2012 Singaporean GP - Marina Bay

[raymondu999]

Gosh I hope not. I want to see racing, not safety car laps. Considering the FIA's recent craze with health and safety everytime the heavens open, it's probably what's gonna happen.

[Nando]

RBR vs Mclaren is what i´m going with.

Mercedes and Ferrari the dark horses.

[Mika1]

I expect a strong RBR, unless they don't introduce a big package.

[NathanOlder]

Mclaren & RedBull for me.

Williams are my dark horse

[SiLo]

I think Hamilton is going to stick it on pole, if he wants a new contract, there is no better way than to stick it on pole and win the race, much like in Monza.

[Hail22]

[godlameroso]

I for one think it would be awesome for there to be a few spots of drying track come the start of the race, just to put the drivers on their toes, could mix things up.

[aero expert 807]

Here is my prediction for the top five:
1.Hamilton
2.Alonso
3.Maldonado [hard to believe but IF he doesn't crash]
4.Vettel
5.Button

[raymondu999]

Yep that would absolutely make it interesting. Especially because of Turn 5. Turn 5 has a different tarmac. You can't notice it if you're driving (in a road car) or walking over it, but it's definitely different to the touch, and water has more difficulty draining from there. That would probably be the last place left drying. Drivers would be trying to get on the power, but be hitting wet patches. That would definitely be interesting.

On the topic of alternators, do you think that Red Bull, should they see in free practice that the laptime gain they get from KERS is minimal (given that they have that little DIY KERS thing rather than the full thing) would pull a Melbourne 2011 and race KERS-less, to reduce the strain on the alternator?

[godlameroso]

It's definitely possible as there are only four places on the track you can really use KERS, but it definitely helps to have a good harvesting system under braking. Especially late in the race as the track is long and places a high demand on braking. Still this race is very close to call, strategy will be very important with 3 stops minimum.

[raymondu999]

I don't think KERS harvesting is much of a benefit to braking in Singapore to be honest. In Singapore teams run a low setting on their KERS harvest anyways, lest they overload their KERS batteries.

I think a 2-stopper will be possible. Last year we had some people braving it on a 2-stop (and it worked!) eg. di Resta, and on average, the strategies we're seeing this year are showing 1 less stop compared to the races last year, dry for dry.

[simieski]

On the topic of alternators, do you think that Red Bull, should they see in free practice that the laptime gain they get from KERS is minimal (given that they have that little DIY KERS thing rather than the full thing) would pull a Melbourne 2011 and race KERS-less, to reduce the strain on the alternator?

How heavy a load would the kers control electronics be on the alternator? I'll assume you meant this and not for kers charging.

[raymondu999]

I don't know to be honest. Does the KERS charge pass through the alternator at any stage? IIRC the alternator could be used for the KERS harvesting on braking.

[simieski]

No, the high power requirements to charge the batteries in a short space of time would be too heavy for the alternator, all charging of the KERS batteries is carried out via the motor generator unit. The cars alternator would provide power only to the control circuitry of the system.
Scarbs explains it much better than I would ever be able to
http://scarbsf1.com/blog1/2010/10/20/kers-anatomy/

[Dragonfly]

I asked not long ago in another thread but got no answer about his:
AFAIK and according to Scarbs material, a KERS uses a MGU (Motor Generator Unit) which has dual function as its name clearly shows.
In the case of RBR in both failure cases they use strictly the word 'alternator'. Which implies there is a separate unit apart from MGU. And my question back then was are there separate alternator, driven by the engine and a MGU for the KERS.
Now raymondu999 says their KERS is DIY. Which again made me think about the possibility to use the alternator as an energy harvesting device and have a simpler electric motor attached to the crankshaft. Some kind of distributed system which if true would put more strain and electric load on the alternator leading to excessive heating.