Singapore GP 2013 Preview: 'Nothing Else Comes Close'

Form Guide

All teams will be bringing their last updates to their 2013 machinery before giving full focus to 2014. Last year, Red Bull brought major updates at this race that helped them and Vettel secure a third consecutive title. While Vettel’s lead is too massive this year to be overturned, we can expect some good battles between Mercedes and Ferrari for second place in the Constructors’ Championship. That will depend on the updates the teams bring this weekend for the final leg of the season.

Red Bull - Red Bull traditionally have been strong around the streets of Singapore and are likely to be on top this year with their all-rounder; RB9. Sebastian Vettel has won here for the last two years and would be looking to extend his championship lead at the top of the table as he closes in on a fourth consecutive title.

Ferrari - Like Red Bull, Ferrari have also been strong around Singapore. Fernando Alonso won here in his debut season with Ferrari in 2010, having already won the ‘Crash-gate’ affected 2008 race. It would be interesting to see where Ferrari’s final updates take them and whether they can be as strong in this high downforce circuit as they were too weeks ago in their home grand prix at Italy.

Mercedes - Mercedes have had two poor races in Belgium and Italy which have slipped them to third in the Constructors Championship. But Singapore is very different from those two circuits and if Mercedes can show the same pace they showed just before the summer break, they can be serious contenders for the number 1 spot on both Saturday and Sunday.

Lotus - Lotus tend to do better at high downforce circuits but with overtaking difficult on street circuits, they have to qualify their car at the sharper end of the grid. Last year, Kimi Raikkonen was able to climb to sixth place after starting the race down in12th. So while they had the pace of the front runners, they were just not able to fight with them owing to poor grid positions.

Other ContendersMcLaren probably had the strongest car here last year and should have won the race, if not for the gearbox failure. As far as this year’s race is concerned, they will be hoping to score a few points and stay ahead of Force India in the Constructors Championship.

Force India meanwhile have been strong at this circuit for the past two years and Paul di Resta was fourth in the 2012 edition of the race. However, after their mid-season slump, they are unlikely to finish as high this year.

Sauber, Toro Rosso and Williams should also be in the mix and will hoping to add a few points to their respective tallies.

Safety car

As we all know from the Crash-gate incident, the Safety Car can play an important role in deciding the outcome of the Singapore Grand Prix. As always, the timing of the Safety Car will play a crucial role. For example, if the Safety Car comes out somewhere between lap 17-20, the prime tyres starters, who wouldn’t have a made a pit stop by then, will essentially get a free pit stop.