Grand Prix F1 GP Night Race in Singapore

Singapore will be hosting its second ever Formula One night race on 27th September. The streets along Marina Bay will once again be lit up by over 1500 light projectors suspended 10 meters over the track. With light intensity being four times than that of a normal lighted football stadium, the drivers driving along the circuit will definitely feel as though they are driving in daylight.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit was first thought of in early 2007, with Singapore wanting to host a formula one race, the last time the city state hosted a circuit based raced was in 1973 at the Thomson Road Grand Prix Circuit as part of the Formula Libre calendar. FIA, the governing arm of Formula One, insisted that if Singapore were to host a Formula One race, it had to be a night race to cater to the time difference of the European viewers, the bulk of the Formula One viewership. As soon as talks were wrapped up and completed in May, a route of the circuit was published: the Singapore Grand Prix would be a street track designed by Hermann Tilke and further improved upon by KBR Inc., an engineering and construction firm based in the USA.

The street circuit would be a winding 5 kilometer street track along the lines of the legendary Monaco Grand Prix. With the track curving and meandering around Singapore’s landmarks like the world’s biggest Ferris Wheel, the Singapore Flyer, the Fullerton Hotel, the Esplanade, City Hall, Padang and into The Float at Marina Bay, the Singapore street circuit is set to take over Monaco to become the jewel in the crown of Formula One circuits.

Back in 2008, when the inaugural race was held, the drivers’ championship was down to a two-horse race between Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and McLaren-Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The pole position was held by Felipe Massa and was looking good to capture the victory the next day but due to a horrendous mishap over a pit-stop during the race cost him the victory. Shrewd pit-stop planning led former world champion, Renault’s Spaniard Fernando Alonso to the win after qualifying a miserable fifteenth the previous night. In front of a complete sell-out packed stands and millions watching live on television around the globe, the 2008 race was deemed a complete success by the drivers, organizers and viewers alike. Failure to win and finishing a depressing thirteenth in the race eventually led Felipe Massa to miss out on capturing the driver’s world championship by a single point, losing it to Britain’s Lewis Hamilton.

In the current 2009 season, with the introduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems or better known as KERS, a mechanism to store mechanical or electrical energy to give teams an extra speed boost at the touch of a button, and other aerodynamic design changes, the championship has never seen a complete toss-up of drivers and teams vying for the trophy. In the past previous seasons, driver and team championship was usually battled among the giant, pedigree teams like Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Renault.

The 2009 season was marked by the exit of Honda F1 Racing Team, a monumental loss signifying the effect the global economy was affecting the glitz and glamour of the Formula One world. However, despite disbanding the team, it was instead bought over by formula Ferrari mastermind, Ross Brawn, who eventually changed the team name to Brawn GP, keeping the two drivers that were with Honda, the experienced Rubens Barrichello and Britain’s star Jenson Button.

The drivers and teams vying for the championship in 2009 remained mostly unchanged from the 2008 season with the exception of the retirement of David Coulthard, who became a consultant and test driver for Red Bull Racing, making way for the talented Sebastien Vettel, who was “promoted” from sister team, Scuderia Torro Rosso. 2009 also saw the introduction of Sebastien Buemi who replaced the driving seat left by Vettel. Buemi, who had experience in the national championship A1 series and the GP2 championship showed enough talent to be brought into the high demands of Formula One.

Brawn GP, and in particular, Jenson Button surprised the Formula One world at the start of the 2009 season with their sensational car, easily out-qualifying and out-lapping other teams and drivers, one of them, ironically being the defending world champion, Lewis Hamilton who was lapped several times over the course of several grand prix events. Jenson Button, who was largely driving under the radar for Honda F1 in the past seasons showed true class and quality of a champion by winning the first two grand prix in Australia and Malaysia, being noticeably faster than Rubens Barrichello who was in an equally dominating car.

Ten races into the 2009 season, the championship is now largely between two unexpected teams, Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing. Championship leader Jenson Button leads the driver’s championship with six victories under his belt, amassing seventy points with seven races to go. Catching up quickly behind him is the veteran Mark Webber in his constantly improving Red Bull, with fifty one and a half points. With seven grand prix races left, and Brawn GP having problems with their car, anything could happen.

Over the course of writing this article, Felipe Massa was involved in a terrible incident involving a suspension coil that came loose from fellow compatriot Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car during the qualifying session. The small one kilogram spring hit Massa on the head, caused substantial damage to his helmet and got the Brazilian into a concussion, who, somehow managed to brake and downshift before crashing into a tire wall.

With Felipe Massa being effectively out of the remainder of the 2009 calendar, the Formula One was shocked to learn Ferrari came at a conclusion to bring back seven-time world champion, the legendary Michael Schumacher. However, with the FIA banning in-season testing and Schumacher not having driven a Formula One car since April 2008, it will indeed be interesting to see how Schumacher handles the very unpredictable Ferrari car this season at the next race at the European Grand Prix, to be held on August 23rd.

With the introduction of Michael Schumacher, the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix will expectedly be another full sold out spectacle to behold as the whole world would be waiting to see how the German will blitz through the streets of Singapore at night for the very first time. However, with the bulk of the season gone, I predict the driver’s championship will go down to the wire at the very last race of the calendar at the brand new Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Mark Webber and Jenson Button vying for the gold. I predict with vast experience under his belt, the Australian Webber has paid his dues in the Formula One world and will win a much-deserved championship. I predict a constructor’s championship
for new boys Brawn GP. With mastermind Ross Brawn behind team mechanics, it is difficult for Red Bull to pull something out of the bag.

So, if you are a Formula One fan, with the re-introduction of Formula One great Michael Schumacher racing against the likes of current stars like Lewis Hamilton, the best place to catch them in action would definitely be the night race at Singapore Grand Prix, the new crown jewel of the Formula One racing circuits. Get your tickets now!

Picture Sources:

Schumacher - Wikipedia

Top Drivers - Photobucket