2014 Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay: Preview and Weekend Times

Opening hours

Friday September 19th

Free Practice 1: 12pm-00pm (Sky Sport F13 HD – RaiSport 30)

Free Practice 2: 15pm-30pm (Sky Sport F17 HD – RaiSport 00)

Saturday September 20th  

Free Practice 3: 12pm-00pm (Sky Sport F13 HD – RaiSport 00)

Qualifying: 15pm (Sky Sport F00 HD – Rai 1)

Sunday September 21th  

Race: 14pm ̶ 00 laps ̶ 61km (Sky Sport F308,828 HD – Rai 1)

* all times indicated refer to Italy: there is a 6 hour difference between Italy and Singapore.

Direct:  SKY Sports F1 HD (full broadcast of the grand prix on Rai channels: for more information on Thursday evening we will publish the flash preview with updated times)

Previous race

Podium:

Lewis Hamilton: Go back to winning, and do it again in the most spectacular location of the year: Monza. After an unapproachable pole on Saturday, Lewis made a mistake at the start and found himself fourth at the end of the first lap. Everyone already considers him defeated, and Rosberg seems to have the race in his pocket. But Lewis is indomitable in Monza. He overtakes, recovers and closes the gap with the German, leading him to make mistakes more than once. The second one is the good one. Lewis takes the lead and escapes just enough to have a safety margin. He reduces the advantage that still seems like a lot, but now there are tracks that Lewis notoriously likes a lot, and on which he has always managed to go fast. May the best man win.

Nico Rosberg: He places that tactical second place there which distinguishes his consistency, and above all his ability to still be ahead in the standings despite two fewer victories than his teammate. Lewis serves him the race on a silver platter with a Mark Webber-style start, but he doesn't exploit it, doesn't finish, doesn't clip the wings of any possibility of a comeback, and makes two errors that are fatal to his hopes of success. In the end he will comment by saying that Hamilton had an ass and that he wouldn't have expected that comeback. He enjoys the celebration of the podium even if he is accompanied by some booing (Maroni was there to reward him, so not all the booing was for Nico). He delights in speaking Italian and exalting the audience. Not bad Nico, this time a nice Mercedes one-two.

Felipe Massa: “I'm no longer in red but I always carry you in my heart”. Drivers don't easily forget certain shows. The Monza podium is something that exalts those who have always been on it. Since it gives directly onto the track then. Felipe's race is flawless. He safeguarded his third place immediately, and managed to gain enough margin to avoid the return of Bottas who got stuck in traffic. In the end he is the one most acclaimed by the fans under the podium with chants addressed to the Brazilian. Finally on the podium, putting his teammate behind him, who seemed ready to outclass Felipe.

1 Top:

Valtteri Bottas: He is the soul of the Monza race. He is the Mercedes-powered car in charge of putting on a show on the long straights of the Brianza track. He finds himself having to overtake both before and after the pit stop. He didn't give up and went on the attack from the middle of the field and in the end overcame the comeback to finish fourth, the best result achievable judging from how the race started right from the start. With this result and the KO of Alonso's engine, the Finn finds himself sensationally fourth in the drivers' championship.

1 Flop:

Ferrari: Even in the most difficult years, a podium was always achieved in Monza. Even that wreck of the F150 Italia managed to get into the top three in the end. Not this time. Ferrari has hit rock bottom, and the proof is the fact that Montezemolo himself was mentioned by Sergio Marchionne in a way that was completely inappropriate for the character. Ferrari is totally in disarray, and the only personality who still manages to keep his head above water while saving face for the team is the top driver: Fernando Alonso. A miserable ninth place. It will take him some time before he finds a victory, and the feeling is that this season he will remain empty-handed.

Circuit

Name: Marina Bay Street Circuit

Location: Singapore

Construction: The route is created by joining some streets of the city state of Singapore. The layout of the track is thanks to the architect Hermann Tilke. The route winds through the streets near the port. Over the course of these few years - the first edition was run in 2008 - the track has undergone numerous small changes following the many indications and complaints reported by the drivers after each GP. The most important change was made in 2013 with the removal of chicane 10, the so-called Singapore Sling, replaced by a simple curve to the left.

