The 2012 Singapore GP Discussion Thread

Post by **Ataxia** » 20 Sep 2012, 10:46

Seeing as it's Thursday and it's not been done yet, here we are.

One question: do the BBC have it live?

johnnyl · Post by **johnnyl** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:01

Long time lurker, first time poster. This will be the first Grand Prix I have attended since Silverstone 2006. I really can't wait for practice to get going tomorrow evening. I have a feeling Alonso will run away with this one, though.

Cue the comments about how this is the worst track on the calendar in 3, 2, 1...

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:03

BaconLettuceNinja wrote:Seeing as it's Thursday and it's not been done yet, here we are.

One question: do the BBC have it live?

Yes they do. But I prefer to watch even those on Sky now!

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:05

johnnyl wrote:Long time lurker, first time poster. This will be the first Grand Prix I have attended since Silverstone 2006. I really can't wait for practice to get going tomorrow evening. I have a feeling Alonso will run away with this one, though.

Cue the comments about how this is the worst track on the calendar in 3, 2, 1...

Actually, Singapore's not that bad. There are certainly far worse tracks on the calendar though *cough*Hungaroring*cough*

To be honest though, if only Singapore was on the calendar in, say, 2000 or 2001. It would have been a real car breaker back then.

johnnyl · Post by **johnnyl** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:06

I wouldn't read too much into these reports of wet weather by the way. I've probably seen it rain once or twice here at 8pm. When it rains it's almost always in the late afternoon. Hence why we always have problems with Kuala Lumpur...

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:09

Never really liked the track, when I first saw it I thought it would have higher attrition than it does

johnnyl · Post by **johnnyl** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:19

eurobrun wrote:Never really liked the track, when I first saw it I thought it would have higher attrition than it does

Don't worry, I'm sure we can at least rely on Renault's alternators.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:21

Wizzie wrote:
johnnyl wrote:Long time lurker, first time poster. This will be the first Grand Prix I have attended since Silverstone 2006. I really can't wait for practice to get going tomorrow evening. I have a feeling Alonso will run away with this one, though.

Cue the comments about how this is the worst track on the calendar in 3, 2, 1...

Actually, Singapore's not that bad. There are certainly far worse tracks on the calendar though *cough*Hungaroring*cough*

To be honest though, if only Singapore was on the calendar in, say, 2000 or 2001. It would have been a real car breaker back then.

Other worse tracks include Valencia (except this year) and Abu Dhabi.

Too early to say anything about India or Korea.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:28

Going to the race for the fifth time in a row.And then I have an English exam the day after.Perfect timing....

johnnyl · Post by **johnnyl** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:52

WaffleCat wrote:Going to the race for the fifth time in a row.And then I have an English exam the day after.Perfect timing....

The only reason I am going this year is that I am sick and tired of Steve Slater's commentary and I found buying tickets to be the best way of avoiding it.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:58

johnnyl wrote:
WaffleCat wrote:Going to the race for the fifth time in a row.And then I have an English exam the day after.Perfect timing....

The only reason I am going this year is that I am sick and tired of Steve Slater's commentary and I found buying tickets to be the best way of avoiding it.

If its not too much trouble guys, upload a few pictures of the track and surrounding areas please

would like to see what it's like to be a spectator, it's totally different to what you see on the TV (trust me, Silverstone is totally different).

Post by **Ataxia** » 20 Sep 2012, 11:59

James1978 wrote:
BaconLettuceNinja wrote:Seeing as it's Thursday and it's not been done yet, here we are.

One question: do the BBC have it live?

Yes they do. But I prefer to watch even those on Sky now!

I won't have Sky for this race though...

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 20 Sep 2012, 13:13

johnnyl wrote:
WaffleCat wrote:Going to the race for the fifth time in a row.And then I have an English exam the day after.Perfect timing....

The only reason I am going this year is that I am sick and tired of Steve Slater's commentary and I found buying tickets to be the best way of avoiding it.

