2013 Singapore GP Preview

ottostreet

As usual, please add to Frostie's thread when its up! Looking forward to this race, despite the fact I'm working all weekend so can't just relax and watch!

Next up on the calendar, Formula One stops off for one of the most fearsomely physical Grand Prixs the drivers face. It's hot, it's humid, it's relentless....but at least they don't have to get up early.

Singapore is one of the marathon races, the complete antithesis of what we've grown accustomed to over the last few weeks of racing. From the fast, sweeping bends of Spa, to the long high speed straights of Monza, Marina Bay is a track that just doesn't let the drivers relax, with endless corners, slow chicanes, and vicious kerbing all testing the driver's concentration over a gruelling slog of a race.

Singapore is a draining race just watching on TV, so spare a thought for the drivers, who will sweat litres of fluid out, almost certainly will suffer dehydration during the Grand Prix, as well as keep their cars out of the barriers, which are always perilously close. Add to that, similarly to Monaco, that the corners are never ending, with the longest straight only a handful of seconds in length.

So who can stop Vettel winning under the spotlights on Sunday evening in Singapore? Fernando Alonso certainly has form here, winning twice (let's ignore the circumstances of his 2008 win), and scoring two podiums out of his five outings here already. In fact, Alonso is the only driver to have a Grand Chelem at Singapore, scoring the pole, victory and fastest lap back in 2010. But while he has form, it doesn't appear that his Ferrari has an answer for the leading Red Bull of Vettel. Never strong at Spa or Monza in previous seasons, Vettel dominated both races, and heads to a brace of circuits where he is traditionally very strong, starting this weekend at Spa.

With 7 races remaining, Vettel is almost in a position where he can afford to finish second in every race and still claim the title. Comfortable leads like that are rarely eroded, but Alonso in particular will be hoping for a stroke of fortune in Singapore to help him close the gap, as fortune appears to be the only chance left for a championship challenge. Ferrari have been outpaced for the 4th straight year running by Red Bull, and the frustration of this Groundhog Day situation is telling from Fernando's recent behaviour and comments. Mentally, he must steady the ship and not alienate himself further from the team before the arrival of Raikkonen, a man remembered fondly by the men at Maranello, if not quite so much by his bosses.

Raikkonen himself looks unlikely to challenge again this season. Lotus haven't kept up with the leading pace as well as they did last season, and Kimi's poor run of fortune has put him almost certainly out of contention. A strong challenge looked unlikely prior to the Belgian GP, and with two straight retirements, and Vettel putting an additional 50 points between himself and Kimi, the game is up for 2013. Individual wins are a little more likely, but maybe not here in Singapore, as Lotus don't look particularly comfortable on street circuits. Kimi finished 6th in last year's race and is aiming for a podium this weekend, saying he has 'unfinished business' at Singapore.

Another man with unfinished business is Felipe Massa. Massa appears to have come to the realisation that his axing from Ferrari has essentially freed him from the shackles of pandering to the wishes of the team and Alonso, and should he be able to challenge pace-wise, there is no reason or incentive for him to capitulate in the same manner he did in Monza. After all, if he disobeys orders, what can they do...fire him? Felipe put in a very strong showing under tremendous pressure in Italy, and while it was too late to save his Ferrari job, it isn't too late to save his F1 career. It was at this track in 2008 where Massa's championship destiny that season was decided, and it may be here in 2013 that he convinces Eric Boullier that he is the man to replace Raikkonen at Lotus.

Massa's competitor for the Lotus seat, Nico Hulkenberg, certainly managed to get people to take notice of his intentions to hang around in F1 last time out, but Singapore isn't likely to be kind to the Sauber. Monaco is a representative barometer of what kind of performance to expect from a chassis, and Monaco was a frustrating, solidly midfield showing from the Hinwil crew, and will likely remain the same at Marina Bay. Even if he can't compete with the big boys this time out, all Nico has to do is continue to show up Gutierrez, appear to be doing the best he and Sauber can do, and pray that Felipe Massa sabotages his own race, as he often does.

Lewis Hamilton's 'nearly there' championship challenge became a 'not there at all' championship challenge in Monza, and the reaction from Lewis after the Italian race showed that the Mercedes man had started to believe that he could string a tilt at the title together. With such a catastrophic weekend in Monza, that tilt has now gone, but seeing as it is his first year at a team that haven't been strong since 2009, there won't be any pride lost on Lewis's part, particularly as he is driving at the highest and most consistent level he has since the year of his title defence. Hamilton's qualifying pace this year, as well as Mercedes' form in Monaco, indicates that he should be the strongest challenger to Vettel this weekend. Mercedes' tyre woes appear to be a thing of the past, and despite Hamilton's recent results at Singapore, I predict Lewis to win this weekend's race. Closely followed by Vettel, who will hold Alonso at bay.

