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Can Mercedes break Red Bulls run at the Singapore Grand Prix and wrap up the constructors championship tonight in Round 14 of the Formula One season? Join The Roar for a live blog of the Formula One Grand Prix from Singapore from 10:00pm (AEST).
A win tonight by Red Bull Racing would be their fourth successive victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.
For the last three years it has been the Sebastian Vettel show as he has claimed each race in Singapore from 2011 to 2013.
Last year in particular, he dominated, as he won the race by 32 seconds.
That looks unlikely to happen this weekend with the Mercedes drivers continuing their strong form this season.
For the 13th time this season, a Mercedes is at the front, as Lewis Hamilton won his 6th pole position for the year last night.
He is joined on the front row by his team-mate, Nico Rosberg, who was seven one thousandths away from Hamilton at the end of the session.
It shapes up to be another cracking battle between the two as they both fight for the 2014 championship. Only 22 points separates the two and Hamilton is finding form at the right time of the season after winning the last round in Monza.
Another win tonight would reduce the margin further and put more pressure on Rosberg.
With a tight first few corners at the Singapore track, it could be an interesting start to the race, as both drivers attempt to take the lead into the first corner.
We could see similar fireworks to Spa, which eliminated Hamilton from the contest early. For Mercedes, they will be hoping both drivers finish, as they can wrap up the constructors title this weekend if results go their way.
Mercedes lead by 182 points heading into tonight’s race. A win over Red Bull by more than 34 points tonight – to bring the margin to 216 points between the two – would hand the manufacturer their first ever championship as a factory team.
Looking to stop them will be Red Bull, who have showed pace this weekend. Australia’s Dan Ricciardo, who qualified in third, was under two tenths away from the Mercedes duo.
It is the closest the Red Bull has been to the Mercedes this year in dry conditions.
Joining Ricciardo on the second row will be his teammate, Vettel, who will fancy his chances of winning in Singapore tonight.
If the Mercedes duo make mistakes, or fight each other again for victory, these two Red Bulls will be looking to capitalise on the situation.
Another team looking to do that will be Ferrari, who have been on the pace this weekend as well. They topped the final practice of the weekend and also finished top in the first qualifying session last night.
In the final session though they struggled as Alonso finished 5th and Raikkonen was forced to pit the car with an engine problem.
They are quicker than 5th and 7th and could provide some competition for the Red Bulls and the Mercedes teams.
One thing that is guaranteed tonight is a long and tiresome race with a safety car at some point during the race.
With temperatures at over 30 degrees, when the race starts, and the circuit being over 5 kilometres in length, it is a tough race on the drivers and teams.
It also creates plenty of incidents because of the tight and tricky nature of the street circuit.
In the six years of the Singapore Grand Prix there has been a safety car in each race. I expect that to continue tonight with the way the cars are driven this year because of the new regulations.
It promises to be a big race and one full of surprises.
We may see a new winner this season.
For Australian fans they will hope Dan Ricciardo can do the job tonight and win his 4th race of the year.
With a bit of luck, and a good strategy, the Australian is a big chance.
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