F1 drivers: “Singapore has the bumpiest track”

By Jan Lin

Marina Bay Street Circuit, September 27, 2008 – The novelty of racing on a street circuit in the middle of the night seemed to have mesmerized the flush-with-wealth Formula 1 drivers. Despite being dubbed the "bumpiest track surface", most of the F1 drivers have issued a positive verdict of Singapore's Marina Bay street circuit at the conclusion of their second practice session at the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix.

It was a night of bumpy rides in more ways than one. Renault's Fernando Alonso came from behind at the ending stage of the second practice session to deny arch nemesis Lewis Hamilton from claiming a "double first" status last night. The 23-year-old Hamilton, who is racing in only his second F1 season, had clocked the fastest lap in his MP4-23 in a time of 1 minute 45.518 seconds at the first practice session.

The Briton played bridesmaid to Alonso with his time of 1 minute 45.805 seconds in the second practice session, which was just 0.098 seconds behind his former team mate. A one-two finish between Alonso and Hamilton will always remind F1 fans of the unusually intense rivalry between the talented pair that was sparked during their partners-turned-rivals term at McLaren last season.

So baffling was their internal rivalry at McLaren that it inspired the script of a Mercedes-Benz TV commercial. Returning to Renault this season, the 2005 and 2006 World Drivers' Champion has yet to take pole position at any of the 14 legs of the 2008 season so far. Hamilton, who lost the 2007 World Drivers' Championship title to Kimi Raikkonen by just 1 point, is leading this season with 78 points.

“Through certain corners there was lots of bottoming, and when you hit a bump it would throw the car around quite a bit – but it's an amazing venue," said Hamilton after the practice races. Partnering Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen for the 2008 season, Hamilton is growing into a street circuit specialist having won 2 of the 3 street circuit races so far. Hamilton took the title in Australia and Monaco and rounded a second-place finish in Valencia.

Throwing a comparison of the fourth and final street circuit of the season at Singapore's Marina Bay with the Monaco GP's street circuit, Hamilton revealed in good humour, "It's a very physical circuit – more than I expected, actually. You need to put a lot of work into the car to get a good lap – I'd say it requires double the energy of Monaco over a single lap. One lap around here is like two laps of Monaco!”

Alonso shared similar sentiments about the challenging circuit in Singapore though he was "impressed" by the lighting of the circuit and believes it is “an amazing opportunity for the spectators to attend a night race”. The 27-year-old Spaniard said, "The circuit is interesting, very bumpy in places, especially into turn number 7, and we have to keep an eye on that because it can become a problem."

Ferrari's street circuit specialist Felipe Massa, who finished 3rd at the second practice session with his time of 1 minute 45.793 seconds, echoed the concern of the bumps issue.

“Visibility is not a problem. The entry and exit to the pit lane could turn out to be a bit critical in the race. In general, the track surface has a lot of grip but in some points there are some bumps that are a bit of a pain,” said Massa.

Massa is enjoying his best season since his F1 career started in 2002. Sitting just a point behind Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship table at the moment, the Brazilian has doubled his Championship wins from 5 to 10 over the last 6 months this season. Massa's partner, 2007 World Drivers' Champion Kimi Raikkonen, begun the season brightly but has relegated to 4th position with a distant 57 points.

Turning in the 7th fastest time of 1 minute 46.580 seconds in the second session, Raikkonen commented not too differently from the rest, "The visibility is great and you don’t really feel you are driving at night with all the lights on the track. In general I like the track although some parts are too bumpy. The entry and exit to the pit lane are pretty difficult and we will have to be very careful."

While these seasoned podium contenders are more solemn in their take on the bumps issue, there are a few who are more candid in their assessment of Singapore's bumpy bay. Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima, who is remembered for dramatically running over his crew at the pit stop in last season's finale in Brazil, claimed the track was "hot and bumpy, probably the bumpiest track surface all season".

Honda's Jenson Button put a positive spin on the bumps. With a tinge of dry British humour, Button said, "The circuit is interesting to drive and it’s very bumpy which adds to the excitement as the bumps bounce the car all over the place." Fellow Briton, David Coulthard of Red Bull-Renault, went so far to suggest that the Marina Bay street circuit is "like the cobbled streets of Paris and very unforgiving".

Finally, Williams-Toyota's Nico Rosberg, whose timings took 6th and 5th placing in the respective practice sessions, also weighed in on the bumps issue. The son of Finnish 1982 F1 World Champion Keke Rosberg said ever so candidly, "As far as the track is concerned, it is a lot of fun to drive but it is however incredibly bumpy, so much so you could even get a headache!"

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