The Singapore Grand Prix has had its place on the F1 calendar since 2008. It is a race that enjoys an abundance of praise from the drivers and teams alike for the unique challenge it offers. The circuit is a twisty street course with long, high speed straights and incredibly bumpy braking zones. It is also the only true night race, with the GP starting a couple of hours after sunset.
Something the previous 4 Singapore Grand Prix have all had in common is the weather: it’s never rained during the race around Marina Bay. But rain is a serious issue that will be on everyone’s mind in the build up to this annual spectacle.
Heavy rain at a normal Grand Prix usually brings with it a bag load of chaos. Think back to this year’s Malaysia Grand Prix and all the antics the waterlogged track brought then. The Formula 1 safety car is often quite rightly called upon to neutralise the field of the cars to try and stop over eager drivers pushing over the limit and ending up in the barriers. When the conditions get too dangerous, even the red flag can be thrown and the race stopped.
So what would rain mean in Singapore? The race is held under flood lights, 1500 halogen lamps to be exact. These offer 3000 of lux – which to you and I means it’s practically day light out on the circuit. But if you factor rain into that you’d get a serious amount reflection off the track surface.
Blinding reflection, aquaplaning, high speed straights, little / to no run off areas and big barriers all would add up to the race being suspended in my view, depending on the level of any rain that fell on Marina Bay.
A quick look on our friend youtube.com revealed some videos of people racing around Singapore on F1 2011 in the lashing rain. From the video below, it doesn’t look great does it!
Currently, the BBC is reporting rain showers every single day leading into the weekend. But let’s take that with a pinch of salt until we get to Friday and the forecast becomes a bit more reliable.
So over to you: would you like to see a wet Singapore Grand Prix, for the unique spectacle it would offer? Or would it spoil the fun in what will probably be a great race on a dry circuit anyway?
Codemasters F1 2012 – The wait is over
This page was published by James Wilson