My 'Midfield driver to have a great race' selection for this race is...Adrian Sutil. He looked incredible at Monaco earlier this year with some very plucky overtaking, and he has scored points on his last two outings in Singapore. He'll be looking to pack some extra punch this weekend as Paul Di Resta aims to recover from a dire weekend in Monza, and a strong result in Singapore could swing the pendulum at Force India in Adrian's favour.

frostie500

I won't be able to get a preview done for this weeks race so if the mods want to update this thread title and make it the race thread? Im not sure which races I'll be able to get one done to be honest, I'm going to the rest of the MotoGP races this year so that has to take my priority unfortunately but I'll be at Abu Dhabi so I'll be doing a preview for that GP anyway.

What I might try and sort out is a track lap of Singapore with some of my photos from last and give a bit of insight into each corner based on what I saw different drivers doing last year. Hopefully you's will enjoy that!

_rebelkid

The revised T10 chicane seems to be making a massive impact; GP2 cars are 4 seconds faster than last years pole lap on the prime tyres.

Jordan 199

Lewis for the win this weekend

Charlie-Bravo

Watched FP2 and managed to endure James Allen with Jackie Stewart for commentary. It was really winding me up but I needed my fix that bad.

ottostreet

I never minded James Allen...

*runs and hides*

antodeco

I really wish Setanta waited until the actual break between sessions to air their ads

me89

3 min left in Q2 and setanta take a break ffs

Charlie-Bravo

Setanta are muppets. They really don't like UPC customers

dloob

I think they are building up to a break one minute before the end of q3.

Charlie-Bravo

Whenever they've come back from their ad breaks in Q1 and Q2, there's been 2 mins left in the session. Be prepared to missed a good chunk of this session.

paddy147

Thank God "Finger Boy" pulled in to the pits early and we didnt have to hear "Yes Baby" and him screaming after getting pole position.


Anyone notice that "Finger Boy" has put on some bulk and muscle...hes seems to be looking a tad beefier and toned up than he used to look.

paddy147

Jordan 191 wrote: »

Lewis for the win this weekend

Only managed 5th place for the race tomorrow.:(


Finger Boy is 1st

Roseberg is 2nd

Grosjean is in 3rd

Webber is 4th

Hamiliton is 5th




Alonso is down in 7th

Max_Charger

Vettel looks untouchable. This season compared to last season is a real dampener. Weighing up my options for tomorrow and considering not even bothering to watch the race, it's depressing that's what it's come to with a third of the season still to come.

Charlie-Bravo

Rosberg for the win - suits my competition choice.

TommiesTank

paddy147 wrote: »

Only managed 5th place for the race tomorrow.:(


Finger Boy is 1st

Roseberg is 2nd

Grosjean is in 3rd

Webber is 4th

Hamiliton is 5th




Alonso is down in 7th

You mean Alonslow surely?

TommiesTank

I wonder will they need to take the seal off Massa's gearbox...

Myrddin

TommiesTank wrote: »

Alonslow

Seriously?

TommiesTank

EnterNow wrote: »

Seriously?

Well he's been out qualified by Massa twice in a row, an Massa had to let him past at Monza. Hardly speedy...

Really looking forward to the myths about Alonso being obliterated again next year, like they were the year he partnered the rookie Hamilton at McLaren.

Let's see how he performs when his team mate is allowed race him.

ottostreet

While I agree that I think Alonso may be exposed next season, I don't think 'Alonslow' is appropriate...it's just plain driver bashing IMO.

As for today, if anyone but Vettel wins tomorrow, I'll eat my socks!

Myrddin

TommiesTank wrote: »

Well he's been out qualified by Massa twice in a row, an Massa had to let him past at Monza. Hardly speedy...

Ooh twice in a row, Alonso must be such a fraud! In all fairness, Massa has had his finger where the sun don't shine for the last three seasons, he is nowhere in the drivers championship, & hasn't a hope of winning the title this year. Why wouldn't he be asked to support Alonso?

ottostreet wrote:

While I agree that I think Alonso may be exposed next season...

Exposed? You do realise he's been the only driver to challenge Vettel in the title races since 2010 right?

ottostreet

EnterNow wrote: »

Ooh twice in a row, Alonso must be such a fraud! In all fairness, Massa has had his finger where the sun don't shine for the last three seasons, he is nowhere in the drivers championship, & hasn't a hope of winning the title this year. Why wouldn't he be asked to support Alonso?