Distance per lap: 5,065km

Number of curves: 23

Direction of travel: counterclockwise

3 Best Parts: Turn 1: comes after the starting straight where DRS can be used, it is one of the three points on the track where overtaking is easier. Turn 4: also located immediately after a long straight where the use of the movable wing is permitted. We have seen numerous duels here in the past, as the braking is sharp and hard, it is an ideal point to gain some positions. Turn 14: it is a sharp bend to the right placed after a straight long enough to catch the opponent's slipstream. Excellent point to overtake.

Mechanical Stress: The 23 corners, many of which must be tackled at low speed, require great traction from the single-seaters, delegated entirely to the tyres. The asphalt is very bumpy and slippery also due to the horizontal road signs. In this circuit there are no extremely demanding braking sections, however there are 16 braking sections, and there is not enough space between one braking section and another - nor the right temperature - to adequately cool the braking system, which is used to as much as 23% of the time. There is therefore strong wear of the brake friction materials.

Tire choice: PZERO RED SUPERSOFT and PZERO YELLOW SOFT

DRS area: on the main straight, between turn 23 and turn 1 with detection point before turn 22; on the straight between turns 5 and turn 7 with detection point just after turn 4.

Previous Editions

Last 3 Editions:

2011 edition: Vettel can win the world championship if, in the worst case scenario, he finishes third with Alonso in ninth or tenth position, Button and Webber between seventh and tenth position and Hamilton neither winning nor second at the finish line. After a Friday in which the two Red Bull drivers and Hamilton alternated in first position, the following day it was Vettel who recorded pole position, flanked by his teammate but immediately followed by the two McLaren - Mercedes, then the two Ferraris, the Mercedes GP and the Force Indias: a curious qualifying in which each driver has his partner next to him at the start. On Sunday the tension was felt for Hamilton who made a mistake at the start, falling to 7th, while Vettel tried to immediately move forward, followed by Button and Alonso, who overtook Webber. What messes up the plans of the young world champion is his compatriot Schumacher, who hits Pérez's car, forcing the Safety Car to come in, all of this in favor of Jenson Button but also of Hamilton, who climbs up to fifth place. The battle for third position between Webber and Alonso is also raging, with the Spaniard appearing to have the upper hand after the Australian returned to the pits. In the end there was nothing to be done for the first position: the excessive power of Red Bull - Vettel leaves no escape for Button who comes close to the German without ever seriously worrying him, third place instead goes to Webber, who thanks to the "help" of some lapped drivers manages to overtake Alonso, leaving the pit lane. In this way, Vettel is just one point away from winning the world championship, which is very simple.

2012 edition: if the previous year Sebastian Vettel had won with ease, this time too it doesn't seem to be much different. On Friday, during the three free practice sessions, he dominated unchallenged, while on Saturday he had to "settle" for third place, overtaken by Hamilton's McLaren - Mercedes, who took the second consecutive pole, and by a surprising Pastor Maldonado in Williams - Renault. In the race, all the cars started well except Felipe Massa's Ferrari, which was forced to return to the pits due to a puncture. The first phase of tire changes begins from the eighth lap, but the situation remains practically unchanged. Unfortunately after 22 laps Hamilton was forced to retire due to a gearbox problem, leaving the field open to Vettel after Maldonado was also called back to the pits due to a hydraulic problem on his car. At the rear, Massa made an excellent recovery, taking ninth place against Bruno Senna, his compatriot. However, the race exceeded the two-hour limit as the SC had to enter the track twice, following the crash of Karthikeyan first, Michael Schumacher and then Vergne; the winner is therefore Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault), followed by Jenson Button (McLaren – Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso on Ferrari.

2013 edition: from this Grand Prix the signing between Kimi Rӓikkӧnen and Ferrari for the 2014 season is official; the Finnish driver shows up in Singapore with back pain but decides to take part in the entire weekend anyway. In the three phases of free practice, Lewis Hamilton on Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel on RBR – Renault achieved the best times: the Englishman in FP1, the German in the other two. The driver of the Austrian team also proved to be the fastest on Saturday during Q3, thus conquering his forty-first pole ahead of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes, Romain Grosjean's Lotus - Renault in the second row and the other Mark Webber's Red Bull. Race: Rosberg starts well and takes the lead, however after just one lap he has to give in to Vettel while behind them is Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) who made an excellent start from seventh place. Between the tenth and seventeenth laps the leaders change tires and nothing seems to change with Vettel having a wide margin over his pursuers. On the twenty-third lap Ricciardo's Toro Rosso crashes into the walls and the safety car is forced to come in: the two Ferraris, the two Lotuses and Button take advantage of this for the second change. This proves effective for Alonso and Rӓikkӧnen who recover positions as the race continues and the other contenders go to change tyres. The two McLarens were in clear crisis and were displaced by the two, by the Mercedes duo and by Felipe Massa. On the last lap Webber, fourth, was forced to retire due to engine failure. Thus Sebastian Vettel wins ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Rӓikkӧnen, with the Asturian giving a lift to Webber to return to the pits, a beautiful image not appreciated by the FIA, however, who will punish him.

