“Everything is a little bit special here [in Singapore]. It’s a surprise in a way, because we haven’t been racing here for fifty years – Formula One hasn’t been racing here for fifty years – but it still feels like a real classic already.”
Thus spoke Singapore Grand Prix victor Sebastian Vettel on Sunday evening, and truer words ne’er were uttered in an FIA press conference.
The Marina Bay Circuit has its detractors, largely comprised of those unlucky millions who have only ever experienced the race via their televisions. Critics complain of processional racing, a lack of overtaking, and a grand prix that is more about glitz and glamour than it is the action on track.
But for the lucky few who have found their way to the Singapore waterfront over the past five years, Formula One’s only night race is an unforgettable experience. There’s the sultry tropical heat, the sparkle of customized metallic liveries under miles of halogen, and a level of local enthusiasm unprecedented in a race so young.
When you find yourself in the heart of the action – in the heat of the action – the drama on track is but the icing on the cake of an unforgettable racing experience.
With a five-year contract extension announced over the course of the weekend, the Singapore Grand Prix organisers were feted for their ability to put on a show that has quickly become one of the highlights of the Formula One calendar.
But what works in real life can struggle on television, and such has been the case in Marina Bay.
The 2012 Singapore Grand Prix got off to the slowest of starts, with 23 essentially action-free laps with barely any changes in position. A lap one puncture for Felipe Massa was the only beacon of hope in the dreary darkness of F1’s eastern parade; the Ferrari driver emerged from the pits shod in a fresh set of Pirelli softs and proceeded to lap significantly faster than the rest of the pack, and the promise of some overtaking emerged.
With no first lap chaos for the race leaders, and a remarkably smooth start from the much maligned Pastor Maldonado – who lost two places but managed to avoid causing any collisions – Lewis Hamilton pulled out a 1.2s lead over second-placed Vettel over the course of the first lap, and all signs pointed to a processional race so typical of modern street circuits.
But in Formula One, fortunes can change in the blink of an eye, and such was the case on Sunday evening.
At just over one-third of the full race distance, Hamilton drew his MP4-27 to a halt in the Turn 5 run-off area, his victory hopes shattered by a gearbox failure. While McLaren were keen to assert that they had no concerns about the health of Hamilton’s gearbox prior to the race, one journalist used Saturday’s post-qualifying press conference to ask the man on pole whether the Briton had damaged his car by skimming the wall on his final run.
“Lewis, looking at the TV in slow motion, we saw that you touched the wall a little bit on the last lap. What happened? Did you feel something in the car or is it OK?,” the journalist asked.
“I did?” Hamilton asked, grinning. “Yessss! That means I’m using all the road. I didn’t mean to and I didn’t feel it so it hopefully hasn’t done any damage but I honestly didn’t feel it.”
Following Hamilton’s retirement, the race was Vettel’s to lose. The defending world champion is not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and the German took over the race lead on lap 23 and held his position until the chequered flag, despite two Safety Cars and a second pit stop.
It was the Safety Cars that ended up contributing to the most dramatic incidents on Sunday evening, those dramas that kept the stewards working late and the journalists even later.
Narain Karthikeyan brought out the first Safety Car of the race when he ploughed into the on lap 33; that incident was minor but it sparked off a series of incidents that saw the stewards considering penalties for eight of the twenty-four men who lined up on the grid.
Shortly before the lap 39 restart, Jenson Button narrowly avoided rear-ending Vettel; while there was no damage to either car the stewards spent three hours considering whether Vettel had driven incautiously before determining that there was no fault on either side.
Michael Schumacher and Jean-Eric Vergne were somewhat less fortunate – the Mercedes driver suffered brake problems (or visibility issues, depending on your allegiances) at the restart and ploughed into the back of the Toro Rosso, knocking both men out of the race and bringing out a second Safety Car before Bernd Maylander had a chance to breathe.
When racing resumed, it was the turn of Bruno Senna and Massa to give the stewards something else to think about. Massa spent the Singapore Grand Prix delivering the performance of a 2012 lifetime, working his way up from the back of the pack with a series of aggressive overtaking manoeuvres that were reminiscent of the Ferrari driver in his 2008 heyday.
Massa’s great drive was nearly brought to a premature end by Senna when the pair fought for limited track space and narrowly avoided seeing his chequered flag dreams smashed into the wall. But a good save and clean racing from both Brazilians led to a happy ending in the points for the much-maligned Ferrari driver.
The Singapore Grand Prix might not be perfect. The first one-third of the 2012 edition was a masterclass in all that is wrong with street circuits. But a little bit of bad luck, a lot of chaos, and a series of ballsy performances were nearly enough to eradicate the memory of 23 snooze-worthy laps.
Marina Bay may have established itself as an instant classic for those lucky enough to have experienced the grand prix in person, the Singapore race organisers should consider changing the circuit configuration if they hope to inspire the same passion in the millions of eyeballs restricted to the televised experience.
Kate Walker