The first half of September has been wetter than usual in Singapore but the weather for this weekend’s grand prix is expected to follow its normal pattern. That means thunderstorms early in the day which are unlikely to affect the F1 sessions.
In the case of Sunday these could arrive slightly later than usual – extending into the late morning and afternoon. But that’s unlikely to have any bearing on the race which does not start until 8pm local time.
The conditions will be as punishing as ever for drivers. The humidity will remain high and although temperatures won’t hit the midday peaks of 32C-plus, they’ll still be in the high twenties, which always makes for an energy-sapping two hours.
This will inevitably put a premium on cooling: Not just the ever-critical power units but also the brakes, which will take a greater pounding this year due to the increased loads on the cars.
Saturday is expected to see slightly hotter conditions as the clouds will clear in the day time. Unlike in recent years haze is not expected to be a problem
For more updates on the track conditions during each session keep an eye on F1 Fanatic Live and the F1 Fanatic Twitter account.
Location of Singapore
See the location of every race on the 2017 F1 calendar here:
2017 Singapore Grand Prix
- 2017 Singapore Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2017 Singapore Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- 2017 Singapore Grand Prix Star Performers
- Ferrari suffer their first ever double lap one retirement
- “I’m really sorry”: 2017 Singapore GP team radio highlights
sato113 (@sato113)
14th September 2017, 20:27
Almost a decade here and no rain during qualy or the race! strange…
Anyone on here from Singapore? Are evening storms possible? I’ve visited before and the rain was usually late afternoon.
RL
15th September 2017, 4:01
It poured after qualifying in 2015.
RonanC (@ronanc)
15th September 2017, 4:31
Serious thunderstorm of race-stopping-Malaysia-2009 proportions this morning. To answer @sato113‘s question: I’ve lived here for a year and the weather does seem to follow predictable enough patters with downpours at this time of year usually happening earlier in the day.
Ivan (@wpinrui)
15th September 2017, 4:52
@sato113 I’m Singaporean! And I swear it rains every 4 or 5 days here (may be skewed by my dislike of rainy days) so how there’s never been a wet race, I have no idea
Jere (@jerejj)
15th September 2017, 6:58
@sato113 rain has never occurred during any practice session either. Only either before or between any given sessions but never during a session same as with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
Wesley (@)
14th September 2017, 22:30
I will be so happy when this track is off the schedule. Bad track with night racing. I skip this one every year. So dull under the lights.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th September 2017, 7:03
@wesley What a pessimist you’re, LOL. This circuit has actually produced better racing than some of the so-called permanent classic circuits in recent seasons, but regardless of the quality of racing, I wouldn’t be happy if this track was axed from F1.
Wesley (@)
15th September 2017, 20:27
Since when is having one’s own opinion being a pessimist?
Thecollaroyboys (@thecollaroyboys)
15th September 2017, 0:41
I think I have had two afternoon rain showers in the five SGP’s I’ve been to, never had a session in the wet. It does look a little hazy this morning looking eastwards down to the track and there are some blacker than usual clouds to the east as well.
Thecollaroyboys (@thecollaroyboys)
15th September 2017, 1:31
And so now it’s raining.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th September 2017, 7:06
Is it true they ‘seed’ the clouds in such a way that prevents rain during sessions? Another sign of F1 taking extreme measures to combat driving in the rain
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
15th September 2017, 8:53
@hahostolze No: Cloud seeding not behind Singapore’s dry F1 weekends
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th September 2017, 8:56
I retract my snarky comment.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
15th September 2017, 9:02
@hahostolze Now that I’ve come to think of it, I recall a (probably wives’ tale) story about how Malaysia 2009 happened after the pawang who’d kept the Malaysian races dry in the previous rounds passed away.
(it’s not like it even made it to the Daily Mail or anything though)
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
15th September 2017, 8:57
@hahostolze It’s not unheard of here in Jakarta, and if there were it would be more to do with SG and less than F1 IMO (after all rain does tend to make F1 races better and I expect Singapore to have a pretty good drainage system), but I’m inclined to believe @keithcollantine here
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
15th September 2017, 8:55
Well, something good has happened to Indonesia this year apparently
David BR (@david-br)
15th September 2017, 17:14
Presumably rain for the race would be excellent news for Mercedes.