on European time in an Asian country and racing under the lights was not enough, temperatures of above 30 degree Celsius means the racers have almost zero room for error. It is no wonder why they say that if you are fit for Singapore, you are fit for any race in the calendar.
3. Ferrari will be eager to impress
Historically, Singapore has been a happy hunting ground for Ferrari as they have won twice and had 4 podium finishes here. With the epic victory in Monza, both Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel will be raring to take the challenge to Mercedes to kick off the first of several races in the Asian circuit.
According to Vettel, “After two positive weekends in Belgium and Italy, the race in Singapore doesn't look as good on paper for us, because of the very different circuit layout, featuring lots of slow corners and fewer straights. It might be a more difficult weekend for us, but we will give our all to have a good result."
