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This is the place to discuss everything related to the fifteenth round of the 2008 F1 season taking place at the Singapore street circuit between the 26th and the 28th of September.

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The event timetable for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 19:00 local time - 11:00 GMT
2nd Practice 21:30 local time - 13:30 GMT

Saturday
Practice 19:00 local time - 11:00 GMT
Qualifying 22:00 local time - 14:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 20:00 local time - 12:00 GMT

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This will be the first ever Formula 1 night race and here is a good facts and analysis report on the event courtesy Renault F1 Team

Singapore: A unique atmosphere

F1's visit to Singapore really is a weekend of firsts: the first F1 race in Singapore; the first F1 night race; and the first F1 street race in Asia. It promises to be a spectacular event with the 5km route seeing the cars blast through the heart of Singapore's marina bay district, taking in iconic landmarks such as Raffles Boulevard and the Anderson Bridge.

Racing at night is perhaps the biggest novelty factor of the race, adding another dimension of excitement to the sport. The beauty of racing at night means the race fits well with both Asian and European television audiences, while the city location will help create a unique atmosphere that accompanies all street races.

Singapore: Tech File

The 5.1km Singapore street circuit looks like being one of the slowest of the season, with teams likely to run with high downforce and projected lap times in the 1m45s region. As a step into the unknown, the team has been running computer simulations to get a rough idea of the ideal set-up required. In reality, though, it won't be until the cars take to the track on Friday morning that the team will get a proper understanding of the demands of the track.

Tyres
Much like Monaco, grip levels are likely to be low at the new Singapore street circuit. Therefore Bridgestone will supply the soft and super-soft compounds from its 2008 range, the very same compounds that were taken to Monaco, Budapest and Valencia. This will offer good grip on what is expected to be a very green track surface at the beginning of the weekend. However, like any temporary circuit, grip levels will ramp up as the track evolves across the weekend and rubber is laid down.

Aerodynamics
After Monaco, Singapore looks like being the second slowest circuit of the season. The team will therefore run with a high downforce package to give the car good stability under braking and to push the car into the ground in the corner exits to maximise traction and ensure good acceleration.

Brakes
Initial simulations suggest that the circuit will be quite demanding on the brakes with wear rates being similar to somewhere like Melbourne. It is not the severity of the braking but rather the regularity that makes it so demanding as the brakes will get little respite. Efficient brake cooling is therefore a must.

Suspension
Suspension set-up is one of the most difficult things to predict when planning for a new circuit. However, for any street circuit with a high percentage of low-speed corners, mechanical grip is always valuable and the team will work hard to ensure they give the drivers a supple enough suspension to get good clean exits out of the slow corners and a car that can ride the bumps and any changes of camber.

Engine and gearbox
Street circuits tend to be less severe on the engine due to the low percentage of the lap spent at full throttle, but the engine can still be under stress as it will be used in a very stop-start fashion. Closely-spaced gears ratios will be used at this circuit in order to optimise acceleration, and get the most from the engine at low speeds, while the engine team will work on the mapping to ensure the engine delivers good torque from low revs, allowing early throttle application.

Singapore: Track analysis with Pat Symonds

Introduction
The Singapore street circuit will be a maximum downforce track with a low average speed of just under 170 km/h and most corners taken in second gear. Like any street circuit, the existing surface is expected to be quite low grip and bumpy, and so getting the car to ride well will be all-important although 20% of the track is newly surfaced and probably therefore smoother. There will also be the usual distractions of road markings and white lines, which could become hazardous if it rains.

Before we get to Singapore and walk the track, it is difficult to pick out potential overtaking opportunities because we don't know exactly what the track surface is like or the width of the circuit. The Anderson Bridge, for example, looks to be very narrow, whereas other parts of the lap are run on dual carriageway. The overtaking opportunities will depend on whether we are using the full width of these roads.

Turns 5 and 6
The fastest part of the circuit is the section on Raffles Boulevard, where the cars will reach a maximum speed of somewhere between 290 and 300 km/h. It's not quite a straight as there is a right kink (turn 6), but the cars will take this easily flat at around 280 km/h. It will be important to get a good exit out of turn 5, a second gear right hander, in order to carry good speed on the approach to turn 7, which on paper looks like being the best overtaking opportunity on the circuit.

Turns 10 through to 14
A challenging part of the lap is the section after St. Andrews Road, past the cricket club and on towards the Anderson Bridge. The tight chicane of turns which we believe will be numbered 10 and 11 on the FIA map are almost one corner, which will be pretty much straight-lined, with the first part taken in third gear before dropping down to second and then decreasing in speed all the way through to turn 12, which is likely to be taken at just under 90km/h. From there it's onto the spectacular Anderson Bridge and the approach to turn 14, which looks like being the slowest corner on the circuit, taken at about 70 km/h.

Turns 19 and 20
Another interesting section is turns 19 and 20 towards the end of the lap after Raffles Avenue. Turns 17 and 18 consist of a right-left chicane, and then 19 and 20 are a left-right chicane, which will take the cars through a tunnel and back onto Raffles Avenue. This could be especially challenging if we get some wet weather leaving the undercover sections dry.

The first night Friday practice is underway.

Air temperature is 28 degrees while track temperature is 29 degrees

All the drivers have completed installation laps except for the 2 Ferrari drivers

It is all quiet on the track!

An awesome ariel view of the track. Spectacular

Button returns to the track

Bourdais and Glock on the track as well

Button is the first to start a flyer on this track!

Glock also on a flyer but he is much faster!

Button sets a 1:59.967!

Glock sets a 1:52.618

Button improves with a 1:54.131

Trulli is 3rd with a 1:57.455

Glock improves with a 1:49.942

Glock seems to be enjoying this track, he improves again with a 1:49.396

Bourdais is now in second with a 1:50.029

Raikkonen on track