Drivers praise Singapore track efforts

F1 drivers held a lengthy briefing with Formula One race director Charlie Whiting on Friday night to discuss their feelings on the new Marina Bay circuit. In particular, they were worried about lighting in some corners, the bumpy surface, the pitlane entry and exit and the Turn 10 chicane.

Although there is little that can be done about the bumps for this weekend, work was conducted overnight to tweak the lighting at some corners to improve visibility, and modifications were also made to the pitlane entry.

The white pit entry line has been brought forward by several metres so drivers now have to peel off the racing line temporarily, which will indicate to drivers behind them that they are about to go into the pits.

McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen said: "The pit entry was a bit tricky, but they have made some changes so the cars behind know that the guy in front is going to go into the pits. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that much, which is a good change

"The exit hasn't been changed because the stewards decided it was not necessary. In a racing situation it is always a bit tricky if you are side-by-side into turn one, but you just have to, whether you are coming out of the pits or you are racing, you have to judge it yourself whether you can attack or are too late to make the move. It is the normal part of racing."

With the huge amount of effort put into the event by Singapore organisers, world championship leader Lewis Hamilton led the tributes about what has been done.

"The track is I think quite impressive," said Hamilton. "The most impressive thing for me is what an amazing job they done have done here in Singapore to prepare the circuit. I cannot particularly fault it.

"It is bumpy, it has got a lot of character, it is anti-clockwise and it not like other bog-standard circuits. It feels like we are going through the streets of a city - and it has kerbs and corners. It is a really challenging circuit.

"It feels like a street circuit and I just feel for the first day of handling an F1 event, I think they did a tremendous job, so I feel everyone deserves a real pat on the back because it is really impressive."

The design of the Turn 10 chicane, where there are high bumps on the kerbs to prevent drivers straightlining it, remains a controversial subject for drivers however.

Although some remain unhappy about it, fearing the bumps could lead to a big crash, Hamilton felt they were actually making drivers more cautious through there.

"It is what it is," he explained. "It is a kind of Mickey Mouse corner. I don't know if you have seen it, but if you go and stand next to it you can almost draw a straight line for apex to apex to apex.

"We come up to that corner at such serious speeds that if you have brake failure and go straight on then you will be in trouble. If you hit one of those kerbs, as you saw with Heidfeld yesterday, he nearly hit the wall.

"But generally there were no crashes there yesterday. They were complaining about the kerbs yesterday, but in actual fact you touch the kerbs and you make sure you never touch them again. No one touched it yesterday and no one crashed. So they are obviously doing their job, aren't they?"

Grand Prix Drivers' Association director Mark Webber explained: "You can see Charlie got totally snookered at Turn 10, it is such an abortion at Turn 10, but he just could not do anything else.

"He got snookered there and to be fair Charlie brought this up with me a year ago. There is the cricket pavilion there and old buildings on the outside, so there was little option."

Webber echoed Hamilton's belief that overall the new Singapore circuit was a success.

"I think apart from the bumps and Turn 10, everywhere else it is a cracking street circuit. Unfortunately it is a little bit bumpy in places, which is a bit of a shame.

"It is nice to have some unique characteristics, but lap after lap going down there and concentrating not to put your tongue between your teeth in case you bite if off, it's not good."