2012 Singaporean GP - Marina Bay

[Kiril Varbanov]

Great insight, Ray, got my +1 for that post. Perhaps I missed that in earlier pages, but: are you going to be a regular viewer or something more spicy?
Keep us updated with pictures (I know how interesting the F1 paddock could be)

[raymondu999]

are you going to be a regular viewer or something more spicy?

If I told you, I'd have to kill you

Who knows? Maybe I'm a race steward. Maybe I'm the medical/safety car guest driver this weekend (I wish! )

[SamH123]

Nearly all the teams have so many plus points when trying to pick a top 10

Force India were great in Valencia pace-wise (similar track) and could have had a podium
Mercedes like stop and go corners and they have some big upgrades that look sleek
Mclaren obviously
This looks like a good RB track, they won Monaco and Valencia (effectively). No upgrades for Monza/Spa maybe they've saved some.
Sauber, what can you say about Sauber. I won't be particularly surprised to see them failing to challenge the top 10 but equally I won't be that surprised to see Perez setting the bar in terms of race pace.

Lotus good in Valencia but might only be solid. I don't see Singapore being Ferrari territory but it is hard to pin down the Ferrari strengths. I think their pace in the one-off Monza means people are overrating ALO's chances for Singapore. And finally Williams, the track isn't particularly similar to Spain but they were ok in Valencia.

Can't wait till Friday

[Websta]

In 2010 it didn't look like Ferrari would be that strong in Singapore and Alonso then achieved a Grand Chelem. In my opinion, it is a driver's circuit and he could qualify strongly again this year. That said, I would go with RBR and McL having a faster package here, and possibly Mercedes as well.

[raymondu999]

Alonso strong in Singapore is a given. But I disagree about 2010. The strengths of that Ferrari played nicely to street circuits

[the EDGE]

does anybody know the sector split times for q3 at the hungaroring?

it would be interesting to see who had the advantage through the tight twisty sector 2, its got to be the best form guide for judging this weekend, anything older in the season would be too out-dated to use

[raymondu999]

does anybody know the sector split times for q3 at the hungaroring?

it would be interesting to see who had the advantage through the tight twisty sector 2, its got to be the best form guide for judging this weekend, anything older in the season would be too out-dated to use

It's in the Hungary thread IIRC, and also on the F1 website...

[NathanOlder]

Sector 2 was as followed

Lotus (Gro) 29.224
Mclaren (Ham) 29.254
Force India (Hul) 29.335
Red Bull (Vet) 29.365
Ferrari (Alo) 29.371

[raymondu999]

To be honest, form fluctuates so much this year with all the various developments by each team race by race. The cars are so close that a small upgrade can mean moving it several places up or down in the pecking order, so I'm going to refrain on that.

[SamH123]

does anybody know the sector split times for q3 at the hungaroring?

it would be interesting to see who had the advantage through the tight twisty sector 2, its got to be the best form guide for judging this weekend, anything older in the season would be too out-dated to use

Hungary (including sector 2) is bit more more sweeping than Singapore I think?

[raymondu999]

Yes - both value grip, but Hungaroring is more about being able to carry speed through corners. Singapore is more about traction and braking, because the corners are so slow anyways.

[Red Schneider]

Yes - both value grip, but Hungaroring is more about being able to carry speed through corners. Singapore is more about traction and braking, because the corners are so slow anyways.

When people talk about mechanical grip, does that mean being able to set the suspension as soft as possible without adversely affecting anything else?

[raymondu999]

I think generally it's about how much the car can accelerate laterally in a slow corner situation really. That's how I've always thought of it anyways

In other news...

I think this race will see most people go OPP, but some cars kinder on their tyres will go for OOP. Sort of like how things panned out in Valencia and/or Hungary.

Having said that, the safety car will toss a spanner in a works, as it did in Valencia - in Valencia the safety car came out at a time that meant everyone cut their second stint way early, and the safety car came in too early for most cars to leave it to one stint. I remember Hamilton and Alonso were starting to struggle towards the end of the race, but held on - though Hamilton arguably less so. You could see Maldonado/Raikkonen and those that had gone for a splash and dash type pitstop (Schumacher, Webber etc) on fresh options for a good run at the end just whalloped Alonso and Hamilton in terms of laptime.

For context, last year this race was won by OPPO, though I'm personally quite sure that OPP would have worked, and those who had a final stop for options were just covering the guy behind in case a safety car suddenly wiped out the gaps, and those with fresher tyres behind would have a massive advantage.

[Kiril Varbanov]

Maybe I'm the medical/safety car guest driver this weekend (I wish! )

Honestly, that would be awesome, in whatever universe

The person who drives the custom V8 Merc SLS (571 HP), Bernd Maylander, is ex-DTM racer, who's actually responsible for giving feedback to Race Control on bad conditions, but what's not that much visible on the TV is the enormous speed and pace he's able to sustain in order to keep the tires of the folks behind in operating temperatures.

[PlatinumZealot]

They say his car is actually faster than the F1 cars in extreme wet conditions.