Race Preview 2014 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 19 21 SEPTEMBER 2014 Round 14 of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship sees teams set off on a six-event sequence of flyaway races in Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, starting with one of the year s toughest events, the Singapore Grand Prix. One of only two full night races on the calendar the other being Bahrain Singapore s race winds through 23 corners over 5km and is the season s longest in terms of duration, regularly nudging the two-hour mark. Run in temperatures topping 30ºC, it s a gruelling test of man and machine. While at the last round in Monza cars ran in the lowest downforce specification of the year, Singapore s twisting streets require a high downforce configuration. This circuit has historically not been a tough race on powerplants, with the previous generation of cars running at just 46 per cent full throttle over a lap, but that could change considerably this year due to F1 s new hybrid power units. As one of the least fuel efficient races of the year, due to its stop-start nature, it will also be interesting to see how teams manage the fuel restrictions contained in this season s regulations. Marina Bay is also tough on brakes. About a quarter of the lap is spent braking and while wear is not a major difficulty, problems are caused by the temperatures the brakes reach due to a lack of opportunities for cooling in the tight confines. After the power and speed of Monza and Spa, Singapore will require different attributes, which could benefit teams such as Red Bull Racing. While the Milton Keynes-based outfit has been down on power compared with title-chasing rivals this season, it possesses a car nimble enough to claw back competitiveness around twistier tracks. That could play into the hands of Daniel Ricciardo, currently third in the Driver s Championship. He lies 50 points behind Monzawinner Lewis Hamilton, who last time out closed the gap on title leading team-mate Nico Rosberg by seven points to 22. It should be a fascinating contest. Circuit Data Marina bay STREET circuit Length of lap: 5.065km Lap record: 1:48.574 (Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, 2013) Start line/finish line offset: 0.137km Total number of race laps: 61 Total race distance: 308.828km Pitlane speed limits: 60km/h in practice, qualifying and the race. circuit notes Resurfacing has been carried out in various sections of the circuit. The Track Jet sweeper will be used in order to ensure that grip on the new surfaces will match the older asphalt. The fast lane in the pit lane has been resurfaced. The wall on the right of the run-off area at Turn Seven has been re-aligned to allow one lane of traffic to circulate behind it. DRS Zones There will be two DRS zones in Singapore. The first detection zone will be 230m before Turn Five and the first activation point will be 50m after the same corner. The second detection point will be 80m before the apex of Turn 22 and the activation point will be 45m after the apex of Turn 23.
Fast Facts This will be the seventh running of the Singapore Grand Prix, the race having joined the F1 calendar in 2008. The circuit has been raced in three incarnations, with the first configuration being subject to minor changes for 2009. However, last year s reprofiling of the Turn 10 Singapore Sling chicane as a more flowing corner led to faster lap times and a new lap record for Sebastian Vettel. Only three drivers have won this race. Fernando Alonso won the inaugural event here in 2008 with Renault and then repeated the feat in 2010 for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton won the 2009 race with McLaren. Vettel, however, is the most successful driver at Marina Bay having won the last three grands prix here. Thus the Singapore Grand Prix has only ever been won Formula One world champions. Vettel s three wins make Red Bull Racing the most successful constructor here and the only team to score multiple victories. In terms of points scored the Milton Keynesbased team has racked up 130 championship points in Singapore with Ferrari next on the list with 98 points. McLaren are third with 86. While Vettel has three wins and a second place to his credit he isn t the driver with the most podium finishes here. That honour goes to Alonso who has finished in the top three in all but one Singapore GP. In 2011 he finished fourth having started from fifth place for Ferrari. Aside from his two wins, Alonso finished third in 2009 and 2012 and second last year. With Singapore s streets being tough to overtake on, pole position is important. The race has been won from pole four out of the six times the grand prix has been held. Fernando Alonso won from as far back as 15th on the grid in 2008, albeit it in highly controversial circumstances, and Sebastian Vettel won from a starting place of third in 2012. Of this year s drivers, the circuit will be completely new to just one McLaren s Kevin Magnussen. Caterham s Marcus Ericsson raced at Marina Bay in GP2 in 2012 with isport International, finishing second in the sprint race. He returned in the same series last year, this time with the DAMS team, and again took second place in the sprint race. Toro Rosso s Daniil Kvyat, meanwhile, raced here on the undercard of the 2010 F1 race, in Formula BMW Pacific. The Russian took first place at Marina Bay, in Round 11 of the championship, though as a guest driver in the series he was ineligible to score points. The Singapore Grand Prix is always one of the season s longest races, regularly running close to the twohour limit. The quickest race here so far was the 2009 edition, won by Lewis Hamilton in 1hr 56 06.337. The longest was the 2012 race, won by Sebastian Vettel in a time of 2hr 00 26.144. Having reached maximum duration, the race was ended two laps early at the end of lap 59.
