There was no more spirit or hearing in Italy about the heat wave that swept Europe at the height of summer. Temperature v Monza they ranged between 17 and 19 degrees Celsius, with a maximum of 21 degrees during the race. In Singapore, the situation will be completely different - above thirty degrees Celsius and in combination with 80% humidity, which means significantly more demanding conditions for both racers and the material.
It’s true that it’s a night race, but on the southern edge of the Malay Peninsula at sunset, temperatures drop by a degree or two at most. In the cockpit, temperatures during the race also reach 60 degrees Celsius, which is only slightly less than in an average hot sauna. The situation is certainly far from pleasant for racers, especially because they are surrounded by several layers of fireproof materials for a period of less than two hours, as long as the race lasts. At least a little racers can cool off with cooling vests, in which ice bags are sewn, as well as with cooling collars, which are replaced by engineers during individual rides.
Fighting the heat: 60 degrees Celsius and more in the cockpit
Such solutions have no effect on the internal body temperature, but it is due to such cooling for racers still a little more comfortable while waiting. For cooling, the most suitable is a plastic tub, which is filled with cold water and where after the end of each part of the competition, the racers are soaked for 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the schedule. During the race itself, the chances of cooling down are slim. The most that a racer can do is open the visor a bit and let some (hot) air through the slot, or try to quench your thirst with a drink that is still really cold for the first few laps, and then more and more reminiscent of tea from lap to lap. .
Adequate fluid intake is vital in such conditions, as each of the racers with sweating loses more than 3 pounds of body weight. Nothing is better than the mechanics in the boxes, who work at forty degrees Celsius. In such conditions, teams even have prescribed protocols - at Mercedes e.g. staff are advised to drink between three and five liters of fluid a day.
Fighting acceleration and deceleration: One of the most challenging tracks in the F1 calendar
With five kilometers and 6,3 meters of track length Marina Bay Street Circuit it is not one of the longest, but it is certainly one of the most demanding. It has as many as 23 bends, of which 14 left and 9 right, they follow each other very densely, so that the longest plane is only 800 meters long, which of course means very little rest options for the arms, legs and head.
Due to the lower average speed, street races are usually shorter than those on racetracks, but even in this case, Singapore is a specialty. It's a race 61 laps long, all together very close to two hours, which is the upper arbitrary limit of how long a Formula 1 race can last. Four of the eleven races ended after two hours, with the fastest finish of the race in an hour and 51 minutes. For comparison - the race in Monza lasted only an hour and a quarter.
Let's play with statistics a little more. A racer on average he brakes fifteen times per lap, which is more than any of the Formula 1 racing venues in the current calendar. In Monza he brakes only six times per lap, in Monaco, Budapest or Baku eleven times. That together means 24 seconds of braking per lap or about a quarter of the entire circle. In 61 laps, this puts a total of 70 tons of pressure on the brake pedal or 630 kilograms of pressure per minute of driving. On such a track, of course, the driver's neck, arms and torso are also under attack, and braking, of course, also includes shifting - on the racers' lap He changes gears 62 times. It all depends on the situation at the race. He is the leader in last year's performance Lewis Hamilton carried out 3.100 shifts, on the other hand is Valtteri Bottas, who spent most of the race in the crowd, postponed 4.140 times.
Fight with the clock: Sleep at five in the morning
Among the more interesting data regarding the Singapore GP is also that due to the night race teams stick to European time, which means racers wake up around noon (this is welcome news especially for Romain Grosjean, who is not known as a man who likes to get up early), breakfast at one or two, followed by lunch around seven local time. The racers go to bed around five in the morning, just before dawn.
The teams do not leave anything to chance, so they rent the entire floors of the hotels and agree with the staff on them about the dimming and the adjusted schedule of meals and cleaning.
