Marina Bay a Serious Challenge for F1
Posted on September 14, 2023 Tags: Marina Bay Street Circuit
Jordan Flying High
While Calan Wins at Hockenheim
Images courtesy Singapore.com, Pirelli.com, hauptracingteam.de
STEAMY SINGAPORE’s tight and spectacular Marina Bay Street Circuit is among the trickiest on the F1 calendar – a layout which even current runaway championship leader Max Verstappen struggled to come to grips with last year.
In fact, only 14 cars finished that last race around Marina Bay, with DNFs for AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Alexander Albon (Williams), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Nicholas Latifi (Williams), and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo).
Daniel Ricciardo‘s classy fifth remains among his best performances for McLaren in 2022.
The world’s most photographed left hand!
Daniel, as we know, is sidelined after crashing in Zandvoort and precisely when he regains his AlphaTauri seat is anyone’s guess.
At this stage he’s out of Japan and there’s still doubt about October’s Qatar Grand Prix.
No surprise there after Red Bull’s Helmut Marco says Daniel’s left wrist had seven fractures!
But the 34-year-old Aussie smiler is back on deck in Marina Bay this week “to assist the Red Bull sister squad with engineering duties”, while Kiwi rookie Liam Lawson continues to sub alongside Yuki Tsunoda in Singapore.
Oscar Dodged a Bullet
Meanwhile Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri competes in his first Singapore Grand Prix, after dodging a bullet last up in Holland, which took out him out of the points – and Daniel in hospital. The 22-year-old rookie currently sits 12th in the drivers’ championship.
As we head into the closing stages of this long season, the journey has taken Formula One to three continents and 16 different time zones.
New Challenge for Night Race
Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix is a night race, and the rank humidity makes it near as tough as it gets for the drivers. And it’s not much easier for the Pit Crew (nor, for that matter, the spectators).
The beautiful island city – one of my favourite places on the planet – is, after all, just 150km from the Equator.
Marina Bay was the first F1 race to take place under artificial light, an innovation later followed, in varying degrees, by other venues.
That intense humidity, high temperatures – and heat retention due to the walls lining the track – make this a particularly physically demanding race for the drivers.
As a result, as Pirelli guru Mario Isola points out, even a small mistake can be costly, while the track layout also means that the cars run a high level of downforce.
From a technical standpoint Marina Bay is a typical street circuit – very twisty, with 19 corners, many of them 90-degree, and little run off.
Marina Bay, Singapore
The weather so far looks typical for Marina Bay, although the forecast for Monday is dire and Teams have crossed fingers hoping it stays clear for Sunday’s race – scheduled for 8pm WST – after 2022’s deluge, which delayed the start by an hour, minutes before the grid formed up.
The 4.940km lap takes on a new look in 2023 after building work in the Marina Bay area: what once were turns 16 to 19 is now just a single 397m straight.
It’s a change that makes the track faster, and the layout has become a lot more flowing.
The number of corners drops from 23 to 19, with the race extended to 62 laps: one more than last year.
Passing around Marina Bay has been notoriously difficult for the ‘slower’ cars, but theory suggests at least it could create an overtaking opportunity.
“This track doesn’t place particular stress on the tyres in terms of loading, but the rear tyres need to be carefully managed during the traction phase when exiting slow corners.
“This increases the risk of overheating: not just for tyres but also everything else, including the mechanicals and, of course, the driver!” Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Head of Motorsport.
The Tyres on Track
This week, Pirelli brings its trio of softest compounds to Singapore: C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 Yellow medium and C5 Red soft. It’s been the case for all street circuits in 2023.
• A one-stop strategy is the clear way to go, because the pit stop loss time of around 28 seconds is the highest of the season, together with Imola. The hardest compound available is normally the main race tyre – if it stays dry.
Like most street tracks, grid position at Marina Bay is usually crucial to a good finish, given the limited overtaking opportunities. No surprise then that qualy tends to have a strong influence on the final outcome.
