2008 Singapore GP Tech Review

As the inaugural night race and yet another new street circuit, Singapore was quite a spectacle. Such was the preparation at the track that changes to the cars for the running at night were not required.

While the drivers experimented with differently tinted visors to suit the lighting, most opted for a light tint or clear visor. Although darker and amber tinted versions were tried.

If night time conditions proved no major problem, the tight and bumpy circuit certainly taxed the teams in getting the right set-up to best attack the lap. As the track's layout was clear from the data provided to the teams ahead of the race, the basic set-up and downforce demands were easily assessed.

So, it was mainly the bumps and extreme kerbs that caught the teams out. Then, secondarily, the amount of braking required. Suspension set-up along with ride height were the main changes, while many teams elected to drop the front wheel fairings to achieve more brake cooling.

Arriving so late in the year and coming so close to the Hungarian GP, the teams introduced few developments. Already in testing we can see the teams focus is largely on 2009 with KERS and new aerodynamic parts being tested at Jerez preceding this race.

Sparks

Singapore brought sparks back to F1. This was due to the night running and low camera angles as well as the bumps.

Historically, the sparks were from a time in the 80s and 90s when ride heights were unregulated. The addition of the plank under the car put an end to the sparks from dragging the floor of the car along track.

Although the car can now run against the floor, this is to be avoided for fear of over-wearing the plank. Its thickness is measured in seven holes placed at specific points along its length. Wear at any other part of the plank is not regulated.

In addition the team can use fasteners to both hold the plank to the floor and also to act as skid blocks, these titanium fasteners are the parts that make the spark - the plank itself actually gives off puffs of yellow smoke as the wood is worn against the asphalt.

The fasteners are limited to a maximum of 50mm in diameter and at this size there can be up to 20 of them. However, only ten of them can be flush with the plank, the others must be recessed at least 2mm into the lower surface of the plank.

Running as low as possible makes the front wing and diffuser work more effectively. Teams need to balance this advantage with staying within the rules, to ensure the car is not grounding too frequently. Thus the titanium fasteners have temperature sensors attached and linked to the cars telemetry system, if they heat up to much the team know the car is grounding too frequently.

Brakes may be at the root of Ferrari's tyre warming problems © XPB (Click to enlarge)

As the plank is 10mm thick with the sidepods raised 50mm above that, there is little else on the car that's at risk to grounding, only the dipped section of front wing and the tail of the diffuser are low enough to risk touching down.

Team by Team

Ferrari

Arriving at Singapore from a test in Mugello, Ferrari brought nothing major new to the race, but did tackle the weekend with some new philosophies, as well as a collection of existing bodywork.

The most visual part to return was the shark fin engine cover. This was mated to the cooling chimneys with louvers on their inner faces. At the front, Ferrari ran their usual front wing along with the nose-hole.

While warming the front tyres on out-laps or in cold conditions appears to be Ferrari's weak point, the root cause may well be in the cars brakes. Testing at Mugello is believed to have revealed that the problem comes as much from low brake temperature not allowing the drivers to tackle corners more aggressively, thus putting less heat into the tyres.

This issue appears to have affected Raikkonen more than Massa. Reportedly, the drivers used differing brake materials in Singapore with the Finn trying Carbone Industrie discs\pads as opposed to the usual Brembo material. Brake cooling was still an issue and the drivers elected to run with and without wheel fairings over the weekend. In qualifying, Raikkonen set his fastest Q3 time without the fairings.

BMW Sauber added this winglet in between T-wing heck and flip up © Scarborough (Click to enlarge)

BMW Sauber

Despite Singapore following so close to Hungary, BMW Sauber developed a new sidepod winglet that sat between the T-wing and flip up. This small endplate-less flap probably gave a small contribution to downforce, working in conjunction with the devices it sits between.

McLaren

A surprise development from McLaren was new pod wings not seen in testing. These are a further development to the add-on extensions seen back in Canada. Now these extensions have been lengthened and also made in a moulded part of the pod wing.

Along with the longer pod wing, the slot through has been lengthened accordingly and the axe-head projecting from the floor has been extended to shadow the wing above it. This ensures the car meets the wording of the flat bottom regulations.

Aiding the high downforce needed for Marina Bay, McLaren ran their 4+1 front wing, which uses four elements across its entire span and an additional slot is made in the rearmost flap under the nose.

McLaren's longer pod wings also needed a longer axe-head to meet the rules © Scarborough (Click to enlarge)

On the sidepods, the T-wings were the more extreme versions with endplates merged into the flap, similar to the rear wing endplate set up.

Red Bull/STR

Despite so being so late in the season, Red Bull Racing brought newly-developed antler wings to Singapore, which are likely to stay on the car for the remainder of the season.

Red Bull's antler wings are akin to BMW Sauber's and McLaren's subsequent iteration of the design. However, the Red Bull version is a particularly neat installation, the span being neatly flat across the nose and the leading edges merged neatly into the nose cone.

These sorts of devices aid rear downforce generation, at the cost of that produced at the front. Also aiding rear downforce was a small add-on winglet to the rear crash structure. This simply mounted to the side of the existing tail fin above the rear light.

A neat version of the antler wings was seen on the Red Bull Racing car © Scarborough (Click to enlarge)

Interestingly, Toro Rosso have yet to implement these or any similar Red Bull Technologies developed parts. The team's preference to keep the car consistent and tackle differing circuits with a known package still appears to be working well.

Force India

A trial in brake cooling for Force India as they tried front wheel fairings cut back to a semi-circular shape. Latterly, the team ran without the fairings to allow the brakes to maintain lower temperatures.