The Official 2016 Singapore Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[Pebbles167]

Apologies for the delay in the opener. Everyone in my department has booked leave and so I'm left to cover all the shifts... getting called out to London last minute is becoming increasingly common

ANYWAY...

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1, with highlights of qualifying and race shown at Channel 4.

Session		Day		Sky F1		Channel 4		Session Start		Local Time
Practice 1		Fri		1045		----		1100		1800
Practice 2		Fri		1415		----		1430		2130
Practice 3		Sat		1045		----		1100		1800
Qualifying		Sat		1300		1730		1400		2100
Race		Sun		1130		1730		1300		2000

Marina Bay Street Circuit



Live timing for all sessions available here:

http://www.formula1.com/en/championship/races/2016...


Info such as lap times, PU use, technical reports, stewards decisions etc for the weekend will appear here:

http://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-ch...


Weather forecast:

http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/Singapore/S...


The tyre choices requested by the teams:



2015 Results:

https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/results/2...

Enjoy

Edited by Pebbles167 on Tuesday 13th September 08:00

[rsbmw]

Ferrari going pretty aggressive on tyre strategy. I wonder if Merc will be any better here this year.

[M3ax]

Thanks OP! I'm looking forward to a mixed up race with a couple of safety cars. Sneaky feeling that DR might be in with a shout.

[NM62]

I think (hope) the Mercs will be better than last year - also noticed the HAAS team copying Ferrari too on Tyre stratgey ( Vettel the same as Grosjean and Raikkonnen the same as Guitierez (sp)).

1. DR 2. LH 3. MV

ETA - Thanks OP for the OP

[El Guapo]

Clearly, excitement about the Singapore GP has reached fever pitch on PH.
I'd like Ferrari to do well, so
1. Vettel
2. Ricciardo
3. Kimi
but I suspect that Mercedes will do better than they did last year.
It would also be nice to see a strong result from McLaren, Both cars in the points & one in the top 6, say.

[suffolk009]

Ferrari
Red Bull
Mercedes

I also hope McLaren will be surprisingly competitive.

[HustleRussell]

I fear that those of us who are hoping for an upset 2015 style might be disappointed. Mercedes pole and Mercedes win. Ferrari may lead during the first half but will bungle it, possibly unlucky with a safety car.

As for predictions;

Rosberg
Vettel
Raikonnen

Best result of the year for McLaren with a 5th place

Hamilton DNF

[mcbook]

El Guapo said:

Clearly, excitement about the Singapore GP has reached fever pitch on PH.

It would also be nice to see a strong result from McLaren, Both cars in the points & one in the top 6, say.

I'd like to see both McLarens in the points but doubt it very much. Both cars have only gone the distance in 6 of the 14 races so far this year.

I predict one car in the points (6th-8th maybe) and the other one DNF.

[Flooble]

Thanks for the thread start OP - very much appreciated.

[Jasandjules]

I guess we will see tomorrow if the Mercs have a 0.5 sec lead as usual or if their Singapore issue is continuing...

[VolvoT5]

I'm not buying the idea that Ferrari or Red Bull are suddenly favourites just because Mercedes struggled last year. IIRC last year the tyre pressures were raised just before this event and that seemed to create a unique problem for Merc?

I would be surprised if they aren't on top of it this year.... plus we have the new ultra soft tyres. What we are seeing is the usual media hyping things up.... but I hope I'm wrong and it is a 4 or 6 way fight for victory.

Ferrari have gone really aggressive on their strategy for tyres and interestingly split their drivers choices for only the second? time this year
.

Edited by VolvoT5 on Thursday 15th September 18:02

[Crafty_]

Jasandjules said:

I guess we will see tomorrow if the Mercs have a 0.5 sec lead as usual or if their Singapore issue is continuing...

You'll have to wait longer than that, they rarely show their outright speed until qualifying.

I don't think they will be way out front in this one, but I don't think they will be as slow as they were last year compared to their rivals.

A few bits and bobs around about their suspension, after FRIC was banned they retained the hydraulic unit to work as a heave spring, so although disconnected from the back it seems they still have a bit of an advantage.

[cgt2]

I think it will be very even steven between RB and Merc, based on Monaco and the respective rates of development since.

[rdjohn]

Would you die-in-a-ditch if you did not know this?

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bite-size-tech-m...

I really want McLaren to get back on top, but a circuit-specific front wing sums up that this team has more cash than intellectual property.

JB has been saying today that F1 needs to be more like Pokeman Go, than ultra high-tech. I think he means grabs you by the balls.

I am firmly of the belief that until a sensible budget cap (say 100 engineers and $100million) ithe sport / entertainment will be totally pointless. The big spenders will inevitably be a bit faster and the media attention will be on the drivers, resulting in the stuff you get on here. e.g. Nico is useless etc. when, had Lewis not turned up at the wrong moment, he would be a multiple WDC for being in the right seat at the right time. I am a big Lewis fan BTW.