Since the first Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 Marina Bay has delivered five different winners: Sebastian with five victories, Lewis four, Fernando two, and Nico and Sergio, one each. Covid stymied 2020 and 2021.Mercedes and Red Bull each have four wins, while Ferrari has set six pole positions.
Championship lead for Jordan
Jordan and Alain
Jordan Love has hit the front of the Silver Cup standings as he heads into GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup action when the championship resumes for round four at Valencia, Spain this weekend.
The Mercedes-AMG Junior Driver continued his sublime form in p as he claimed pole position, victory and a further second place in the Silver Cup at Hockenheim to take the lead.
Lining up in the #77 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Frank Bird in the Silver Cup classification, Jordan’s teammate Frank later withdrew from the race event due to the passing of his father, Paul Bird, with Alain Valente given the call-up to partner Jordan.
With Friday’s practice sessions completed, Jordan was elected to qualify for the team for Saturday’s race one and he recorded his second pole position of the season – starting at the front of the Silver Cup field and 12th overall.
Delivering a fantastic performance, the pair took Silver Cup victory by almost six seconds to mark the #77 car’s second Silver Cup victory of the 2023 season and 12th overall.
Sunday’s action saw Alain Valente on qualifying duties and he continued the team’s momentum as secured second in their class and 13th overall for race two at Hockenheim.
In another strong performance from the driver pairing, Jordan and Alain claimed a second-place class finish as Jordan battled for the race lead until the final moments – finishing less than a second behind the Silver Cup victors.
Securing a pole position, victory and a second place, Jordan now takes the lead of the Silver Cup standings as the championship departs Hockenheim.
“Looking at our weekend, it was a really solid haul of results and points; pole, victory, P2 and the championship lead – it doesn’t get much better than that! Now we need to keep that momentum rolling into the remainder of the season and keep that Silver Cup lead until the end. A huge thank you to Haupt Racing Team, Mercedes-AMG and Alain for stepping in last minute and doing such a great job.
“It wasn’t the same without Frank, but our thoughts stayed with him and the entire Bird family all weekend and we wish them all the best during this difficult time.” Jordan Love.
Hockenheim Win for Team Calan
Calan and Niklas: The spoils of Victory
Calan Williams and Niklas Krutten executed a stunning victory in Gold Class Race 1 in Hockenheim. Their performance was also strong enough to earn them P5 overall in the field of 45.
Niklas had qualified the car in P16 and in the race started exceptionally well, moving up to P11 overall and P2 Gold in the opening corners of the race.
Pitting early for the driver change in order to take advantage of the undercut, Niklas handed the car over to Calan P9 overall and by that time now up to P1 in Gold.
While completing a good pit stop and driver change, unfortunately Calan was forced to wait for a car to pass before leaving the pits. This cost 2 – 3 important seconds, but he still emerged P1 in Gold narrowly ahead of the Audi in P2.
Driving with great pace, Calan steadily built a gap from the Audi, and moved up to P5 overall. In the closing laps all of this advantage was lost when a backmarker blocked ignoring the blue flags.
Calan held his nerve however and stretched back ahead to finish off an outstanding win for the team, extending their lead in the Gold Sprint Cup to 18 points.
Taking Motorsport to Another Level
Get ready for WA’s most exciting motoring event the International Festival of Speed – on Saturday September 30 when the WA Sporting Car Club – in collaboration with Classic Cars and Coffee invites you to join us for a day filled with family activities.
For more info, visit the links below:
Ticket-Link. speedfest.au or check out our Facebook event page
Early Warning for Popular Show & Go
The popular West Coast Show & Go is primed for its 7th instalment on Friday October 7.
It kicks off with a massive meet and car show at the carpark at Autobarn in Cannington, before heading off for a killer cruise on the streets of Perth to finish the evening in true West Aussie style.
Get along for the car show and meet from 5pm until 8pm, when it’s bonnets down to head off on the cruise.
The is open to all makes and models of cars, so be sure to polish up your pride and joy, or daily, and make it a night for everyone to enjoy!
Loads of prizes and giveaways make this a fun night, proudly sponsored by Autobarn Cannington.
EDITED by AC
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