Torrential rain in Singapore on Friday and more forecast for the weekend reinforced the prospect of Formula One’s first night race being run in the wet, although drivers remain unfazed.
Rain could affect visibility and performance, with concerns over reflection and glare from the powerful lights shining on to water collecting on the Marina Bay circuit.
This adds to the problems already faced by the drivers and teams who are acclimatising to a different time zone and gearing up for an anti-clockwise race around an unfamiliar and bumpy street circuit at night.
Teams have been putting in hours on the simulators to ensure they are prepared.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who takes his car around the track for the first time on Friday evening, insists he is not bothered by the rain.
”We always hope for a dry race as it is a lot easier to keep the car on the track and push it to the limit,” said the McLaren driver.
”If we had a slower car in the dry I’d probably be praying for the rain but the fact is we have a competitive car in both conditions.”
McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said precautions had been taken.
”If it rains there is the unknown of whether there will be a problem with glare or the sparkle of light from drops of rain that is greater than you would normally get,” he said.
”To stop this we are using coatings for the visors that won’t allow rain to collect.”
BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, third in the standings behind Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, said he was confident organisers would only run the race if it was safe.
”There are still some question marks regarding weather conditions and those related to the chance of rain — the light situation,” he said. ”I am sure the FIA have done everything to make it a safe race.”
Defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen was philosophical about the weather.
”They say that it rains every evening at Singapore. This shouldn’t worry us too much, because everybody will race under the same condition,” he said.
Leong Yue Kheong, director of F1 projects at the Singapore Tourism Board, has said everything had been done to ensure safety, including minimising glare from the lights, especially during rain.
”I don’t think we can totally eliminate or remove glare, especially when there is rain. When there is rain, all kinds of problems can be anticipated: the backwash, the water, the mist and so on,” he said.
”But I think what the lighting consultant has done is to minimise the glare that will affect the drivers.”
Honda team boss Ross Brawn was looking on the bright side, saying a wet race should make it more exciting.
”The weather will be a key factor in the weekend. It will be hot, wet and very humid and local statistics tell us that there is a 50% chance of rain in any given day in September,” he said.
”These are difficult conditions to work in for both the team and the drivers but it could lead to some exciting on-track moments.” — Sapa-AFP