Singapore GP: Preview - Marussia

13/09/2012

The Marussia F1 Team said "Arriverderci" to Europe in Italy last weekend and will embark on the first of no fewer than seven long-haul rounds of the Formula 1 World Championship next weekend in Singapore. The sport's only night-race is Timo Glock's favourite Grand Prix on the calendar, while Charles Pic will race at the flood-lit street circuit for the very first time.

Timo Glock: "Singapore is a very special circuit, as the only night race on the calendar. I have great memories from this race as I finished on the points in the first year and on the podium in 2009. Every year it's great to come back and without doubt it is my favourite race on the calendar. Over the last races we had some real potential in our package, so I'm looking forward to showing more of that and hopefully we can have a good result there. The next part of the season will be a tough challenge for the team, so I hope we can continue to make good progress to reward all the hard work throughout the team."

Charles Pic: "I am really looking forward to my first night race at this fantastic circuit, and actually, my first visit to Singapore. I have heard so many great things about this race, from the experience of racing under the lights to the fantastic city, so I'm arriving nice and early to get the measure of everything. We are back into unknown territory for me, which I'm really excited about. The early part of the season and Canada were the same for me, but I am happy with the way I have been acclimatising to new circuits and getting up to speed quite quickly. Singapore adds another dimension due to the transition to European hours, but it's all part of the learning experience, which has been going very well for me. It will be a busy phase for us now and I am really looking forward to the challenge of continuing to make good progress at this later stage of the season."

John Booth, Team Principal: "It is sad to leave the European venues behind for another season, however we are embarking on a very exciting and challenging period in the calendar. Never before has the sport had so many races in so many continents in such a short space of time and there are even three more back to back races amongst them. Singapore is a very special race and the atmosphere and spectacle are truly unique. The whole team looks forward to going there, even though the conditions are quite challenging for the race team and drivers with the fierce heat and humidity. Timo loves this race and it will be Charles first experience of it, so it will be quite interesting to see what they each bring to it after our recent steps forward, which will be aided by further developments for this race. Far from running out of time in this final phase, we are encouraged by our current level of progress at this stage of the season and optimistic about what we can go on to achieve from here in terms of our targets."