Valtteri Bottas: Singapore will be 'like a mild, humid sauna'

Valtteri Bottas feels Singapore is similar to a sauna in terms of weather and driving conditions. The Finnish driver claims the heat and humidity can cause physical challenges and fatigue over the next two hours.

Asked about the weather and its challenges during the drivers’ press conference ahead of the race, the Alfa Romeo driver said:

“For now! I think, speaking of saunas, I think good comparison is actually it’s like a mild, humid sauna. Because that’s how it does feel in the car and obviously we’re wearing the fireproofs with the underlayer, which are not the most breathable things, and also the airflow in the car is actually in the cockpit, is not really much, if any, so for sure that temperature already and how much you lose fluids, that’s a big thing. But on top of that, the track is like intense, you know, there’s not much time to rest and somebody mentioned before, it’s bumpy as well and that drains your body even more. So just the whole race distance, which is up to two hours, towards the end you definitely feel fatigued. It’s hard work. That’s the best I can describe it.”

Given the Finn’s fondness for saunas, the Singapore GP would be a mild and humid form of the same for him. Suggesting that the venue and its weather can make the race fatiguing, Valtteri Bottas believes the Marina Bay circuit poses its own set of challenges in terms of physical demands.

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Valtteri Bottas feels 2022 F1 Singapore GP will be better for Alfa Romeo compared to Monaco and Baku

Expecting better performances than Monaco and Baku, the Alfa Romeo driver believes the Singapore GP will be a better race for them. Valtteri Bottas believes that the team has tweaked a few bits in their car this weekend, which will help them perform better. The Finn, however, suggested most of their performances will depend on qualifying, which is extremely important at this circuit.

Previewing the Singapore GP race to the on-site media, the Finn said:

“As always (it’s) hard to predict. I do hope so. We don’t have any proper upgrades here but small tweaks here and there. It’s a very, very different type of circuit to Monza. Now it’s back to pretty much maximum downforce so it’s hard to predict but I hope so because I haven’t really scored in a while, obviously, due to many DNFs and penalties as well. But yeah, I really hope to get back to good form and especially in qualifying, you know, we need to qualify well here if we want some points. I think we learned a lot from Monaco and from Baku as well. We’ve learned huge amounts since so I’m expecting better than in those weekends.”

The Alfa Romeo team is currently sixth in the constructors' standings and has beaten Ferrari-powered counterparts Haas and AlphaTauri. While the Hinwil-based team has been consistent in its performances as compared to its rivals, its last few outings have been a mixed bag for its drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.