F1 chief reveals 'BIGGEST CHALLENGE' at Singapore Grand Prix

Singapore Grand Prix

F1 chief reveals 'BIGGEST CHALLENGE' at Singapore Grand Prix

Formula 1 teams have a lot to get their head around at the Singapore Grand Prix

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Saturday 16 September 2023 10:57

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Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough has revealed that 'the biggest challenge' of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend revolves around the team's decision to remain on European time.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit is one of the few night races on the calendar, with Sunday's action getting underway under the lights at 20.00 local time.

Singapore is six hours ahead of Monza, where the Italian Grand Prix took place last time out.

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And with the Japanese Grand Prix around the corner as well, Formula 1 teams such as Aston Martin have a difficult task on their hands when it comes to adapting their timings.

Singapore Grand Prix's biggest challenge

Formula 1 has arrived in Singapore for this weekend's race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit

"With it being a night race, we eat and sleep on European time in Singapore," McCullough told Aston Martin's in-house media. "The curfew times are based around the session times, and the session times are late in the day while FP2,

"Qualifying and the race start take place at 20:00 or later local time. We offset everything to deal with this."

"The biggest challenge is going back to the hotel when daylight breaks," he added. "You don't want to be taking in too much natural daylight before you go to sleep as three sessions take place under darkness.

"Sometimes, after Qualifying, it's easy to think about lots of extra ‘what if?' scenarios, get back too late and walk back in the daylight. That plays havoc with your sleep pattern.

"We travel to Japan early next week so there's time to get used to the jet lag. There's so much work to do between races – analysing, debriefing the Singapore race, preparing for the Japanese Grand Prix – that you're so busy and kept awake by adrenaline. It keeps you going.

"I tend to find it's fine in the moment; once you finish the Japanese Grand Prix and try and get back to your home time zone, that's when you feel it. You've been on the go for many days in a row, physically and mentally – it's quite hard to recover from that quickly."