The safety car in the spotlight in Singapore?

When we talk about street circuits, we’re referring to narrow tracks, guardrails, and a high likelihood of accidents because drivers are constantly on the edge, and any small mistake can be costly, even more so than on a traditional circuit. And the numbers back this up; in fact, during the three editions of the Singapore Grand Prix held since 2008, the safety car has been deployed 5 times – including one intervention deliberately caused by Nelson Piquet Jr.

The safety car, driven by Bernd Maylander, has therefore been deployed at every Singapore Grand Prix – a statistic shared with South Korea, but it’s less telling as there was only one race held at the Yeongam circuit.

Another interesting statistic regarding the safety car intervention in Singapore, Bernd Maylander is the third driver to have led the most laps at the Marina Bay circuit – 20 in total during the five interventions. He is only surpassed by two F1 drivers, Fernando Alonso (93 laps led) and Lewis Hamilton (57 laps led).

Moreover, since the beginning of the season, the safety car has intervened relatively infrequently. It has come onto the track in Monaco, Canada, Belgium, and Italy, making it four races out of thirteen. There have been nine interventions, five of which occurred during the Canadian Grand Prix – due to rain and various accidents. While it is often used in races when weather conditions are challenging, this has not always been the case this season – notably during the British and Hungarian Grand Prix, which were disrupted by rain but did not require the deployment of the safety car.

Taking into account the statistics and the fact that Singapore has a street circuit, there is a high likelihood of the safety car entering the track during Sunday’s race, which could offer a great spectacle as some teams will surely adopt offbeat strategies to try to climb as high as possible in the hierarchy.