I would actually prefer Steve Slater than laggy live streams,thanks to stupid mIO TV (run by race sponsors SingTel) not even working in half of Singapore,let alone my house.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 20 Sep 2012, 13:14

AdrianSutil, and others who are interested, Enoch went in 2010 and took some cracking pictures, they're on his Flickr account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eytl/sets/72157616146276908/

I actually think Singapore is one of the best circuits to have been added to the calender in modern times. It's a long, tough race on a demanding, bumpy street circuit, and with it being held at night it offers some real variety to the rest of the calender.

Post by **tommykl** » 20 Sep 2012, 17:32

WaffleCat wrote:
johnnyl wrote:
WaffleCat wrote:Going to the race for the fifth time in a row.And then I have an English exam the day after.Perfect timing....

The only reason I am going this year is that I am sick and tired of Steve Slater's commentary and I found buying tickets to be the best way of avoiding it.

I would actually prefer Steve Slater than laggy live streams,thanks to stupid mIO TV (run by race sponsors SingTel) not even working in half of Singapore,let alone my house.

Having actually experienced other commentators than Steve Slater, I can honestly say that he is not that bad. Some of the co-commentators here in Belgium are much worse, like Eric van de Poele or, at times, Jérôme d'Ambrosio, who can have as much expression as Julian Bailey on a bad day :lol:

razta · Post by **razta** » 20 Sep 2012, 18:56

and here's the weather
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/19668923

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 20 Sep 2012, 20:21

did they finally get rid of the turn 10 chicane?

razta · Post by **razta** » 20 Sep 2012, 20:25

nome66 wrote:did they finally get rid of the turn 10 chicane?

no.. it has a name... the "Singapore Sling" - No joke

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 20 Sep 2012, 20:32

should be called "neckbrace" instead of sling

cbbcisace · Post by **cbbcisace** » 20 Sep 2012, 20:48

Anyone fancy Mercedes to be closer to the front runner this weekend? the YDT update is supposed to improve the car, so I expect them to be.

razta · Post by **razta** » 20 Sep 2012, 20:51

cbbcisace wrote:Anyone fancy Mercedes to be closer to the front runner this weekend? the YDT update is supposed to improve the car, so I expect them to be.

erm.. check my Signature link - YES YES YES!!! I'm gunning for a Podium atleast

Post by **mario** » 20 Sep 2012, 20:54

On a slightly different note, Renault Sport have announced that they are going to be making some changes to their alternators again ahead of this weekend.

They had initially believed that they had reached the bottom of their problems with the upgraded alternator that stared failing prematurely in Valencia (Kravitz mentioned that they'd modified the design of the stator in response to the problems they had there), with the modified design introduced in Spa. Unfortunately, that modified design was the one that failed on Vettel's car in practise and the race itself, whilst D'Ambrosio's alternator was on the point of failure when he crossed the line in Monza - so Renault have decided that their only option is to revert to their 2011 specification alternator (the one which they brought in after Valencia as a stop gap measure).
However, whilst they seem to still be unsure as to the exact cause of their problems, the fact that they could strip down D'Ambrosio's damaged alternator and analyse it means that they are more confident that they can find a solution to their problems. The net result is that Red Bull will be testing a new alternator design on Friday, but for the rest of the race weekend they intend to switch to the older, but more reliable, alternators. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102668

cbbcisace wrote:Anyone fancy Mercedes to be closer to the front runner this weekend? the YDT update is supposed to improve the car, so I expect them to be.

I don't know about front running, but I expect that they might be a little closer to the front than they have been in the past few races. Asides from the upgrades, one thing that was quite apparent around rougher tracks (and especially noticeable in Monaco) is that Mercedes do seem to be able to run a softer and more compliant suspension set up than their rivals, which should serve them well in Singapore given how bumpy the track is.

johnnyl · Post by **johnnyl** » 21 Sep 2012, 02:00

AdrianSutil wrote:
johnnyl wrote:
WaffleCat wrote:Going to the race for the fifth time in a row.And then I have an English exam the day after.Perfect timing....