Exposed? You do realise he's been the only driver to challenge Vettel in the title races since 2010 right?

Yep, but I don't think he's as 'god-like' as many say. He's never had a decent barometer against which to measure him, apart from Lewis, and we know how that ended.

By 'exposed', I mean not better than others, not 'worse than anyone else'.

Myrddin

ottostreet wrote: »

Yep, but I don't think he's as 'god-like' as many say. He's never had a decent barometer against which to measure him, apart from Lewis, and we know how that ended.

Has Vettel ever had a decent barometer in which to measure against? Not in my opinion, he's done what he's done off his own back, regardless of who's there to compare him against or not. He'll likely be a four times world champion this season, but is that moot because he's not had a team mate who can challenge him? Hardly. Same goes for Alonso, double world champion & does what he does with hardware inferior to that of Red Bull. Can Mass do what Alonso does? Surely that's the only barometer needed...

By 'exposed', I mean not better than others, not 'worse than anyone else'.

Again I have to look at the last few title races, it's been Vettel & Alonso. What more is there to say.

ottostreet

Vettel isn't hailed as being the best...Alonso is.

Vettel will eventually get his barometer, he's only getting started...Alonso has been around since 2001.

You seem to be under the impression that me saying 'exposed' means that I think he is poor...I don't think that. What I think will be 'exposed' will be that Alonso is as good as the other champions, but not better.

paddy147

I predict a comming together bewteen Vettel and Roseberg down to the 1st corner tomorrow.

At least thats what Im hoping for tomorrow anyway.:D

Myrddin

ottostreet wrote: »

Vettel isn't hailed as being the best...Alonso is.

Well I'm not going to argue about who 'the best' is, it's entirely subjective & the very definition of F1 means the car can make just as much, if not more or a difference, than the driver can. So to establish who the best really is, you have to weigh up a load of what-if's & buts, & it's hardly proper reflection then.

You seem to be under the impression that me saying 'exposed' means that I think he is poor...I don't think that. What I think will be 'exposed' will be that Alonso is as good as the other champions, but not better.

No I get you, & again driver comparison unless they are in the same team, is hardly a science. Can you compare Alonso to Schumacher of old, to Senna, to any of the greats? Not really, not without introducing lots of hypothetical stuff into the equation. The only solid thing to go on so far, is that he is the only man sticking it to Vettel, & has been the only one for the last few seasons. Nobody else can do it. Vettel is the right driver, in the right team, in the right car, at the right time...stopping him seems impossible a lot of the time, but Alonso is the only one who seems to get within spitting distance. To me, that counts for a lot, especially considering when we see what the very mediocre Massa does in the same car.

TommiesTank

A major issue I have with Alonso is the lack of team mate benchmark. Massa is not a reliable benchmark, so Alonso can get away with a poor performance in qualifying and races by blaming the cars lack of competitiveness, and this is NEVER questioned.

I don't for one minute believe he has gotten the best out of the car in every qualifying session and race. But is's always All Hail Alonso...

The car is give or take the second best in the grid, let's not pretend he is taking the fight to big budget Red Bull in a Minardi.

He will be exposed next year IF he remains a Ferrari driver, however I expect him to find an alternative drive for 2014.

The love affair between himself and Ferrari is over, he was no Messiah.

TommiesTank

EnterNow wrote: »

Well I'm not going to argue about who 'the best' is, it's entirely subjective & the very definition of F1 means the car can make just as much, if not more or a difference, than the driver can. So to establish who the best really is, you have to weigh up a load of what-if's & buts, & it's hardly proper reflection then.



No I get you, & again driver comparison unless they are in the same team, is hardly a science. Can you compare Alonso to Schumacher of old, to Senna, to any of the greats? Not really, not without introducing lots of hypothetical stuff into the equation. The only solid thing to go on so far, is that he is the only man sticking it to Vettel, & has been the only one for the last few seasons. Nobody else can do it. Vettel is the right driver, in the right team, in the right car, at the right time...stopping him seems impossible a lot of the time, but Alonso is the only one who seems to get within spitting distance. To me, that counts for a lot, especially considering when we see what the very mediocre Massa does in the same car.

Put Hamilton in the 2013 Ferrari and he would match and better Alonso, no question.

ottostreet

To use last year as an example...Alonso came closest, but Hamilton arguably could have been right there if his car hadn't broken down a few times. Raikkonen could have been there too with just a bit more bite and aggression from both himself and his team.

