Singapore GP 2009 thread

Kuali Baba SG

Everything about the next race goes into this thread.

Singapore to revise track for 2009 race

Singapore Grand Prix organisers are in talks with Formula One teams and the FIA about making revisions to their Marina Bay circuit in a bid to increase overtaking opportunities ahead of this year's race, autosport.com can reveal.

Although the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, won by Fernando Alonso, was hailed a huge success, race chiefs are looking at ways to make the 2009 event even better.

In particular, event chairman Colin Syn says they are looking at reprofiling the first sequence of corners in the hope of making it easier for drivers to overtake.

Speaking to autosport.com, Syn said: "We are modifying turns one, two and three because we want drivers to have more opportunities to overtake this year."

There are also plans to work on improving the track surface, which drew criticism from drivers as the most bumpy on the Formula One calendar and required teams to make drastic setup changes.

"We want to reduce the bumps and smoothen out the circuit," said Syn. "So that will be an improvement next year to make the race even better than it was in 2008."

It is also understood that modifications will be made to the controversial Turn 10, where high kerbs caused several accidents last year - most notably for Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen during the race.

F1's first night race at Singapore last year was labelled a huge success, with drivers, teams and onlookers all impressed with the efforts made by race organisers.

Former world champion Mika Hakkinen, who attended the event last year, said: "We saw an absolutely fascinating Grand Prix, a fantastic race and everything went fine. So I think we had two Grand Prix winners - one was Fernando Alonso and the other was Singapore."

Autosport

Kuali Baba SG

Old news...

Singapore confirms track changes

Singapore Grand Prix officials have confirmed that changes will be made to their F1 track for this year's race, as autosport.com exclusively revealed last month.

Although last year's inaugural event was hailed a huge success, winning several awards, it did not stop race chiefs wanting to make efforts to ensure the 2009 race was even better.

Following consultation with teams and the FIA, changes are due to be made to Turns 1, 13 and 14 in a bid to try and improve overtaking. The bumps at Turn 7 will be smoothed out in order to also improve the chances of passing

Furthermore, following complaints about excessive bumps last year, road surfacing work will be undertaken at Turns 5, 6 and 7. Also, the pitlane entry and exit will be revised in a bid to avoid problems highlighted last year.

Singapore's technical and race operations director Michael McDonough said: "While the circuit and the event exceeded expectations around the world, as with any brand new event, there are always things which we now know we can do better

"Minor modifications are proposed on the track, at Turns 1, 13 and 14 in order to improve overtaking opportunities whilst the main changes will be to the Pit Entry and Pit Exit to provide added margins of safety for cars entering and leaving the pit lane."

Turn 1at the track will be made sharper, so the corner will be slower. This will create a proper braking zone at the first corner. Furthermore, kerbs will be installed on the entry to the turn to prevent drivers taking too wide a line.

While Turn 1 is being slowed, Turn 13 - the left-hander after the Anderson Bridge, will be made faster - so as to increase speeds onto the Esplanade Drive and therefore make the braking zone for Turn 14 much harsher. Turn 14 will also be made slower to make the braking zone bigger still.

One of the biggest concerns for drivers last year was the pitlane entry and exit, whose design meant cars would often be on the racing line while entering or exiting the pits. For 2009 a dedicated pitlane entry will be built, while the exit will emerge at Turn 2 - well away from the racing line.

Another change will be that the runoff at Turn 22 will be reduced, to help improve facilities for spectators.

Autosport