RW 18 – Tyre Selection

There are around seven thousand kilometres separating Baku and Singapore and the entire Formula 1 circus has just tackled it.
This is the first time these two races have been run back-to-back.

The dry weather compounds chosen for 15th running of the Singapore Grand Prix of the Singapore Grand Prix are the same as last year’s and in face the same as at the past two races at Monza and Baku, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).

The circuit was modified last year with the aim of making it flow better, but it is still one of the twistiest of the season. Its length is now down to 4.940 kilometres so that the number of laps has been increased to 62.

In the final sector, between what used to include turns 16 to 19, a 400 metre straight has replaced them so that the number of corners has been reduced from 23 to 19.

As with all street circuits, the slightest mistake in Singapore comes at a high price, given there are very few run-off areas and running a fraction off-line can see you in the barriers.
Therefore the Safety Car is a common sight here especially as it takes quite a while to remove a stricken car from the track.

There are a few factors that make the one-stop is the only valid strategy: firstly the time lost for a tyre change pit stop is around 28 seconds, secondly overtaking on this track is complicated. A two-stop could only be considered in the event of the race being neutralised.