Formula 1 will make it’s third appearance on our sunny island of Singapore from 24th to the 26th of September 2010. Before we jump into the mechanics of the driver’s championships and some car set-ups that we might see on race day, let’s look into some characteristics of our circuit, that is the Marina Bay Circuit.

The Marina Bay Circuit is one of four street circuits in the F1 calendar. The other street circuits include the Monaco Circuit, the Valencia Circuit and the Korean International Circuit. What makes us stand out is that ours is held at night and for one very simple reason. This is to allow for a more convenient broadcast of the race to the European viewers. This allows a bigger outreach to people from all around the world, effectively promoting not only Formula 1, but also Singapore itself.

Our circuit is slightly more than 5km long, with a race length of 309km.The circuit has a total of 23 turns, all of which six of them are slow turns, all under 100km/h. Amidst the 23 turns are four high speed straights. Those high speed straights, coupled with six slow turns will definitely facilitate a lot of overtaking over the course of 61 laps.

Let’s move on to car set-ups. I believe that a track like the Marina Bay Circuit will require a well rounded car. One that doesn’t compromise on speed but yet have the ability to take corners quick. I guess aerodynamically, the car would have to be set up at a medium to medium-high setting. This will allow the car to have moderately quick straight line speed without having to compromise on speed when taking a corner.

I guess stiff suspensions would be the order of the day. This will facilitate better handling around the corners and ultimately lead to an advantage, be it fending off an overtaking maneuver by the car behind or trying to overtake the car at the front. The bumpy track was a small problem for the drivers in the last 2 races but works have been done to solve the problem. The track is laid with premium grade Bitumen provided by Shell, and since our track is still a street circuit made up of public roads, yearly maintenance on the track is done to maintain high standards. Most of the time, works are carried out at night so as not to provide any inconvenience to public road users.

Apart from that, we have one of the few circuits to be ran in an anti-clockwise direction. This means that left hand corners are more predominant than right hand turns. Since most races are in the clockwise direction and because of the huge G-forces that come with the sport, drivers tend to get neck aches after racing in the Singapore GP since they are not as accustomed to an anti-clockwise circuit as opposed to a clockwise running circuit. Therefore, drivers will want to take the two weeks in between the Italian GP and the Singapore GP to have more neck training to deal with the forces applied on the neck during the race.

The race for the title is wide open now after Hamilton’s crash in the Italian GP, closing the gap between the top five drivers. Webber is leading the title race, followed by Hamilton in 2nd. Alonso has risen to 3rd after his win yesterday and Button is 4th followed by Vettel in 5th. Only 24 points separate them, much less than what you get for a win. Therefore, a win by either drivers will see a shift in the dynamics of the standings. Ultimately, we are in for one good race.

My predictions for the race on the 26th of September would be Hamilton for 1st place, followed by Alonso and the Redbull of Mark Webber to come home in 3rd. Hamilton would want to redeem himself after bringing home zero points after crashing out from the Italian GP. Ferrari are looking strong after displaying a strong performance in Italy and they will definitely carry the momentum into the next race. Furthermore, both Hamilton and Alonso have won the previous two races in Singapore. Having that experience will surely aid them in getting top honors. However, we cannot overlook the Redbulls as they are still a very strong competitor as seen in the races earlier in the year. Mark Webber would be gunning for a podium place to keep up in the title race.

With that said, let’s go racing!