Stoffel Vandoorne is looking forward to yet another new experience this coming weekend when he takes part in his first ever Singapore Grand Prix.
The entire paddock looks forward to this race – it's a flagship event and an Asian jewel in the crown.
The combination of the humidity, operating at unusual times during the day and night while working to the European schedule, the floodlights, high walls and gruelling track layout all makes for a truly unique grand prix, and an epic weekend of racing for fans in the middle of this great city.
The Belgian driver is keen to move on from the last couple of weekends, and focus firmly on the future.
Singapore is one of the best chances of the year in terms of matching the McLaren Honda package to the characteristics of this gruelling street circuit.
The team has worked hard to try to avoid incurring any penalties which could halt our progress here, and following Stoffel's retirement in Monza, the Belgian driver won't have to use any new power unit elements, although this is yet to be officially confirmed.
“Celebrating 10 years of the Singapore Grand Prix is a great achievement and we'd like to congratulate the organisers for reaching this milestone, at what is an incredibly impressive venue that teams and fans alike love returning to each year. For McLaren Honda, this year's race offers us everything to play for, and we're looking forward to fighting as close to our front-running competitors as possible,” he said.
“I've never raced in Singapore, but I've experienced the whole weekend alongside the team over the past couple of years. Living on European time and going to bed at 6am is surreal, and it's part of what makes this grand prix one of the really special ones. Singapore is such a cool place and I'm looking forward to exploring more of the city this year.”
“Of the grands prix I haven't yet done, Singapore is one of the races that I've been most excited about all year. It's a completely different experience to the other races and I think the whole atmosphere will feel pretty unique – racing under the floodlights in the middle of the city sounds really cool. The grands prix here have been some of the longest on the calendar, so it'll take a lot of stamina in the high temperatures and humidity, but I feel well prepared.”
“We've had a tough couple of races as a team, but from my side I've also been encouraged by the performances we've put in across the course of each weekend. In every session we've been able to take away positives – even if we haven't managed to get the cars to the end of the race or finish with a good result. I'm pretty sure we're due some better luck, so I hope in Singapore we'll be able to maximise the strengths of our package over the whole weekend, and finish the all-important race day on a high on Sunday afternoon.”
