Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
2009 Qualifying - 1st, 2009 Race - 1st “Winning in Singapore last year was one of the most satisfying victories of my Formula One career. The whole team pushed for that result right from the start of the weekend, we overcame a number of problems, and we never gave up until it was in the bag. Crossing the line was a brilliant feeling. I’ve already drawn a line under Monza. I’ve learnt from the experience and, while it was extremely disappointing, those things are sometimes what you need to sharpen your mind and raise your game and motivation at an extremely crucial time in the season.

“It’s difficult to say accurately how competitive we’ll be in Singapore. If Monza most closely resembled a track like Canada, then Singapore is far closer to places like Monaco and Hungary, where we’ve struggled relative to the competition. But the engineers are positive that we’ve made some good progress, so I’m looking forward to getting out on track and sampling the changes for real. So I think we head into the weekend with renewed confidence following some positive tests and some developments in the wind tunnel. The race should give us a clearer indication of exactly where we stand as the championship closes down over the next five races, but I definitely want to score as many points as possible in this Grand Prix.”Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2009 Qualifying - 2nd, 2009 Race - 4th
“As a night race, Singapore is an unforgettable event. It’s important to manage the time difference, so I try to sleep until the afternoon so my body thinks it’s still in Europe. The circuit has 23 corners so it’s extremely important for the driver to find a good rhythm without touching the barriers. Besides that, this circuit is hard on the brakes and it has a lot of kerbs; the resulting bumpiness demands extreme concentration from the driver. I think Singapore offers a great show for the Formula One fans, the cars come across on the TV like they’re in a computer game and the scenery is amazing.”

Jenson Button, McLaren
2009 Qualifying - 11th, 2009 Race - 5th
“The Singapore Grand Prix will be a very interesting weekend because I think it’ll give us a clearer idea of the destiny of the world championship. The last time we were at a low-speed, high-downforce track was in Hungary back at the start of August; our car wasn’t particularly competitive there, and maybe we haven’t had a properly representative view of the top teams’ relative pace because we’ve just visited two high-speed circuits.

“But, equally, a lot has changed since that race in Budapest - not least, some quite hefty revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility and, additionally, a lot of work by the engineers at the MTC to ensure our car is now better suited to slower circuits. Singapore will be interesting for all of us – we’ll not only get an idea of the speed of the Ferrari and Red Bull, but we’ll get to see for the first time whether all our efforts over the past two months have helped put us back in the ballpark at high-downforce tracks.

“Personally, I think Singapore has quickly established itself as one of the best races on the calendar, and I’m already really looking forward to the race.”

Mark Webber, Red Bull
2009 Qualifying - 4th, 2009 Race - DNF
“I like Singapore; it’s unique as we race at night. You get the impression the crowd is pretty close to the track in most sections, so it’s certainly cosy. I’m hoping to improve on last year’s result, as it’s a high downforce street circuit that should suit our car. It’s got some similarities to Monaco and Budapest and we did well at both those circuits, so I’m hoping for a strong result. We’ve yet to experience any wet running on a flood-lit track, so it will be interesting if that happens.”

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP
2009 Qualifying - 3rd, 2009 Race - 11th
“Singapore is one of the highlights of the year and I really enjoyed the last two races. The atmosphere is fantastic and the concept of a night race works really well once you get into the routine of staying on European time. I had the best finish of my career so far at Singapore in 2008 when I finished second so the race has good memories for me. The track is good fun to drive and a real challenge. It feels like a proper street circuit, very narrow and enclosed, with a stop-start nature that never gives you the chance to relax. We’ve had decent results at the last two races so we will be hoping to continue our run of points finishes in Singapore next weekend.”

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP
2009 Qualifying - n/a, 2009 Race - n/a
“I have always been fond of getting to know new circuits and Singapore will definitely be an exciting adventure. I have three reasons to look forward to the weekend; it is a new circuit for me, it is a city race and it will be my first night race. Driving a new track has never been too complicated for me and I am usually very quick to learn and find the rhythm. As a team, we would like to perform strongly and we will give our maximum to deliver as good a show as possible.”