Williams F1

Nico Rosberg came second at last year's inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. We caught up with him ahead of this year's race to talk to him about his 2008 experience... 

The Singapore Grand Prix is one of the most exciting races of the year. It’s a great city, with a great racetrack and a great atmosphere, and anyone who has the opportunity to go to the race should do so because it’s really exciting.

It’s a night race, of course, and a lot was made of the artificial lighting prior to last year’s inaugural race. But visibility wasn’t a problem; the biggest difficulties for the drivers were physical because it got really hot in the cockpit. One corner leads into another at the Marina Bay circuit, so you’re always steering and that makes it quite challenging.

Despite being eight hours ahead of Europe, everyone remains on European time for the duration of the race weekend. That means going to bed at 0600 every morning, and I have no problem adapting to that at all! I love staying up all night and sleeping during the day. Last year I’d do my last interview at 0300, then go and meet my friends in the disco for half an hour before going to bed. It was pretty different.

AT&T Williams had a half-decent car in 2008, so I was able to qualify inside the top 10 and finish second in the race. It’s hard to predict how we’ll fare this year because it’s getting tighter at the front, but the FW31 is a good car so I think we’ll have a chance. I’ll be giving it my best shot, as always.