25/09/2008
NEWS STORY
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First day of the Singapore Grand Prix - well, nearly. Track tests have taken place, it's still 31 degrees outside and it's past nine in the evening. Behind me, the lights look great and illuminate the circuit well. Marshals are out and about, there are track and safety cars on the circuit.
Most of us have been able to have a good look at the track today. I got to the track soon after midday but it wasn't easy to get in. The underground railway, efficient though it is, doesn't get you very close to the track. It's still a 15 minute walk if you know where you're going, more if you don't.
That got me walking along the circuit and I was surprised how wide it is in some parts, although I later found that it was pretty narrow in others. I was interested to see that there were lights mounted on one side of the circuit or the other, but not both sides.
One of my first experiences was walking on the track that passes under a particularly large grandstand. This is actually a permanent 15,000 seater grandstand which is used for Singapore's National Day parade on August 9. It's going to be a new experience for the drivers, providing some exciting vibrations for those seated in the stand but there is a massive downside for some. The support races paddock is situated under this stand -not such a bad idea to keep them and their equipment dry - but just imagine the noise when the F1 cars are on circuit!
Arriving in the paddock, I was immediately struck by the size of the buildings, both the pit building and the team buildings behind. After Bahrain and China, for instance, these are relatively small and it reminds you that it isn't necessary to have a massive structure to run a Grand Prix. There's nothing wrong with what we've got, the pit lane looks good, so does the area behind the pits. Our press facilities are certainly big enough, so is the press conference room. You simply don't need the huge buildings and infrastructure that have become fashionable. Well done Singapore for bucking the trend.
Later I went around the track. One is struck by the run-offs which don't seem too big but obviously acceptable, by the width of the track and its backdrop. Too often the drivers say they feel hemmed in by concrete walls and high fences. Here there is no doubt that they should notice the high rises, old government buildings and even trees around the track. It's going to have great atmosphere, but are they going to see those features in the dark? It really is a shame that the rest of the world is not going to see this track in the daylight. Quite a lot of its attraction is going to be lost when the lights go on.
There is also a new chicane just before the first bridge, around turns 11 and 12. This has been put in, I believe, to slow the cars for the track at its narrowest. The chicane will mean a very slow and narrow section, but take a look at what has been placed to discourage short-cuts. They look like a trio of coloured rugby balls, and woe betide anyone who runs over them. They are lethal car destroyers. I wonder how long they will last!
It's a shame that anything has been put here, but the first bridge is quite narrow, and therefore something had to be done. You scarcely notice the second bridge, certainly not in a Formula One car, and thereafter there is a profusion of right-angled corners which has always been the bane of street circuits. Earlier there was a tightening one which might well catch out a few drivers.
All in all, however, it looks good. Is there place for overtaking? Difficult to say at the moment, but there should be, in theory. There are tight corners, straights and tight corners which should be the right recipe. None of the drivers would say what chances overtaking at this early stage.
They confirmed that in terms of challenges, the biggest one is maintaining a Europe time schedule. Kovalainen talked of keeping an eye on his watch rather than conducting his life according to what was going on outside the window. Some of my colleagues in the press are trying to do the same thing, but finding it tough going. This is partially because Singapore hasn't entirely embraced the fact that there is this community of several thousand living life to a different schedule to theirs, and therefore requiring meals at unreasonable hours. Unfortunately, of course, they have to resort to liquid refreshment in order to stay up into the early hours with the resulting damage to health, particularly noticeable on arrival at work. Oh well, they aren't the first nor last journos to suffer thus…
Bob Constanduros