2012 Singapore F1 Grand Prix

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niky

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2012 Singapore Grand Prix

Free Practice 1 & 2: September 21: 18:00 / 21:30 Local Time
Free Practice 3: September 22: 18:00 Local Time
Qualifying: September 22: 21:00 Local Time
Race: September 23: 20:00 Local Time

470px-Singapore_street_circuit_v2.svg.png

Marina Bay Street Circuit
5.073 km, 23 turns

Race Length
61 Laps

Lap Record
1:45.6 - Kimi Raikkonen, 2008

Qualifying Record
1:44.381 - Sebastian Vettel 2011



2011 Results

1. Sebastian Vettel, RBR

2. Jenson Button, McLaren Mercedes

3. Mark Webber, RBR

Current Standings

Fernando Alonso / Ferrari - 179

Lewis Hamilton / McLaren Mercedes - 142
Kimi Räikkönen / Lotus Renault - 141
Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull Renault - 140
Mark Webber / Red Bull Renault - 132
Jenson Button / McLaren Mercedes - 101
Nico Rosberg / Mercedes - 83
Romain Grosjean / Lotus Renault - 76
Sergio Perez / Sauber Ferrari - 65
Felipe Massa / Ferrari - 47​






It's Formula One once again at Marina Bay as we head into the home stretch of the 2012 Season. With seven races left in the championship, the topsy-turvy nature of the season means that mathematically, anyone up to 18th place can win the championship.

While some of us will be rooting hard for Daniel Ricciardo to pull off the greatest Formula One season of all time, realistically, there are still six drivers who are capable of winning it all.

Will Fernando Alonso get a hat trick of races here in Singapore, even without a Piquet in the pits? Will Lewis Hamiltoncontinue McLaren's high-speed dominance on this tight and twisty track? Will Kimi Räikkönenfinally get his first win? Or will Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull finally pull it all together and raise the finger on the podium once again?

Who knows? Who cares? It's Singapore! Time to party!
 
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This is the sort of track where Vettel could pull out one of his special qualifying laps but I expect Hamilton to be on pole and I think Button will win.
 
This track should indeed favor the Red Bulls, but given McLaren's current form, they might just take it.
 
Yeah, it's really too hard to say. The teams are so close that any upgrades the teams bring to each race could make all the difference but you obviously can't count out any of the top teams. You'd think it'd be a Red Bull track based on Monaco or Valencia, which would probably be the most comparable circuits but, as Niky said, McLaren has had real good form lately, Ferrari have certainly caught up, Mercedes were testing some pretty big upgrades during the young driver test too. So who knows.
 
Really hoping for an Alonso retirement and a Vettel first. Then everyone else finish in a way so that Vettel is in second overall.
 
niky
While some of us will be rooting hard for Daniel Ricciardo to pull off the greatest Formula One season of all time, realistically, there are still six drivers who are capable of winning it all.
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:lol: That made me chuckle. I'm rooting for Lewis Hamilton as usual but I do think that Redbull may pull something out of the bag here. It most definitely is a track which favours them. However, McLarens strong form recently can not be taken lightly and I could see either of the McLarens taking pole too. All I know for sure at the moment is that Singapore is one of my favourite races of the year and I always look forward to seeing the cars driving around the streets at night.

Here's hoping Grosjean has sorted himself out and the first lap will be clean. With it being a street track it makes a 100 times more likely for a front runners mistake to ruin that of 5 back markers.
 
Red Bull arent fast enough in qualification atm to be a strong contender, maybe it's gonna be Kimi first time. Then I hope the Mclaren boys wont be far behind.
 
Night race? No more overheating, RBR Alternators!!! I swear, Newey, get it this time. The boys need to beat Alonso again. No alternator problems should be had. 👍 I do have a good feeling.
 
Mclaren 1-2, and Hamilton to announce he is staying at Mclaren. Alonso 3rd, Vettel 4th, Kimi 5th, Grosjean 6th, Perez 7th, Webber 8th, Schumi 9th and Senna 10th. Two safety cars, and a Maldonado incident.
 
Retirements are evil. I'd rather the season be decided on the track rather than off it. Or going off it.

Besides. With seven races to go, if either Hamilton or Vettel win four of those, they have a good chance of taking the crown.
 
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dhandeh
Mclaren 1-2, and Hamilton to announce he is staying at Mclaren. Alonso 3rd, Vettel 4th, Kimi 5th, Grosjean 6th, Perez 7th, Webber 8th, Schumi 9th and Senna 10th. Two safety cars, and a Maldonado incident.
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Thats quite a prediction there. 👍

I see Vettel going well here. Mclarens and Alonso close behind. Should be interesting.
 
MrMelancholy15
Night race? No more overheating, RBR Alternators!!! I swear, Newey, get it this time. The boys need to beat Alonso again. No alternator problems should be had. 👍 I do have a good feeling.
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I think that Singapore is very hot even in the night time, IIRC it is regarded as the most physicallly demanding race of the season because of the heat, the nature of the track and the fact that it lasts nearly 2 hours.

neljack
Didnt everyone say 'this is a Red Bull track' at Hungry?
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Yes, people seem to think Red Bull have the downforce levels and efficiency of last year. Between Monaco and Valencia that seemed to be the case but they haven't looked so strong since.
 