The only reason I am going this year is that I am sick and tired of Steve Slater's commentary and I found buying tickets to be the best way of avoiding it.

If its not too much trouble guys, upload a few pictures of the track and surrounding areas please would like to see what it's like to be a spectator, it's totally different to what you see on the TV (trust me, Silverstone is totally different).

I'll see what I can do for you. I may take a couple of pictures from my office first as I have a good view of Marina Bay from there (it is in Marina Bay).

Wafflecat, thankfully I've never had a MioTV issue when the F1 has been on, though watching football can be a different story sometimes. The only annoying thing is when they are showing a Mercedes in the race, and then they cut away to a Petronas advert of a Mercedes being built, or driving through the streets Kuala Lumpur. Surely it's a better advert for Petronas to see their car racing live?

hootie · Post by **hootie** » 21 Sep 2012, 02:29

greetings from singapore

talking about the weather, I can say that the past few evenings have been consistent
it has been hot, humid with little wind
for those watching from the stands, be prepared to sweat

there was a tropical downpour last night around midnight. that was unusual.
i do not expect any rain for this weekend

hootie

hootie · Post by **hootie** » 21 Sep 2012, 02:34

Hey JohnnyL,

I was in town the other night and I saw that the Marina Square food court actually overlooks part of the track.
You actually get a pretty good view of the Nelson Piquet corner going into the floating platform stands.
Is this food court open during the F1 weekend? I can't believe F1 management let this free view slide without taking a cut of the action.
F1 action for the price of a dollar coffee, that is unheard of in Singapore

hootie

johnnyl · Post by **johnnyl** » 21 Sep 2012, 02:58

hootie wrote:Hey JohnnyL,

I was in town the other night and I saw that the Marina Square food court actually overlooks part of the track.
You actually get a pretty good view of the Nelson Piquet corner going into the floating platform stands.
Is this food court open during the F1 weekend? I can't believe F1 management let this free view slide without taking a cut of the action.
F1 action for the price of a dollar coffee, that is unheard of in Singapore

hootie

I would highly doubt the food court will be open, if it is, it'd probably be packed. Maybe you should head down to Suntec later and take a look?

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 21 Sep 2012, 14:26

Back at home from FP1.I have a serious hitch that it will rain in the race.And it will rain hard.HARD.

S951 · Post by **S951** » 21 Sep 2012, 14:53

This may be Marussia and Glocks race ahead in fp1 and still ahead in fp2, Caterham not looking good HRT still so so

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 21 Sep 2012, 15:18

S951 wrote:This may be Marussia and Glocks race ahead in fp1 and still ahead in fp2, Caterham not looking good HRT still so so

Apparently Marussia's upgrades have put them on par with Caterham now, and considering they're not running KERS, which Gary Anderson said was worth about 4 tenths round Singapore, its arguable that at least for this race, Marussia stand a good chance of beating Caterham on race pace alone, and if they had KERS, they may be slightly ahead.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 21 Sep 2012, 16:15

AndreaModa wrote:
S951 wrote:This may be Marussia and Glocks race ahead in fp1 and still ahead in fp2, Caterham not looking good HRT still so so

Apparently Marussia's upgrades have put them on par with Caterham now, and considering they're not running KERS, which Gary Anderson said was worth about 4 tenths round Singapore, its arguable that at least for this race, Marussia stand a good chance of beating Caterham on race pace alone, and if they had KERS, they may be slightly ahead.

Not only that, the Cosworth engine is also the worst engine in the field, I feel that if Marussia had KERS and any other engine then Glock, a Singapore specialist, would be knocking on the door of the midfield

. He was only 0.2 behind Vergne!