Hopefully, Liberty will get a grip on this, before all is lost.

[VolvoT5]

rdjohn said:

Would you die-in-a-ditch if you did not know this?

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bite-size-tech-m...

...

Hopefully, Liberty will get a grip on this, before all is lost.

F1 has always been a engineering spending contest though hasn't it? I do hope Liberty will make positive changes but I will believe it when I see it.

As for McHonda.... I despair.... so much money but seemingly no fresh ideas... I can't help but wonder what a more 'with it' team like Force India or Williams could achieve with their budget.

[Derek Smith]

rdjohn said:

Would you die-in-a-ditch if you did not know this?

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bite-size-tech-m...

I really want McLaren to get back on top, but a circuit-specific front wing sums up that this team has more cash than intellectual property.

JB has been saying today that F1 needs to be more like Pokeman Go, than ultra high-tech. I think he means grabs you by the balls.

I am firmly of the belief that until a sensible budget cap (say 100 engineers and $100million) ithe sport / entertainment will be totally pointless. The big spenders will inevitably be a bit faster and the media attention will be on the drivers, resulting in the stuff you get on here. e.g. Nico is useless etc. when, had Lewis not turned up at the wrong moment, he would be a multiple WDC for being in the right seat at the right time. I am a big Lewis fan BTW.

Hopefully, Liberty will get a grip on this, before all is lost.

The difficulty has always been in policing cost caps.

A mate of mine went rallying in a Lada. The idea was that you had to put your car up for sale for a maximum sum at the end of the season. There were a few who fiddled it but for most it was a fun sport.

That gave me an idea the last time budgets were mentioned (although with no degree of enthusiasm for it that I could see on behalf of the FIA bloke). I'm not suggesting that teams should sell their cars to the lowest bid but how about publishing all their data? And not only that gained at circuits but of aero, manufacture of the tub, power units, that sort of thing. To give the teams some leeway, have a 3-month delay between registering said data with the FIA and access being allowed. I trust Todt not to be partial.

I think the secrecy with which teams, some teams, cover their cars with blankets is playing to the crowd, trying to make out they've got something special at last, but I think there is a certain truth in it.

[cgt2]

VolvoT5 said:

As for McHonda.... I despair.... so much money but seemingly no fresh ideas... I can't help but wonder what a more 'with it' team like Force India or Williams could achieve with their budget.

So you think they have made no progress since the beginning of 2015? When Honda started a year behind and both teams you mention have the acknowledged best engine on the grid?

Come on man, be serious.

[VolvoT5]

cgt2 said:

So you think they have made no progress since the beginning of 2015? When Honda started a year behind and both teams you mention have the acknowledged best engine on the grid?

Come on man, be serious.

Where did I say they had made no progress?

The progress has been much slower than anyone expected. Red Bull have made faster progress. Yes those other teams have the best engine on the grid but how many times this year as Ron claimed to have one of the best chassis which is clearly BS...... even when McLaren did have the best engine they were not the second best team.

[HarryFlatters]

VolvoT5 said:

cgt2 said:

So you think they have made no progress since the beginning of 2015? When Honda started a year behind and both teams you mention have the acknowledged best engine on the grid?

Come on man, be serious.

Where did I say they had made no progress?

The progress has been much slower than anyone expected. Red Bull have made faster progress. Yes those other teams have the best engine on the grid but how many times this year as Ron claimed to have one of the best chassis which is clearly BS...... even when McLaren did have the best engine they were not the second best team.

I'm sure I heard that over the 16/17 winter, Honda are going to significantly alter the architecture of their PU, design their turbo using a similar design principle as Mercedes, make it bigger, and hopefully get close to Merc and Ferrari in power and electrical deployment.

If this comes to fruition, only really then will we be able to judge the chassis and aero, and genuinely see if it's the 3rd best on the grid as has been reported.

I'm a McLaren fan, and I really want them to be closer to the pointy end. I'm sure they'll get there, as they did after the 1994-1998 slump.

[rubystone]

VolvoT5 said:

F1 has always been a engineering spending contest though hasn't it? I do hope Liberty will make positive changes but I will believe it when I see it.

As for McHonda.... I despair.... so much money but seemingly no fresh ideas... I can't help but wonder what a more 'with it' team like Force India or Williams could achieve with their budget.

Essentially, McLaren is following the Red Bull philosophy and you never hear the drivers moaning about the chassis.. The engine's lack of performance, design direction and thirst have masked the quality of the chassis. Conversely, Mercedes' power advantage has made it difficult to determine whether their chassis is better than Red Bull's.

Williams traditionally spends big on engineering. In fact they tend to overspec their components. They lost their way when Antonia Terzi managed to convince the management that her front wing was a good idea. I think it's sad that this tainted the career of Gav Fisher too. Considering the decent budget they have, they've been underperforming. Force India are embarrassing them.