Grand Prix 2010 Singapore Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

If there's one thing I will happily admit now, I haven't got a clue who will win this race. In the past I've attempted to look at the recent form of the various teams and try and match that with the suitability of the car to the circuit and from there make my predictions. Most of those have been wrong I grant you however this time I feel they would be even more wrong than usual.

If there is one thing I am prepared to bet this season the eventual winner of the drivers crown will have done so as much because his rivals have blown their own chances as he has in scoring the most points. In a season this tight with currently six drivers in with a chance of the title on both a mathematical basis and more crucially on performance of their cars I don't think there has been as potentially a tight a finish to a season for a long time.

I think it's clear that barring a huge pile up or a mass batch of mistakes the eventual winner will come from RBR, McLaren or Ferrari but the question is, which team will turn up on the day? Which driver will make the least mistakes and who will have luck on their side?

From outside the top three teams there are a batch of contenders waiting to pick up where the others leave off. Mercedes has a driver who knows how to perform at this track while Renault, Williams, Force India and Sauber will all think they are in with a shout.

Towards the back of the field, sadly for Red Bulls Italian brother it seems to be more about making up the numbers from here on in and not having to suffer the ignominy of being the first established team to be overtaken in qualifying (in outright pace) by one of the three new guys.

As for the three new teams themselves, the battle for 10th place is becoming all the more important with the financial implications involved. Of the three, Lotus would realistically, although they would not want to, be the least harmed by not finishing in 10th hence the reason they are spending more time focusing on the 2011 car. Virgin have announced that they are bringing a further upgrade package to Singapore in order to push as hard as they can for that 10th place spot. Currently all that is required to pinch that is for one of the teams to get a driver into 12th spot at the chequered flag. Given the high retirement rate and potential for problems at this circuit that wouldn't seem as far off a prospect as it would be at other tracks with even HRT hoping their cars could make it to the line and allow them some much needed cash if they are to survive next year.

Finally, in terms of driver changes, Paul Di Resta will once again miss out on a Friday run as he did in Belgium to give the regular Force India line up more track time. Virgin will run the Belgian, Jerome D'Ambrosio in place of Lucas Di Grassi which I believe sees the first Belgian on an F1 track since Bertrand Gachot. Lastly it's a welcome back to Nick Heidfeld who replaces Pedro De la Rosa at Sauber.
 
Whatever happens, I hope Massa doesn't crash just after Alonso pits for tyres.... :whistle: :D

Despite what McLaren are saying about them having solved their high downforce issues, I can't see them being anything other than 3rd favourite for this race.

I think Ferrari will have it once again with Red Bull second, and by Ferrari I mean Alonso.

cider_and_toast said:
In a season this tight with currently six drivers in with a chance of the title on both a mathematical basis and more crucially on performance of their cars I don't think there has been as potentially a tight a finish to a season for a long time.
I think we can rule Massa out of the title fight based on Ferrari's current driver policy.
 
Brogan said:I think we can rule Massa out of the title fight based on Ferrari's current driver policy.
What current driver policy is that? Domenicali has recently insisted that both Ferrari drivers are still in the hunt and will be treated equally. :whistle:

But I think we can count Massa out of the title race anyway to be honest, he's a bit too far behind in the points and all five drivers in front are... faster... than... him.
 
The weather forecast doesn't look promising:


There was some talk of cancelling the race in the past due to glare from the lights and rain.
Is this still the case?
 
Brogan said:
The weather forecast doesn't look promising:


There was some talk of cancelling the race in the past due to glare from the lights and rain.
Is this still the case?

I think we will be ok with the weather, It has been raining heavily during the day but clearing up at night. There may be some showers during qualifying but race day should be fine. It does mean that any rubber laid down during practise will be washed away before the race.
 
wow if it rains during the races could be very interesting.

got a feeling it won't play to the form book anyhow. Its a bit of an odd circuit, throw in racing at night, i wouldn't be surprised to see Schumi win this one.

A bit disappointed they've re-surfaced some of the track though due to bumps. It should be part of the challenge to set-up a car for those bumps and drive round the problems it causes even literally if needs be.

Hopefully it will be more like year 1 then year 2, and produce a bit of action.
 
Andrea_Moda_Rules said:
wow if it rains during the races could be very interesting.

got a feeling it won't play to the form book anyhow. Its a bit of an odd circuit, throw in racing at night, i wouldn't be surprised to see Schumi win this one.

A bit disappointed they've re-surfaced some of the track though due to bumps. It should be part of the challenge to set-up a car for those bumps and drive round the problems it causes even literally if needs be.

Hopefully it will be more like year 1 then year 2, and produce a bit of action.

I can see why they smoothed out the bumps, on your average track they may cause a car to lose traction in a corner and they slide off into the gravel. With Singapore and the other new street circuits there is no room for error and such mistakes will end up with a car in the wall which could cause safety car chaos as seen in earlier races.

A smooth track may take away some of the skill that the driver needs but this is the health and safety age of motorsport so all risks are reduced where possible.

On a positive note its good that the track has had colour added to the different sections as this will help determine where a car is on the course, before it was hard to work out which part of track you were on due the huge amount of grey lining the track.
 
Rain & a Button Victory...

Massa to be slower than Alonso.

Hamilton to finish 4th after a nudge at the 1st corner and a fight back...

Red Bull 1 retires with a front wing failure, the other is 5th after pitting for an old front wing.....

Kubica to mix it up at the front, but suffers late in with a puncture...

& maybe one of the three new teams to nick a 10th & WC point?

& maybe 6 numbers, and £7m sitting in the bank account Sunday morning :yes:
 
Speshal said:
ATL11 said:
6 numbers, and £7m sitting in the bank account Sunday morning :yes:

hands off you swine, that's mine.

I wouldn't like to guess anything with the forecast as is.

Be interesting as with the potential showers, the heat, the drivers visors would they have issues with condensation from sweat and the visor fogging up.
 
ATL11 said:
the drivers visors would they have issues with condensation from sweat and the visor fogging up.

arai_visor.jpg
 
Well what have learnt from FP1, the track takes a long time to dry and trying to find who is competitive this weekend is rather pointless on a slowly drying track.

expect swaring in FP2, Chandahok is in the commentary box and i expect he will be a little bit peeved that a guy with 40 laps to his name this season as been picked over him to replace an ill yamamoto.

*EDT* Bah, sod it Brgoan done a better job with the times rather then my mangled effort so ive edited them out. :)
 
I'm really interested to see how Nick Heidfeld does.

He's got a tall order on to beat Kamui due to lack of time in the car but if he does that will raise a few eyebrows at Sauber and possibly Mercedes.
 
;) will be a very interest quali tomorrow.
Alonso can't show everything, the bulls are favorites like ever, Mclaren also will be good.

I think we will be a lot of exited tomorrow and sunday.
 
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