*** The Official Singapore Grand Prix Thread 2015 ****

[NRS]

Might as well continue the trend of starting the discussion on the next race just after the previous one has ended.

It looks like we will be seeing Hamilton follow his idol and get the 41 wins from 161 race starts, assuming no engine problems. Despite Rosberg having the same engine he just doesn't seem to have it in him to beat Hamilton. Will Lotus make it to the race? Will McLaren do a lot better now the engine system is less important?

[Jasandjules]

Again I expect Lewis will take pole and then the win. He is fairly handy when the car is good enough and I think it is fair to say it is.... Well, unless the engine goes pop of course.

Now, will Nico need to take an engine penalty or is he still within the 5/6 (?!) permitted)...

Suspect Seb will be second.....

Can't wait to see some of the lower teams who have drivers who seem rather good at the street circuits mix it up a bit too...

[Mikey G]

Jasandjules said:

Now, will Nico need to take an engine penalty or is he still within the 5/6 (?!) permitted)...

I believe this was engine number 2 that went pop and the new engine was only number 3, it may be salvagable but still with 2 ICE in hand for the rest of the season I dont think Merc are too worried about penalties yet.

[NRS]

Mikey G said:

Jasandjules said:

Now, will Nico need to take an engine penalty or is he still within the 5/6 (?!) permitted)...

I believe this was engine number 2 that went pop and the new engine was only number 3, it may be salvagable but still with 2 ICE in hand for the rest of the season I dont think Merc are too worried about penalties yet.

The question then is why did they not use another new engine for Rosberg if he wasn't going to get a penalty? They may have needed another engine later, but you could just use the old one then instead. Unless it was because they didn't know what the issue with the new engine was, and were worried about reliability?

[Mikey G]

NRS said:

The question then is why did they not use another new engine for Rosberg if he wasn't going to get a penalty? They may have needed another engine later, but you could just use the old one then instead. Unless it was because they didn't know what the issue with the new engine was, and were worried about reliability?

Thats my take on it too, use a known good old engine instead of another unknown new unit with potentially the same problem? Or they simply didnt have any more of the upgraded new unit to put into Nico's car.
Still, nice to have so many units in hand this far into the season..

[Jasandjules]

NRS said:

Unless it was because they didn't know what the issue with the new engine was, and were worried about reliability?

That was my assumption. If Both Mercs had the new power unit and it went pop due to some fatal flaw.... But to have an old and a new one running they were hedging... Of course it didn't turn out like that...

[HardtopManual]

Anyone going? I got myself a cheapie ticket in Bay while the mrs is away at a wedding in Oz. Went last year and it was a fantastic event.

[davepoth]

Mikey G said:

NRS said:

The question then is why did they not use another new engine for Rosberg if he wasn't going to get a penalty? They may have needed another engine later, but you could just use the old one then instead. Unless it was because they didn't know what the issue with the new engine was, and were worried about reliability?

Thats my take on it too, use a known good old engine instead of another unknown new unit with potentially the same problem? Or they simply didnt have any more of the upgraded new unit to put into Nico's car.
Still, nice to have so many units in hand this far into the season..

I think they have all the race miles planned for each engine, but it means that each one has some miles left on it as a reserve. It's likely that at Monza the only "spare" engine (i.e. a previously used one) was the Spa one. It was that or drop some places at a race in the future.

Now, given the way the season is shaking out I think not dropping places at Abu Dhabi is going to be quite rare, and so running out of engines by then won't be much of a handicap. But I guess the plan is the plan.

[Zoobeef]

Have they repaired Rosberg new engine that had the water leak? If so is he now back to having the same amount of engines as Lewis but lewis has done a race with one of his?

[Inertiatic]

I believe so

[theAmerican]

Only 2 new spec 2016 engines were produced for Monza; there wasn't an option to use another

[Scuffers]

Zoobeef said:

Have they repaired Rosberg new engine that had the water leak? If so is he now back to having the same amount of engines as Lewis but lewis has done a race with one of his?

Apparently, it was not the engine that had the problem, but oil and water got cross-contaminated.

Last report I saw was they are going to srip the engine to check for damage (presumably bearings etc).

[IainT]

Scuffers said:

Apparently, it was not the engine that had the problem, but oil and water got cross-contaminated.

It was categorised, in one interview, as a chassis problem which seems odd but I guess the clever packaging on the cars uses channels build in to the chassis to transmit fluids.

[Scuffers]

IainT said:

It was categorised, in one interview, as a chassis problem which seems odd but I guess the clever packaging on the cars uses channels build in to the chassis to transmit fluids.

I'm thinking oil/water exchanger - maybe turbo related?

[Doink]

I'm thinking head gasket, should check the radiator cap for mayonnaise!

[IainT]

Doink said:

I'm thinking head gasket, should check the radiator cap for mayonnaise!

Reminds me of happy days owning a turbo'd rotary...

[suffolk009]

Apparently Singapore is the place where deals get done now. There are plenty of things that need sorting out for next year.

Who'll be masochistic enough to supply RBR with engines?
Will Manor get a Merc engine?
Will Renault buy Lotus?
Will Mateschitz get fed up with it all and leave F1 for good?
Will anyone buy Torro Rosso, or Force India?
Will Haas announce their drivers?
Will Honda find some power?

Interesting times...

[RGambo]

I Am interested to see how REDBULL go here. they have been banging on about the engine as we all know, Horner has been saying that Singapore will be their best chance, so we'll see if the chassis is up to the mark here.
If they don't perform as well as they'd like, will Renault start pointing fingers?? I'm a little disappointed to hear Merc won't supply redbull. I understand their logic, and probably if I were in their shoes, I'd take the same view, but F1 needs another team to step up and take the fight to Merc. Realistically Redbull are the only ones with the money to do it (other than Ferrari, who are getting there). If Redbull don't get a competitive PU then, I can't see beyond Mercedes for a few years yet.

[Daston]

IainT said:

Reminds me of happy days owning a turbo'd rotary...

You had a headgasket on your mazda??

[ajprice]

I hope things do get sorted for a lot of the 'silly season' stuff with drivers and engines. At this stage of the year though, aren't the 2016 cars going to be in the design stages? If the engines aren't finalised yet, next year could be a 'transitional year' in blue sky speak for a few teams.

Singapore then. McLaren have been saying for a while that this should be a better (I won't go as far as saying 'good') race for them. Maybe a chance of points if they can last the race. Red Bull should do better with it not being a power circuit like Spa and Monza. Still the Mercedes and Ferraris up front though.