Feature

Chris Medland’s 2016 Singapore Grand Prix preview

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What time does the Singapore Grand Prix start? What channel is the Singapore Grand Prix on? The answers to all of that and more in F1i’s race preview

Over the past three seasons you may have become accustomed to a lack of uncertainty over who is likely to win each weekend. Save for reliability problems or collisions, Mercedes has won every race except one: last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Ferrari and Red Bull fought for the win as Mercedes mysteriously struggled for pace, failing to get the most out of the Pirelli tyres on the tricky street circuit. With Red Bull clearly closer than it was last season and Ferrari’s upgrade performing well in Italy, there is every chance Mercedes could be on the back foot again this weekend, or at least face a real fight for victory. Exciting, isn’t it?

FORM GUIDE

Nico Rosberg has taken back-to-back victories but Mercedes’ recent form may not be the best indicator when it comes to Singapore given last season’s pace. Red Bull is the one to watch, with Daniel Ricciardo the fastest man in Monaco and only failing to win on outright performance due to a pit stop blunder. Ferrari showed progress in Monza with a new power unit upgrade and managed to get the tyres working well in Singapore last year, with Sebastian Vettel taking a stunning pole position. Force India and McLaren both head into the race weekend expecting stronger performances than in Monza, while Toro Rosso will also hope to negate its power unit deficit on a street circuit. Williams could be under threat from all of the aforementioned teams, but performed strongly in Singapore last year and will need to repeat that to keep Force India at bay.

2015 RESULT

Pole position: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), 1:43.885

Top three: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

Fastest lap: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), 1:50.041

SESSION TIMES (All times local)

FP1: 18:00 - 19:30

FP2: 21:30 - 23:00

FP3: 18:00 - 19:00

Qualifying: 21:00 - 22:00

Race: 20:00

TYRE CHOICES

©Pirelli Motorsport

WEATHER FORECAST

Singapore often offers a difficult weather forecast, with high temperatures and high humidity leading to thunderstorms which are unpredictable in timing. As it stands, the three days of the race weekend are all set to top 32C, but temperatures will drop slightly under the lights, especially track temperatures. There is a chance of rain on all three days, with race day the most likely at 80%, but often it is a sharp thunderstorm which hits the circuit during the day but not during track running.

UK TELEVISION TIMINGS (All times UK)

Sky Sports F1 - Live coverage

FP1 - 1045

FP2 - 1415

FP3 - 1045

Qualifying - 1300

Race - 1130

Channel 4 - Highlights

Qualifying - 1730

Race - 1830

PODIUM PREDICTION

1st - Daniel Ricciardo

2nd - Lewis Hamilton

3rd - Max Verstappen

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.