Leading drivers have admitted that the prospect of rain during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend is a worry, but will reserve judgment until they try the track in wet conditions.
Since Formula 1 first embarked on its night racing adventure in Singapore there have been concerns that the glare from the floodlights in spray could make visibility a major problem should rain hit the event. There have been heavy downpours during the build-up, but so far these have stopped before the evening time slot when qualifying and the race are scheduled – and the weekend forecast is currently similar.
"It is a bit of a concern how is it going to be with the rain, the lights and everything on the track," said Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. "It is very much an unknown. Until now it has been OK for qualifying [time] and for the race it should not be wet but for FP1 it could be interesting."
Championship leader Mark Webber said that if rain was likely this weekend, he was keen to get track time in the wet under lights as early as possible.
"We haven't experienced the rain in this venue and one of the things we need to experience, sooner rather than later, is to experience the spray," said the Red Bull driver. "My money is that everything will be fine – and the rules will be the same, if it is too wet we cannot have a car race. We will leave it up to the guys to make sure it is safe enough to stay on the track and if it is safe enough to stay on the track then it will be a normal grand prix."
Rubens Barrichello felt that the usual street circuit lack of grip would be an issue if it rained, but agreed that visibility in the spray was the biggest potential problem.
"It is a very slippery track and luckily they have done a good enough job for the track not to be as bumpy as it was," he said. "We have no experience in the wet whatsoever here, so we need to understand what the tires will do and the visibility more than anything.
"If it rains, like Brazilian-type [very heavy] rain, then we could have problems with visibility. Not so much from the spray but the wet coming onto the visor."