Race Stewards Biographies LARS Österlind FIA WORLD COUNCIL MEMBER; HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SWEDISH AUTOMOBILE SPORT FEDERATION Lars Österlind is a highly experienced FIA steward who has officiated at more than 100 grands prix and a similar number of World Rally Championship rounds. A social sciences graduate and lifelong motor sport enthusiast, Österlind was President of the Swedish Rally Commission from 1978-1982, then President of the Swedish Automobile Sport Federation from 1982-1996. He became Honorary President in 1996 and has been a member of the FIA World Council since 1984. Outside motor sport Österlind has specialised in management, working as a consultant and pursuing his own business interests. He is also experienced in local government at city council level. ROGER PEART PRESIDENT, FIA CIRCUITS COMMISSION; PRESIDENT OF AUTORITE SPORTIVE NATIONALE DU CANADA (ASN) Roger Peart is a civil engineer by training and designed the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, Home of the Canadian Grand Prix since 1978. In the years 1949-1953 he gained his first experience of motor sport, working as a racing mechanic while still at school in the UK. By 1960 he had become a competitor. Until 1963 he drove in the Canadian National Rally Championship, before switching to racing from 1964 to 1976. In 1967 Peart became involved in the organisation of Canadian motor sport and was instrumental in getting the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve onto the F1 calendar. Since 1991 Peart has been President of ASN Canada FIA and, since 1999, President of the FIA Circuits Commission. ALAN JONES 1980 Formula One world champion Alan Jones makes his fifth appearance in the FIA F1 stewards room, having made his debut at the 2010 Korean Grand Prix, and returned in 2011 to adjudicate at Suzuka, in 2012 for the Indian Grand Prix and last year at the Spanish Grand Prix. Best known as the 1980 Formula One World Champion, the Australian raced far and wide, competing everywhere from Can-Am and Formula 5000 to Le Mans and Australian Touring Cars. In his F1 career Jones won 12 grands prix, took six pole positions and set 13 fastest laps. While usually associated with the Williams team, Jones first grand prix victory came at the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix while racing for Shadow.
Championship Standings (Drivers) Australia Malaysia Bahrain China Spain Monaco Canada Austria GB Germany Hungary Belgium Italy Singapore Japan Russia USA Brazil Abu Dhabi POINTS 1. Nico Rosberg 25 18 18 18 18 25 18 25 0 25 12 18 18 -- -- -- -- -- -- 238 2. Lewis Hamilton 0 25 25 25 25 18 0 18 25 15 15 0 25 -- -- -- -- -- -- 216 3. Daniel Ricciardo 0 0 12 12 15 15 25 4 15 8 25 25 10 -- -- -- -- -- -- 166 4. Valtteri Bottas 10 4 4 6 10 0 6 15 18 18 4 15 12 -- -- -- -- -- -- 122 5. Fernando Alonso 12 12 2 15 8 12 8 10 8 10 18 6 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 121 6. Sebastian Vettel 0 15 8 10 12 0 15 0 10 12 6 10 8 -- -- -- -- -- -- 106 7. Jenson Button 15 8 0 0 0 8 12 0 12 4 1 8 4 -- -- -- -- -- -- 72 8. Nico Hülkenberg 8 10 10 8 1 10 10 2 4 6 0 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 70 9. Felipe Massa 0 6 6 0 0 6 0 12 0 0 10 0 15 -- -- -- -- -- -- 55 10. Kimi Räikkönen 6 0 1 4 6 0 1 1 0 0 8 12 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 41 11. Sergio Pérez 1 0 15 2 2 0 0 8 0 1 0 4 6 -- -- -- -- -- -- 39 12. Kevin Magnussen 18 2 0 0 0 1 2 6 6 2 0 0 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 38 13. Jean-Eric Vergne 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 2 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 11 14. Romain Grosjean 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 8 15. Daniil Kvyat 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 8 16. Jules Bianchi 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 17. Adrian Sutil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 18. Marcus Ericsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 19. Pastor Maldonado 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 20. Esteban Gutiérrez 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 21. Max Chilton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 22. Kamui Kobayashi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 23. André Lotterer -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0
Championship Standings (Constructors) Australia Malaysia Bahrain China Spain Monaco Canada Austria GB Germany Hungary Belgium Italy Singapore Japan Russia USA Brazil Abu Dhabi POINTS 1. Mercedes AMG Petronas 25 43 43 43 43 43 18 43 25 40 27 18 43 -- -- -- -- -- -- 454 2. Infiniti Red Bull Racing 0 15 20 22 27 15 40 4 25 20 31 35 18 -- -- -- -- -- -- 272 3. Williams Martini Racing 10 10 10 6 10 6 6 27 18 18 14 15 27 -- -- -- -- -- -- 177 4. Scuderia Ferrari 18 12 3 19 14 12 9 11 8 10 26 18 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 162 5. McLaren Mercedes 33 10 0 0 0 9 14 6 18 6 1 8 5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 110 6.Sahara Force India F1 Team 9 10 25 10 3 10 10 10 4 7 0 5 6 -- -- -- -- -- -- 109 7. Scuderia Toro Rosso 6 1 0 1 0 0 4 0 3 0 2 2 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 19 8. Lotus F1 Team 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 8 9. Marussia F1 Team 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 10. Sauber F1 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 11. Caterham F1 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0
Formula One Timetable & FIA Media Schedule thursday Press conference 18.00 Friday Practice session 1 18.00-19.30 Practice session 2 21.30-23.00 Press conference 23.15 Saturday Practice session 3 18.00-19.00 Qualifying 21.00-22.00 Followed by unilateral and press conference Sunday Drivers Parade 18.30 Race 20.00-22.00 Followed by podium interviews and press conference ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES Qualifying All drivers eliminated in Q1 or Q2 are available for media interviews immediately after the end of each session, as are drivers who participated in Q3, but who are not required for the postqualifying press conference. The interview pen will be located close to the media centre entrance in the paddock. Race Any driver retiring before the end of the race will be made available at his team s garage/ hospitality. In addition, during the race every team will make available at least one senior spokesperson for interview by officially accredited TV crews. A list of those nominated will be made available in the media centre. FIA Communications Department press@fia.com T +33 1 43 12 58 15