The Singapore GP preview

With the waving of the chequered flag at Monza, Formula 1 left the European leg of the 2010 season behind, packed the flight cases, stocked up on jetlag remedies and embarked upon the final grueling cluster of flyaway races.

First stop: Singapore, and in championship terms, the potential for all sorts of intrigue.

Monza was popularly expected to be Red Bull's last weak track for the season and if that's the case, Christian Horner and co will be relatively happy to have left Italy with a fourth and sixth. Even more pleasingly from Austria's point of view, Lewis Hamilton's 'must win' race instead ended with the Briton trudging back to the pits without completing a lap.

Singapore, then, is tipped to mark a return to Red Bull territory. The team insists that the more stringent flex-tests have not blunted the RB6's competitive edge, and the bumps around the Marina Bay street circuit will offer as clear an indication as any of whether that's the case.

If it is, then main rivals McLaren and Ferrari can take some comfort in the fact that Red Bull's track record in Singapore is not all that great. Mark Webber has never finished there, Sebastian Vettel was fourth last year and David Coulthard seventh in 2008.

But they'll also be taking steps to support their own cause. McLaren will bring a new front wing that it hopes will help negate its vulnerability on slower circuits, and Ferrari's upgrades are spearheaded by a new floor in the latest step of the never-ending search for more downforce.

Dark horses? Robert Kubica seems to have this spot permanently reserved, and historically (to the extent that you can say that about an event that's only been run twice previously), he's been pretty handy around Marina Bay. Nico Rosberg could potentially have sprung an upset in Singapore last year, and he also might fancy his chances again if things fall his way. But barring some sort of disaster at the front, it's hard to imagine any of the fringe dwellers really bothering the heavyweights.

The 25 points covering the top five in the drivers championship might not sound like much under the new points system. But with just five races to go, any points that are squandered cheaply might not be easily recoverable.

Weather

*The score is calculated by each driver's position (1st = 1 point, 24 for a DNF and 25 if not present). Lowest score wins.

Flashback

Prior to its arrival on the world championship calendar, Singapore held non-championship races between 1961 and 1973. The events were initially run under the banners of the Orient Year Grand Prix and the Malaysian Grand Prix, with the Singapore GP label being adopted after the country gained independence in 1965.

It was part of a bracket of Asian races that bookended the popular Tasman Series, with the Europeans starting their winter dalliances in Macau, then heading down to Australia and New Zealand for the Tasman races before returning home via Singapore and Malaysia.

The event was immensely popular, with 100,000 spectators lining the Thompson Road circuit and a record entry of 430 across 15 categories (including bikes) in 1972.

But for all its popularity, the circuit was considered immensely dangerous even by the standards of the time. The 3.023-mile street course was just 24 feet wide, and as well as offering little runoff it required drivers to contend with oil trails left by diesel-powered buses, monsoon drains, bus stops and lamp posts.

Seven deaths were recorded in the circuit's 11-year history; a fact that played a major part in the event's cancellation and the subsequent banning of motorsport in Singapore - a ban that remained in place until 2005, when the the government first announced its plans to host a Formula 1 race.

From the forum

"Red Bull are strong favourites. Downforce levels for this track will be similar (actually slightly higher) to those we saw in Hungary where, in terms of pace, the RB6 was in a class of its own. I am sure that the revised load tests will have had an effect and I am equally sure that both McLaren and Ferrari have been working hard to close the gap, but that gap was just too big to begin with. Kubica will be a danger to get in amongst the top 6 here too."
Dunder

"Singapore is all about tight, slow corners and good mechanical grip. It's a track that's extremely tough on the car, particularly the brakes. I see it as having the most in common with Valencia and Monaco. With the rapid improvement of Ferrari and McLaren since then I think this one could actually be line ball between the top three teams. But that will be an improvement for RB as they were a good 0.3-0.4 seconds a lap off Ferrari in Monza and a bit less than that in Spa with McLaren."
goingthedistance

"The Hungaroring is more flowing than Monaco or Singapore (which is just a whole bunch of elbows, chincanes and 90-degree corners). What we don't know is if McLaren can benefit from plenty of straights (even if they aren't very long) and how the teams will manage their brake wear. It was already marginal in 2009, IIRC both Brawns and Red Bulls had problems. Webber even crashed out. Now, with a heavier car all the way to the flag, it'll be even harder for everyone."
Atreiu