Friday 18 September 2015

Singapore Grand Prix Preview - Marina Bay layout will play to Red Bull strengths.

With just over a few hours now till the Singapore Grand Prix on the streets of Marina Bay, the teams are preparing for a much different weekend to Belgium and Italy. The tight and twisty street track suits a car with a good chassis and will see the likes of Red Bull be bought back into the picture as the power unit deficits aren't as important.
Marina Bay lit up at night.
Last years race was the turning point of the 2014 F1 season where Nico Rosberg retired and lost the championship lead to Lewis Hamilton. Marina Bay also bought good memories for Red Bull as they had there 2nd double podium of the season with Vettel leading home Ricciardo.

Red Bull will be hoping to echo that form this weekend, even if there competitiveness has dropped this season. Even with there Renault power unit problems, I can confidently say that the RB11 is probably the best chassis on the grid ahead of the Mercedes and Ferrari. This will be the last real chance for Red Bull to score decent points and put a gap to Force India in the constructors as almost every round after Singapore is power dependent to some degree.
Red Bull are looking for strong points in Singapore.
McLaren will also suit the Marina Bay street circuit as they continue to also have power unit woes with Honda. I don't think Honda will be looking for points, even if they seem to think they have one of the best chassis on the grid. I think we can all be honest and say McLaren don't have the engine or the chassis to be competitive on any track, the gap is just too much. But if you look at where McLaren have scored points this season: Monaco, Hungary and Britain. Both Monaco and Hungary don't need strong power units, and Silverstone needs good downforce, so don't fully discount McLaren from pulling something out of the bag.

Force India are another team I can realistically see putting in a good performance in Marina Bay. Confidence will be high for the team, coming off a double points finish with there new "b" spec car working perfectly. The chassis should be generate a good amount of downforce for the team and they'll have the power unit to back them up. This will allow them to get ahead of Lotus and Sauber who don't have the chassis and power units (Sauber) to match the Silverstone based squad.

Sauber are looking like they might have some more pace as they bring there first major aerodynamic upgrades since Australia. Felipe Nasr is certain that the updates are crucial to the development of there 2016 package.
Felipe Nasr of Sauber
News from the other end of the paddock is that Manor-Marussia have given Alexander Rossi, a GP2 race winner, his first real taste of Formula 1 in the place of Roberto Merhi. He will drive in every round but Abu Dhabi and Russia.

I imagine that once again Mercedes will dominate in practice and qualifying as per usual. Nico Rosberg will have a slight advantage because he has a brand new fresh engine in his car for the Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton will be looking for his seventh straight pole position as he really begins to dominate the championship.

There has been talk of the race being canceled this weekend due to smog, but with nothing official from the FIA yet I seriously doubt that happening.

The Singapore Grand Prix starts with practice on the 18th of September.

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All images courtesy of Formula1.com


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