After an absence of two years, the Singapore Grand Prix is back on the Formula 1 calendar and is held as usual at the 5.063 kilometre-long Marina Bay circuit. Like always since its inception 14 years ago, Sunday’s 61 lap race, equivalent to 308.706 kilometres will be run entirely at night.
It is worth mentioning that Singapore was the very first Formula 1 race to be run from start to finish under floodlights, with over 1700 of them around the circuit. Even though the sun has set, it remains one of the toughest races of the Formula One championship for all parties involved, drivers, engineers and mechanics, due to the heat and high humidity, while the ever present threat of rain can make for unpredictability during the Singapore weekend.
Andrea Ferrari, the trainer of Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, explains physical challenges that drivers face at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in the Singapore Grand Prix:
What physical challenges does a driver face at the Singapore track?
Andrea Ferrari: “On the current Formula 1 calendar, Singapore is the most demanding track. It’s a traditional street circuit with the walls punishing the slightest lack of concentration. Furthermore, there are no long straights, so the driver can never take a breather, as it is only in a straight line that the heartbeat can slow down a bit to give the athlete a break. Making the situation even more challenging is the Singapore climate, with very high temperatures and levels of humidity. This compromises thermoregulation, the body’s ability to dissipate heat. The drivers sweat a lot and so lose mineral salts and calcium, essential for muscle function which in turn affects physical performance on track”.
It’s well known that humidity and heat are suffocating in Singapore. So how can a Formula 1 driver prepare to face such extremes?
Andrea Ferrari: “Over the Singapore Grand Prix race distance, a driver can lose up to three kilos in weight and that can lead to a significant drop in performance. To overcome this, the athlete must remain hydrated constantly throughout the race. To help them get through the weekend in the best possible shape, one aims to get to Singapore as early as possible to adapt to the climate and to carry out some training sessions in these extreme conditions, having started that programme in the previous weeks, with the aid of saunas to simulate the heat and humidity of the city”.
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As part of the show, the Singapore Grand Prix runs to a unique timetable, with everything starting very late in the day. How does one approach such a different weekend?
Andrea Ferrari: “This is the easiest aspect of the weekend to manage: the drivers’ schedules mean they stay on European time, arriving at the track late in the afternoon and leaving in the early hours of the morning. Physically and psychologically, this race is much more straightforward than the following weekend’s race in Japan, when the drivers will have to get back onto local time”.
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