This weekend's Singapore Grand Prix commences the 'third act' of the Formula One season, with a series of seven flyaway races held in the space of just ten weekends rounding off the year.
Singapore may be one of the calendar's newer fixtures, having held its first Grand Prix in 2008, but it has already established itself as a staple venue by virtue of being the sport's only night race, the cars glistening under the floodlights as they negotiate the twisty Marina Bay street circuit.
The drivers and team personnel also have the additional challenge of trying to keep themselves in tune with European time, so as to not be tired for the start of the race at 8pm local time. This means getting up and having breakfast around midday, lunch at dinnertime, and an evening meal well into the early hours of the morning before going to bed.
To make matters harder, the race itself is the longest of the year in terms of duration. In five editions of the race, the scheduled 61 laps have never been completed in less than an hour and 56 minutes, whilst an extended Safety Car period last year meant that the race had to be cut short after reaching the two hour time limit. Indeed, there has yet to be a Singapore Grand Prix without a Safety Car period, potentially making pit-stop timings crucial to success (just ask Renault, who proved exactly that back in 2008).
That said, unlike other street venues such as Monaco, overtaking is far from impossible at Singapore, particularly with the help of DRS. The original zone, located on the long straight at Raffles Boulevard on the approach to Memorial corner (turn 7), is supplemented this year by another along the start/finish straight, though it seems unlikely that the relatively short latter zone will generate much passing.
The unpopular 'Singapore Sling' chicane (turn 10) has also been smoothed into a single-apex left hander for safety reasons; it is estimated that this modification will save drivers around a second per lap.
The medium and super-soft tyres will be in action this weekend, the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix that two non-consecutive compounds will have been used. But, weather forecasts suggest a possibility of rain this weekend - an unprecedented occurrence at Singapore. It would be fascinating to see how the race organisers would respond to the tricky combination of a wet track and 1500 floodlights beaming down on it.
The big news since the last race at Monza is, of course, that Kimi Raikkonen has been signed to drive alongside Fernando Alonso at Ferrari for next season. Since the announcement was made last week, there has been no shortage of high-profile figures questioning the logic of the Scuderia of placing "two roosters in the same hen-house."
Michael Schumacher has described an Alonso-Raikkonen pairing as "explosive", whilst Alain Prost has questioned whether Stefano Domenicali will be up to the challenge of managing the pair. Jacques Villeneuve, always one to call a spade a spade, believes Ferrari's decision makes them "completely insane," while Rene Arnoux has cast doubt on Alonso's ability to cope with a teammate as rapid as Raikkonen.
Whilst I have to admit that signing Nico Hulkenberg would have probably been a wiser decision, those that believe that Maranello will tear themselves apart, much like McLaren did in 2007, are wide of the mark. For one thing, Alonso is a far more mature and sensitive driver today than he was six years ago, and will be all too aware that a unified team is a successful one.
What's more, the trouble with Alonso at McLaren was that he was arriving at a new team expecting to be able to mould it around him. Conversely, the Spaniard has already firmly established himself in the team's affections, and an apolitical driver like Raikkonen is hardly likely to change that. Though Alonso won't have the benefit of a subservient number two like Massa, having a more competitive teammate would better serve his own interests - as long as he can beat him.
As for Massa, I've already written about his options for next season, but if reports that Lotus are closing on a deal to sign Hulkenberg are to be believed, then that could make Sauber the most likely destination for the Brazilian in 2014.
Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, needn't concern himself with such trivial matters as the team for which he'll be driving next season. The winner of the last two Grands Prix at Singapore will be focusing purely on making it a hat-trick this weekend, and given Red Bull's pace in recent races, you would have to be a brave person indeed to bet against the German doing just that.
Mercedes may not have performed especially well at the last two races, but the fact that the Brackley outfit were able to lock out the front row and subsequently take victory at Monaco must give Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg more optimism of challenging for the win than usual. The track layout isn't too dissimilar to that of Hungary, where Hamilton dominated proceedings, though temperatures will be much lower.
Alonso has nothing to lose now, 53 points adrift of Vettel in the title chase, and it seems likely that Ferrari will switch their full attention to next year's challenge after this weekend. That said, Singapore tends to be one of the more unpredictable races of the year, so perhaps the team will be willing to throw caution to the wind somewhat in a bid to get their man his first win since the Spanish Grand Prix all those months ago.
Then again, just three points separate Ferrari and Mercedes in the battle for second in the constructors' standings behind runaway leaders Red Bull, who have a commanding lead of 104 points. With millions of pounds of prize money at stake, securing the position will now be the main goal for both Ferrari and Mercedes, now that Alonso and Hamilton are both out of realistic contention for the drivers' title.
Further down the pecking order, Singapore is likely to be a key event in determining the outcome of the Caterham-Marussia battle for tenth in the constructors' table. Last year, Timo Glock's exceptional drive to twelfth place was enough to put the Banbury-based team ahead of its rivals, only for Vitaly Petrov to reverse the tide for Caterham at the very last race of the year at a rain-soaked Interlagos.
Singapore tends to have a higher attrition rate than most, making it a golden opportunity for F1's lesser celebrated teams to bag a big result. Hulkenberg managed to drag his reluctant Sauber to fifth at Monza two weeks ago - can Force India, Toro Rosso or even Williams match that achievement this weekend?
Qualifying Prediction
1. Vettel, 2. Hamilton, 3. Webber, 4. Alonso, 5. Rosberg, 6. Raikkonen, 7. Grosjean, 8. Massa, 9. Di Resta, 10. Maldonado
Race Prediction
1. Vettel, 2. Hamilton, 3. Alonso, 4. Webber, 5. Raikkonen, 6. Massa, 7. Button, 8. Di Resta, 9. Maldonado, 10. Sutil
Accuse me of being unadventurous if you will, but I just can't see past a seventh Vettel victory of the year. His dominance at Spa and Monza suggests that there are essentially no tracks where the Red Bull won't be in contention, and, barring a gearbox failure similar to Hamilton's last year, he will prove unstoppable once more this weekend and take another stride towards retaining his title.
Hamilton will start and finish second, keeping a faster Alonso frustrated in the closing stages. Webber meanwhile will come out on top of an entertaining duel with Raikkonen, with Massa having a solid but unspectacular run to sixth ahead of Button. Di Resta will bring home a solid haul of points at a track he has performed well at in the past, with Maldonado also translating his street circuit prowess into two more precious points for Williams ahead of Sutil.
No sign of Grosjean or Rosberg - they will prove the highest profile casualties of the grueling 61 lap race.
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