MrMelancholy15
Night race? No more overheating, RBR Alternators!!! I swear, Newey, get it this time. The boys need to beat Alonso again. No alternator problems should be had. 👍 I do have a good feeling.
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Singapore at night will still probably be hotter than it was at Monza during the day, not out of the woods on that one :lol:
 
The main problem's the high humidity... High humidity=drivers' sweat won't evaporate so easily. There's also high temp. to boot too (even with the slightly cooler conditions at night)

Bahrain may be slightly hotter, but has a lot less humidity. That's why Singapore's that gruelling, also thanks to its tediously long and tight track.
 
The first F1 race I ever watched lights-to-flag was the first Singapore race, so this race represents an anniversary of sorts for me. Alonso has been good here (Renault incident notwithstanding), so I'm putting him down for the win ahead of Button and Vettel.
 
Personally, I don't think Red Bull will be fighting for the win here (unless they have a significant update that works well)...as the track is just too bumpy for the RB8 now that the FIA have further clamped down on their engine mapping. I feel this track should suit the Ferrari quite well, and given Alonso's track record around here and him mentioning that he will be on attack mode from the get go this weekend...I believe he will be the favorite to win. Hard to say just how well the Mclaren will be here, but I would imagine Hamilton will be quite close with Alonso throughout the weekend. I think the battle behind should be quite interesting to. Mercedes should have a good upgrade here, which might allow them to fight for a top 5 on a track which should suit them fairly well I believe.

Looking forward to this weekends action, as I've always found this race to be quite an interesting spectacle 👍
 
The Outlaw
Personally, I don't think Red Bull will be fighting for the win here (unless they have a significant update that works well)...as the track is just too bumpy for the RB8 now that the FIA have further clamped down on their engine mapping. I feel this track should suit the Ferrari quite well, and given Alonso's track record around here and him mentioning that he will be on attack mode from the get go this weekend...I believe he will be the favorite to win. Hard to say just how well the Mclaren will be here, but I would imagine Hamilton will be quite close with Alonso throughout the weekend. I think the battle behind should be quite interesting to. Mercedes should have a good upgrade here, which might allow them to fight for a top 5 on a track which should suit them fairly well I believe.

Looking forward to this weekends action, as I've always found this race to be quite an interesting spectacle 👍
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He may have looked good last time out but Monza is a completely different track to Spa and The Hungaroring where the Ferrari looked weak, even with Alonso's previous success I expect him to be just off the podium unless Ferrari have made some big improvements since Monza. I imagine Ferrari would have focused more on success at Monza than at other tracks and perhaps that has slowed development in other areas which could hinder their Singapore performance. If I had to say which team will be strongest it would have to be Mclaren, Lotus looked very strong at The Hungaroring and that was the last high downforce track they went to.
 
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I have a feeling Mark Webber will have a surprise up his sleeve, either in qualifying or in the race.

My Prediction -
1st- Jenson Button
2nd- Mark Webber
3rd- Fernando Alonso
4th- Lewis Hamilton
5th- Kimi Raikkonen
6th- Sebastian Vettel
7th- Sergio Perez
8th- Romain Grosjean
9th- Nico Rosberg
10th- Michael Schumacher or Kobayashi

Pole- Either Button, Webber or Hamilton
 
SKIDMARX
I have a feeling Mark Webber will have a surprise up his sleeve, either in qualifying or in the race.

My Prediction -
1st- Jenson Button
2nd- Mark Webber
3rd- Fernando Alonso
4th- Lewis Hamilton
5th- Kimi Raikkonen
6th- Sebastian Vettel
7th- Sergio Perez
8th- Romain Grosjean
9th- Nico Rosberg
10th- Michael Schumacher or Kobayashi

Pole- Either Button, Webber or Hamilton
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I think Webber will do very well, barring any incidents. This will be a great race for sure.
 
Lotuses should be better here than those tracks with long straightaways, so I've got faith in Kimi again. ;)
 
Looks like I might be missing qualy for this one (going karting) and potentially some of the race depending where it overlaps with the BTCC at Rockingham. Even with the last few seasons of F1 being better, if I had to choose I still lean towards BTCC first.
 
I am proud that Singapore is hosting this!!! (My mom is from Singapore, and I lived there for about 2 years.)
 
I still think this is such a Mickey Mouse track. It has no flow. Just look at Turn 10, it destroys the cars more than it makes for good racing. This track is just another wannabe Monaco, just without the magic.
 
fps_christian
I still think this is such a Mickey Mouse track. It has no flow. Just look at Turn 10, it destroys the cars more than it makes for good racing. This track is just another wannabe Monaco, just without the magic.
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I like the last few corners, the tight left then the tight right followed by the medium speed chicane then the long left hander to finish the lap. I agree though that it doesn't have much flow to it but because of that there is so much action in the race.
 
fps_christian
I still think this is such a Mickey Mouse track. It has no flow. Just look at Turn 10, it destroys the cars more than it makes for good racing. This track is just another wannabe Monaco, just without the magic.
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I agree to an extent. Monaco is on a dry day a pretty boring race. It's just the spectical of the cars on the tight street circuit that makes it bearable. Add the night time and you have the reason I like it.
 

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