Post by **mario** » 21 Sep 2012, 16:53

Shadaza wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:
S951 wrote:This may be Marussia and Glocks race ahead in fp1 and still ahead in fp2, Caterham not looking good HRT still so so

Apparently Marussia's upgrades have put them on par with Caterham now, and considering they're not running KERS, which Gary Anderson said was worth about 4 tenths round Singapore, its arguable that at least for this race, Marussia stand a good chance of beating Caterham on race pace alone, and if they had KERS, they may be slightly ahead.

Not only that, the Cosworth engine is also the worst engine in the field, I feel that if Marussia had KERS and any other engine then Glock, a Singapore specialist, would be knocking on the door of the midfield . He was only 0.2 behind Vergne!

It is plausible that Glock could be in a position to pressurise the lower end of the midfield if he did have KERS and access to a better engine - maybe he'd be slightly off their pace, but it'd be close enough to make them pay for any mistakes.

The tail end of the midfield, excluding Vergne, were around 0.75s ahead of Glock - if Anderson is right with that 0.4s gain for KERS (assuming that Marussia could have optimised their system to gain such a boost), that'd halve the gap right there. The gain from the engine would be smaller given the frozen nature of the regulations, but if Marussia had a Renault engine - which is generally thought to have slightly better performance in the lower rev range over its rivals (albeit sacrificing a little peak power) - then they could perhaps pick up a tenth or two around this circuit given the large number of slow speed corners around the track.
This could be quite an interesting race if that is the case - since this is probably going to be the last major upgrade package for their car this season, and with both drivers seemingly more competitive this weekend as a result (Pic seems to have the measure of Petrov this weekend), this is probably going to be Marussia's best chance to beat Caterham in a straight fight. It could be even more interesting if attrition is very high this weekend...

S951 · Post by **S951** » 21 Sep 2012, 17:29

Don't know what's happening with Caterham tbh they have the better budget facilities and talent yet this, mind you it is fp but don't see how they are falling so far back unless they are already giving up! mmmm Glock to score a point and Pedro to score two! you heard it here first!

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 21 Sep 2012, 19:03

S951 wrote:Don't know what's happening with Caterham tbh they have the better budget facilities and talent yet this, mind you it is fp but don't see how they are falling so far back unless they are already giving up! mmmm Glock to score a point and Pedro to score two! you heard it here first!

Meanwhile Charles Pic unrejectifies himself.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 21 Sep 2012, 19:09

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
S951 wrote:Don't know what's happening with Caterham tbh they have the better budget facilities and talent yet this, mind you it is fp but don't see how they are falling so far back unless they are already giving up! mmmm Glock to score a point and Pedro to score two! you heard it here first!

Meanwhile Charles Pic unrejectifies himself.

I believe!

But in all seriousness, apparently Tony Fernandes has come out and said Caterham have got it wrong this year, and I think they're effectively writing 2012 off and aiming for 2013, which may explain why Marussia have found it easier to close up to them.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 22 Sep 2012, 10:16

Come to think of it, the track actually looks alright during daylight hours. Maybe we don't need the night element for a good spectacle at Singapore.

Post by **mario** » 22 Sep 2012, 10:33

Perhaps it was a little too early to heap praise on Marussia just yet - Glock has just had a rather scary moment when he seems to have been stuck on full throttle on the approach to Turn 20, although thankfully he was able to stop the car before hitting a barrier. Thankfully, it was a fairly low speed incident - but that must be creating some concern within the team.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 22 Sep 2012, 11:03

Big fail from Petrov.

Vitaly tapped the wall with his right rear and bounced off, he then opened DRS and speared in to the wall much harder and broke the right rear suspension completley. He then causes a red flag by blocking the pitlane ending the session.

TomPryce · Post by **TomPryce** » 22 Sep 2012, 11:03

Petrov has crashed heavily... great. Caterham are definately making several steps backwards.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 22 Sep 2012, 11:13

Don't have a TV License anymore so can't watch the race

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 22 Sep 2012, 11:40

kostas22 wrote:Don't have a TV License anymore so can't watch the race

Do you have an iPhone, iPad or android?