Grand Prix thread 2015 Singapore GP Chat and Predictions

Who will shine bright in the night (smog), a silver arrow? a red stallion? or even a red bull?
The season is drawing to a close, who can ever doubt Lewis Hamilton? A failing team-mate and one legendary car, everything seems under control... maybe too controlled perhaps.

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Number of times held 15
First held 1966
Most wins (drivers)

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Graeme Lawrence

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Sebastian Vettel (3)
Most wins (constructors)

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Red Bull (3)
Circuit length 5.065 km (3.147 mi)
Race length 308.828 km (191.897 mi)
Laps 61

TYRES SELECTED ARE SUPERSOFT AND SOFT*

*Please note Mercedes pressures are tbc and Williams tyre selections themselves are yet tbc*

Only on Sky

7 Points:
di Fredsta!,

6 Points:
DHCanary, dhel,

5 Points:
El_Bando, SgtBhaji, happyal, ched999uk, EternalMSC, Alderpiereld, Max Whiplash, jonnybaws,

4 Points:
exfat,

3 Points:
Paco Montoya, eddie_squidd, St. Slicks of Stoneham, Dell Boy, dicostu333, PaulK,
2 Points:
TheJudeanPeoplesFront, Eat Sleep Watch F1 Repeat, ErnieBecclestone, 51LV3R8RR04, BrightLampShade, fevriul,

1 Point:
BojackHCAFCman, StGeordie, TomTom94, allsaintchris, Mystic Nutmeg, cosicave, taeleon, St.
LewisFTW, smhbcfc, WestCoastBoogaloo, Smithers, Random92, Quagmireuk​

 

Got to go with Lewis here, you have to be a lunatic not to.

 

Aye, likely to put it on Pole, and if he gets a decent start and gets out of the first corner first, then turn off and comeback in a couple of hours to watch the last lap, podium, interviews.. it will be a boring race if Rosberg doesn't get his **** together!

 

Remember, Rosberg will have his new engine with no racing laps on it. Lewis will have the new one with over 50 race laps and especially several laps where he has had to run the ball-bearings off it because of the "unspecified" problem which turned out to be the tyre pressure "misunderstanding". SO who knows what condition that engine will be in this weekend?

 

Couldn't they just throw that scruffy engine into Rosberg's car, to ensure Hamilton a win from pole.

 

Will be a cracker of a weekend, how do I know this I hear you ask. Well, I'm off on a rescue course all weekend and so will miss the entire event. Therefore it'll be a cracker

 

Not sure 1 race old engine will make that much of a difference..
If he gets the setup right (which he's nailed for most of this season) good balance of single lap pace and race pace, (and assuming his engine doesn't go pop and the smog doesn't ruin it for everyone), then, new engine or not, can't see Rosberg getting the better of him..
Like Webber, he had to win the Championship in 2010 in order to make it more of a fight against Vettel, the fact that he didn't and Rosberg didn't last year, I can see history repeating itself, whilst not officially, Rosberg, like Webber, is the de facto #2 in that team!
If Merc have a bit of an advantage next year, then we'll have 2 4x WDC champs on the grid come 2017!!

 

McLaren double points finish, it's a long Monaco. (might have a little flutter if the odds are good enough)

 

There's been dafter money spent!

 

pff, the best prices work out at 3/1, if it had been 30 I might've gone for it.

Hmm, both Alonso and Button are 150/1 for a podium, that might be worth 50p on each

 

Put it on Alonso and look out for Button crashing somewhere the car can't be recovered

 

Yes but a one race old engine turned up to full power might for several laps might hurt...

 

Not at Singapore, it's not a power circuit by any stretch of the imagination. Mercedes ran a six race old engine in Canada and still dominated. They suffer hardly any drop off race to race. Consider those engines had done practice and quali at each event too. Hamilton's engine is practically brand new, if it was a set of tyres it would still have the stickers on.

 

Yes, Rosberg has a newer engine. Is this a big deal? –No, I think not. It's a small advantage; and over a race distance, probably worth less than 0.100 secs per lap. My guess is that he'd like a bit more than that…

However, compared to recent circuits, Singapore is quite technical. Rosberg's best chance is to be ahead of Hamilton by quickly finding a better set-up and trying to maintain an advantage throughout practice – and then hope to maintain it whilst Hamilton (probably) closes in towards qualifying. If Rosberg is still ahead at the end of Practice 3, qualifying will be a tantalising prospect. For anyone who wants to see a fascinating battle, the hope must be that Rosberg can take pole and then hold Hamilton off for as long as possible on the Option tyre and get an earlier first stop; or perhaps that Mercedes make a total hash of the start! This circuit rewards a chassis more than a power unit and Mercedes could trip up if they can be pressured into errors – especially if they make any when they launch.

Red Bull might show a significant improvement over recent form, as could McLaren. It'll be interesting to see how Ferrari, Williams, Lotus, Force India, Toro Rosso and Sauber adapt to this circuit.

Watch out for Vettel: I think he's very likely to be on the podium – and probably well ahead of his team mate…
Other drivers who may exceed expectation: Verstappen, Kvyat, Button – but don't count out Massa; if he's feeling inspired, he may well out-perform Bottas.

 

Expect Mercedes to be investigated post-race for having the wrong shade of silver on their cars.

 

Too right.. with the current haze/smog levels, all teams should paint their cars bright yellow or install neon lights on the front and rare wings! extra points for the best designed light arrangement!

 

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Rightfully so, I noticed Lewis's car was definitely a shade lighter than Nico's - obviously a weight saving advantage!

 

I thought it would be a goner, water+oil is normally a bad mix!

Tobias Grüner F1 ‏@tgruener 7m7 minutes ago
Rosbergs new engine, that had to be replaced by an old spec at Monza, is ready to be used again at Singapore. AMuS: http://ams.to/rosberg-engine

 

Ermmm

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