The performance gaps between the champions (in particular) is so small, that I think it's silly to say that one is 'better' than another. Purple patches and dips in form don't detract from the overall ability of a driver IMO.

What I think is wrong is when Alonso is hailed as a God for doing things in his Ferrari that Massa can't do. Massa isn't the real deal any more, and IMO, if you stuck Hamilton, Raikkonen, or a handful of other drivers into the same seat, they'd all do the same as Alonso to within a point or two over the season.

Next year, Alonso will have a team-mate of the same calibre of himself, and I think Kimi will finally dispel the notion that Alonso has an inherent edge over other drivers.

I could be completely wrong, maybe Kimi will be destroyed by Alonso, but I doubt it.

TommiesTank

I'm also not happy about the whole team blame dynamic that exists between Alonso and Ferrari.

The decision to stay out with be broken front win was naive at best (actually it was dangerous and risked the safety o other drivers).

Ferrari took the blame for making the call, there is 0 possibility that Alonso wasn't involved in the decision and didn't have final call on it.

Similarly the issue with DRS sticking open that resulted in the 2 pit stops to close the flap was another one. Who decided that Alonso should use it again after the first stop? Did Alonso or the team? Did Alonso decide to use it off his own bat, then he team covered for him?

Myrddin

ottostreet wrote: »

To use last year as an example...Alonso came closest, but Hamilton arguably could have been right there if his car hadn't broken down a few times. Raikkonen could have been there too with just a bit more bite and aggression from both himself and his team.

It's all what-if's & buts though. If Grosjean hadn't wiped out Alonso at Spa last year, Alonso would probably have been world champion now, claiming the 5 points that he only needed to win.

I do agree however, that putting Hamilton, Kimi, or Vettel in the Ferrari alongside Alonso, they'd all be in or around as good as each other. I wouldn't be one of those to hail Alonso as a God, but I do think he's probably the best on the grid. I'd love to see him in a Red Bull, just to take the car equation out of it.

christy c

EnterNow wrote: »

I'd love to see him in a Red Bull, just to take the car equation out of it.

But that's a very important part of the whole equation, it's not like Vettel just shows up at race weekend and isn't seen again till the next race. I think that Vettel's top strength is being able to get the car to his liking and there's more to being an F1 driver than being quick

Torqay

I can't see Fernando Alonso staying with Ferrari. The way he lambasted the car again as not being competitive after yesterday's qualifying, di Montezemulo must be fuming. Will he pay Fernando this time, not to drive the Ferrari next year?

frostie500

Could someone PM me a stream for todays race once it starts? Cant find any decent ones and it's not on the telly here in Spain

TommiesTank

frostie500 wrote: »

Could someone PM me a stream for todays race once it starts? Cant find any decent ones and it's not on the telly here in Spain

Ha, says it all about Spain's love of Alonso.

Max_Charger

Brundle gridwalk:

"there's a story going round that Justin Beiber is on the grid, so we must avoid him obviously"

frostie500

TommiesTank wrote: »

Ha, says it all about Spain's love of Alonso.

All on pay per view, or at the least on a different package to what my hotel is offering anyway

TommiesTank

If Alonso was driving a Newey designed car he'd just come up with another excuse for not winning the WC.

Every driver loses points due to DNF's over a season, whether it be car failure, crash or wrong place at wrong time.

if Schumacher's engine hadn't blown in Japan 2006 would Alonso be a double world champion?

2/3 stops according to Crofty, wouldn't surprise me if someone goes for 1.

Max_Charger

Unreal start from Alonso

Autosport

Jeez what a start by Rosberg

At least I can watch the football in peace now.

Max_Charger

Vettel 4 seconds ahead after 2 laps, bloody hell...

At this rate Vettel can probably have an extra pit-stop, take a nap and still lap everyone else. Over 6 seconds ahead already.

Ghost Train

One horse race at the moment

Safety car at some point might be good to nullify that Vettel lead or at least some different strategies

2011

Deleted User wrote: »

At this rate Vettel can probably have an extra pit-stop, take a nap and still lap everyone else. Over 6 seconds ahead already.

Not much good to him if the advantage is lost due to a safety car and he has used up his tyres opening the gap.

I live in hope

Jordan 199

That thermal camera is awesome.

Autosport

Don't think Hulk should have had to give the place back

Cool_CM

Reading on text, but Vettel appears to be running away with this one already. Where's a typhoon when you need one:D

Where's Nelson when ya need him?

Alun

Jordan 191 wrote: »

That thermal camera is awesome.

Yep, it's pretty much the most interesting thing in the whole race so far.