Two weeks on from the Italian Grand Prix, the Formula 1 circus hits Singapore to tackle the Marina Bay circuit for 61 laps of the 5.065 kilometre track. This is the eighth edition of the event. Its debut was in 2008 when it became the first ever night race on the calendar. After the totally made-in-Italy feel of the Monza autodrome, the South East Asian city-state offers a radical change of scene, with its high humidity and risk of rain making the outcome of the race, illuminated by around 1700 floodlights, very unpredictable.
Sebastian Vettel: “I have excellent memories from previous years in Singapore”
“I was able to win there a couple of times in the past”, says Sebastian Vettel. Last year he led all the way from pole to the chequered flag to score his third win for Scuderia Ferrari. “It’s quite tricky a Grand Prix. It happens at night and it’s quite different from what you see around the track to make up your reference points. The track is very rough, bumpy, long, with long-lasting laps. So, you need to stay focused for a long time. It’s usually quite hot and humid. So it’s a hard work inside the car, but I think it’s something we all enjoy. We try to stay in the European time, which is quite funny because we stay up very late and wake up in the middle of the day. So, it’s a bit special for all the drivers and all the teams to operate.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “Last year was good but I cannot promise it’s going to be the same”
Kimi Raikkonen was third in Singapore last year – behind his teammate and Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull). Now he is not completely convinced this performance could be repeated.
“Last year it was good but I cannot promise it’s going to be the same story all over again. We’ll know once we get there. I think the last few races have gone in the right direction. But it’s very difficult to say how it’s going to be there. It is a completely different circuit layout and the conditions are different”, he added.
