McLaren Honda F1 Singapore Grand-Prix preview 11.09.2017: LOWDOWN Race title 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix Circuit name Marina Bay Circuit

LOWDOWN


Race title 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix
Circuit name Marina Bay Circuit
First race 2008



Previous winners


2016 Nico Rosberg, 61 laps, 1:55:48.950s

2015 Sebastian Vettel

2014 Lewis Hamilton

History lesson The Singapore Grand Prix celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. First run in 2008, the race takes place at night and sees the cars run through downtown Singapore under floodlights.



It’s a breathtaking spectacle. But motor racing isn’t new to the city-state; there was a non-championship Singapore Grand Prix on the Thomson Road street circuit between 1961 and ’73

 


TRAVEL


City Singapore

Time zone BST+7 / CET+6

Population 4.5 million


How far? Singapore is 6,820 miles (10,976km) from the McLaren Technology Centre



Getting there The sea freight, which includes a lot of garage equipment, arrived at the Marina Bay Circuit last week and the air freight arrived over the weekend. The mechanics arrived on Monday, with the engineers, management and drivers touching down later in the week



Surprising fact Singapore is one of only three city-states in the world, the others being Monaco and Vatican City



Local speciality There are many culinary delights in Singapore, one of which is carrot cake. However, this hawker staple is neither a cake nor made of carrot. It’s a white radish omelette, in which a gnocchi-like dough made from grated turnip, rice and tapioca flour is stir-fried with scrambled eggs and lots of garlic. Travel writers have described it as Singapore’s answer to a kebab, but no-one seems able to shed light on why it’s called carrot cake



Weather Hot and humid. Temperatures hover around 30 degrees in the day, with 80 per cent humidity. Thunderstorms occur regularly, but there has yet to be a wet Singapore Grand Prix

 



TRACK


Track length 5.065km/3.148 miles (13th longest track of the year – longest: Spa-Francorchamps, shortest: Monaco)



2016 pole position Nico Rosberg, 1m42.584s


2016 fastest lap Daniel Ricciardo, 1m47.187s (lap 49)


Lap record 1:47.187s (Daniel Ricciardo, 2016)


Tyre choice Purple Ultrasoft, red Supersoft and yellow Soft – the seventh time this combination has been used in 2017


Distance to Turn One 200m/0.124 miles (longest of season: Barcelona 730m/0.454 miles)



Longest straight 832m/0.517 miles, on the approach to Turn Seven (longest of the season: Baku, 2.1km/1.305 miles)



Top speed 305km/h/190mph, on the approach to Turn One (fastest of season: Monza, 360km/h/224mph)



Full throttle 47 per cent (highest of the season: Monza, 75 per cent). The longest period of uninterrupted full throttle is just 9s


Brakewear High. There are 16 braking events around the lap and few straights along which to cool the brakes



Fuel consumption 1.9kg per lap, which is relatively high and comes as a result of the stop-start nature of the track



ERS demands Medium. There are lots of demands on the ERS, but plenty of opportunities to harvest energy under braking



Gear changes 80 per lap/4,880 per race – the highest of the season



 
RACE


Laps 61 laps
Start time 20:00hrs local / 13:00hrs BST / 14:00 CET



Grid advantage It’s a short dash to Turn One, but there’s a definite grip advantage on the racing line. With that in mind, pole position is located on the outside of the track
DRS There are two DRS zones, on the approaches to Turns One and Seven


Don’t put the kettle on…Qualifying is always spectacular under the lights and the start of the race is crucial because overtaking is difficult. A lot can be won and lost in the opening 200 metres/0.124 miles. The firework display as the cars take the chequered flag is something not to be missed either



Pitlane length/Pitstops 420m/0.261 miles (longest of the season: Silverstone, 457m/0.283 miles). It’s a long and slow pitlane at Marina Bay, with a speed limit of just 60km/h/37mph. It takes 29s to make a stop, which is the longest of the season



Safety Car likelihood 100 per cent. There has been at least one Safety Car period in every Singapore Grand Prix. It’s something that teams factor into their race strategies



Watch out for…Rain. This is the 10th Singapore Grand Prix and there has yet to be a wet race. Question marks about how the artificial lights affect visibility in spray will only be answered when there’s a wet race. Also, look out for the right-left chicane at Turns 20/21. The cars accelerate onto the start finish straight from here and the drivers are eager to get the power down early




Silvia Hoffer Frangipane - photos McLaren