This weekend, F1 returns to Singapore, which has not hosted a Grand Prix in three years due to the epidemic, meaning the toughest challenge on the calendar for drivers is back.
The drivers may be used to hot conditions when racing in the Middle East or mainland Europe at the height of summer, but nothing comes close to the sapping conditions of Singapore.
Street racing has a reputation for being a lot of work, and although there are some slow zones, street racing requires a driver's full attention from the start to the finish, and the straights are short, leaving very little opportunity for breath. But Singapore is the toughest street race of them all. It is notoriously one of the most physically and mentally demanding tracks for drivers, which means drivers have to prepare differently than for other races.
Daniel Ricciardo said that his first Singapore Grand Prix in 2011 was the most physically demanding he had ever completed.
"I wasn't ready, it sounded like I was partying all week!" He told Autosport, "I didn't realise the humidity would be that high, and the qualities of the track itself with its continuous corners and not much of a straight section to rest on. I've never experienced a track like that."
To make matters worse, Ricciardo was racing for the trailing HRT team, and that left him 19th at the end of the race, four laps down - not quite the contest the pre-test driver experienced.
"I just remember being exhausted from that race," Ricciardo recalled, "and I got out of the car and I remember saying I've never been so physically exhausted. I also made a promise that I wouldn't experience that kind of pain in F1 again. Since then, Singapore has in fact been quite good."
F1 drivers are often referred to as elite athletes who work with performance coaches and their teams to further improve artificial performance. Still, in order to be ready for the Singapore Grand Prix, their regular workouts and training programs need to be additive.
When racing in Singapore, the heat is one of the key elements that F1 drivers need to adapt to. The average annual humidity in Singapore is over 80% and because of its proximity to the equator, the temperature here in October is still in the low 30s. Drivers may be acclimatized to the high temperatures of the Middle East and continental Europe in the height of summer, but none of that compares to the uncomfortable conditions in Singapore.
If you follow the F1 drivers on social media, you will have seen some of the inventive ways their trainers have recently been getting them ready for that challenge. Last week, Carlos Sainz posted a video of himself on Instagram riding an exercise bike in a sauna as a way to try and get used to how hot it will be in the cockpit through the race in Singapore. Other approaches include adding extra layers of clothing for routine workouts, or simply sitting in the sauna at a really high heat as a way to teach the body what to expect. Every workout becomes that much harder, but it will be worth it come race day.
However, it is not only the heat and humidity that make Singapore such a grinding challenge. Unlike those high-speed street circuits in Jeddah and Baku, the average speed in Singapore is low. Charles Leclerc's pole lap time of 1:36.217 in 2019 is about eight seconds slower than Sergio Perez's pole lap in Jeddah this year, and the track in Jeddah is also one kilometer longer than Singapore's. The 23-corner layout also means there's little chance to catch your breath.
All of this made Singapore one of the longest races of the season to finish. Since joining the calendar in 2008, the Singapore Grand Prix has never been completed in under an hour and 51 minutes, the time taken in 2018, and has reached F1's two-hour time limit four times. No other circuit has hit the time limit so often, meaning that improving endurance is an important preparation for drivers to do in order to race, especially to deal with the heat for such a long time.
Another challenge drivers face is adapting to time zone changes. Time zones may be an issue at every stop, but Singapore's is particularly problematic because it is a night race. The best way to do this is to stay in the European time zone, which means going to bed at around 6am and then getting up around 3pm. The team will have to make special preparations for the Singapore leg by making sure that the hotel doesn't come into the room during this time to clean up and disturb everyone's rest, an unusual sleeping habit to be explained in advance.
Nicolas Latifi will be making his first trip to Singapore this weekend and admits he's not sure how he's going to balance the preparations. He always likes to arrive early so he can get used to "not only the timing but also the climate".
"I haven't run Singapore yet, but it's a strange stage," said Latifi. "I guess you want to get there early to get used to the climate, but not in terms of time because it's still British time! So the later you go over there, maybe the easier it is to adjust your time. It's hard."
The new generation of cars will be an added challenge in Singapore this year. a lot has changed since 2019, with a major rule change this year and the added weight of the cars making them even more unwieldy and sluggish through the slower corners, which makes street racing even harder.
Then there's the bouncing problem that teams have suffered this year, a problem that will become even trickier on the uneven streets of Marina Bay. Esteban Ocon said at Monza that the car would feel as stiff as when the kart hit the shoulder, while Pierre Gasly said it would be an extreme race for everyone. However, Singapore remains one of the favorite races on the calendar for all drivers regardless, and everyone is excited to be back at this track, as well as for some, racing here for the first time.
At the moment all the teams know how to prepare for Singapore, but having not been here for three years, it will likely be the toughest challenge the drivers have faced for some time.