Best Edition For Authors:

2008 edition: the official first of Formula One on Singapore Street Circuit, as well as the 800th race of the world championship. In Saturday's qualifying, the two Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr. were eliminated in Q1 and immediately afterwards in Q2, while the two Ferraris dominated with Massa taking pole and Räikkönen third, overtaken at the last minute by Lewis Hamilton ( McLaren – Mercedes). Sunday's race was quite eventful due to a narrow and tortuous circuit: the first two went away almost immediately, Kimi was forced to recover. But the event happens on the fifteenth lap, when Piquet Jr.'s Renault inexplicably crashes into the wall when exiting the corner, disintegrating: Safety Car on track and supply lap for all drivers. What happens is that the petrol filler remains stuck to Massa's car after the restart, spreading the fuel everywhere and forcing the Brazilian to restart last after a long stop. Adding to the marring of the Ferrari weekend was Kimi's retirement who crashed out of the narrow turn 10. The surprising winner was Alonso who took advantage of the inconveniences of others and his own experience, with Nico Rosberg (Williams – Toyota) second and Lewis Hamilton third . An investigation will subsequently be opened into what happened to Piquet Jr.: according to some sources his accident did not happen by chance but following a team order. Initially accused and then removed from the FIA, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, these charges were later withdrawn upon appeal.

Best Edition For Readers:

2010 edition: the design of the Sling chicane has been modified with the aim of moving the exit further for better travel. Curves 5 and 7 were also modified. The straight sections between the minor curves were reassembled. The level of the paddock is lowered to allow the single-seaters to return to the track without jolting and the curbs at turn 10 are reshaped. From Friday it became clear that it will be a Grand Prix monopolized by Red Bull with Vettel and Webber competing for first position. On Saturday in Q1 there was a surprise elimination for Massa, who stopped due to an electronics problem. After a Q2 in which Vettel dominated, in the final phase pole went to Fernando Alonso who beat the German by just under a tenth. In the race, the pace is set by the poleman who starts and stays in the lead for almost the entire race, followed only by Vettel, who is competing for the fastest lap. Despite SC entering the track twice, following the accidents of first Kobayashi and then Bruno Senna, as well as a duel between Schumacher and Heidfeld in which the latter gets the worst and has to retire, the situation at the front remains unchanged : Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) wins Over Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, RBR-Renault drivers.

Predictions from F1GrandPrix.it

Let's go back to the city circuits. Like Monaco, making a mistake here is equivalent to retiring, so barring twists and turns we will still find the Mercedes duo fighting for pole and victory. Behind, however, the battle could become more interesting: the Williams are competitive but the Red Bulls have excellent aerodynamics which could compensate for the power deficit. Ferrari question mark: As we well know, Alonso declared that the chances of victory with this car are close to zero, but last year he and Kimi finished second and third respectively thanks to an excellent strategy. In short, there could always be some small twist behind the first two of the Three-Pointed Star

RECORD

Test lap: 1:42.841 – S Vettel – Red Bull Renault - 2013
Race lap: 1:45.599 – K Raikkonen - Ferrari - 2008
Distance: 1h56:06.337 – L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes - 2009
Driver victories: 3 – S Vettel
Team victories: 3 – Red Bull
Driver pole: 2 – L Hamilton, S Vettel
Pole teams: 2 – Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull
Best driver laps: 2 – F Alonso
Best team laps: 2 – Ferrari
Driver podiums: 5 – F Alonso
Team podiums: 6 – Red Bull

Hall of Fame

1. 2008 F Alonso – Renault
2. 2009 L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes
3. 2010 F Alonso – Ferrari
4. 2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
5. 2012 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
6. 2013 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault

Matteo Bramati, Andrea Villa.

Sources: Brembo, Pirelli.