Formula 1 now leaves Europe to tackle the final seven races of the season. The first of these takes place at night through the city streets of Singapore. Alberto Antonini, head of Scuderia Ferrari’s press office explains the main characteristics of this track to ferrari.com.
“The Singapore Grand Prix is very demanding: the average speed is very low and usually the race runs close to the two hour time limit and simply finishing is no mean feat. The track places heavy demands on the braking system and managing traction is also important. The latter involves taking into consideration the many slow 90 degree turns, which also give the brakes a hard time. Given the twisty nature of the layout, there’s not enough time to cool the discs or the calipers, an aspect the teams have to keep in mind while setting up the car. The Singapore event runs to a different timetable, effectively taking place on European time, so that the personnel arrive at the track around lunchtime, working into the early hours of the following morning. For us, it’s just one more race on the calendar, to be tackled with the same attitude as usual, with our heads down and our feet firmly on the ground. What we can definitely promise our fans is that we will be giving it our best shot.”
Kimi determined to “better results”
Because of the track layout, compared to many other places here it’s easier to overtake. As usual, our aim here is to do well in qualifying to have better chances in the race. Obviously we want better results, it would make it more fun for everybody. I think we are doing the right things but we’ve had issues here and there and if, like in the last race, something happens at the start, this compromises the end result. If we get rid of all the issues and mistakes I’m sure we can get good results. We are going in the right direction, we have to finish strong. The aim for this year is try to win more and hopefully next year we’ll be in the position to challenge in every race as a team.
Seb: “I get along very well with the car”
It’s always difficult to predict what is going to happen. In the last couple of years this place has been very good for me, I love the track, is one of the most challenging we face in the season. The circuit is unique in many ways, it’s a lot about the feeling with the car and having the confidence and this makes the big difference here. We have a strong package and hopefully we can keep this record up. Our goal for the championship is maximum attack, we have to go for everything that we can get, as long as the chance is there we have to try and make everything that’s possible. In principle I get along very well with the car this year, we’ve had many different types of tracks but still we are competitive more or less everywhere. Overall we have been quick enough to go in the top five, even if our target is to be always in the podium. Mercedes has the strongest package at the moment and if nothing goes wrong there is not much space left on the podium, but we have been pretty good in getting our maximum.
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