The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

Why were McLaren strangely off the pace in Japan?  Can LotusF1 make the big breakthrough?  And - probably most important of all - can Ferrari squeeze a little bit of extra pace from the F2012 and thus keep Fernando Alonso on top of the World Drivers' Championship?  All these questions and more will be answered by our special guest this week - the inimitable Craig Scarborough, fresh from his recent trip to the Singapore GP and brimful of all the latest technical developments and trends.  Craig will be joining me live in the studio as we go through the F1 teams in detail - pausing regularly, of course, to take viewers' questions.  We'll also be featuring our regular pre-race analysis from WilliamsF1's Strategy Engineer, Mark Barnett.  Fresh from two reliable runs in Japan, and a points finish for Pastor Maldonado, Mark will be talking us through the very different circuit characteristics in Korea.

How will Lewis Hamilton's driving compare with that of Nico Rosberg at Mercedes Grand Prix next year?  And how will Mexico's Sergio Perez stack up against the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes incumbent, Jenson Button in 2013?  In the week following the news that shook the F1 world, we analyse  with our resident expert, Rob Wilson, the relevant driving styles and attributes of all the key players in the recent shake-up.  Recognized widely as the world's pre-eminent race driver coach, and with a client lists that includes a currently-active former World Champion and four F1 race winners, Rob will be analysing the recent driver shake-up from all angles.  WilliamsF1's  lucid Strategy Engineer, Mark Barnett, will be talking us through the idiosyncrasies of John Hugenholtz's amazing Suzuka Circuit in Japan;  and we'll be checking-in to a Nagoya hotel with the up-front Australian journalist and "Keeping Track" podcast host, Matt Clayton.

Already rated as one of the "classic" F1 races (despite its relatively short, five-year life), last Sunday's Singtel Singapore GP was memorable for a multitude of reasons.  Lewis Hamilton was leading from the pole when his McLaren-Mercedes ground to a halt with an unusual gearbox failure.  Despite recent reliability worries, Sebastian Vettel went on to score a decisive victory for Red Bull Racing-Renault - his first since Bahrain, back in April.  Fernando Alonso earned more healthy points with a third place finish for Ferrari - but of course benefitted from the retirement of Lewis.  Jenson Button upheld McLaren honour with a clean second-place finish;  and Sahara Force India's Paul di Resta drove beautifully to finish fourth. We'll be talking about all this - and more - on Episode 84 with a variety of guests from different backgrounds.  Otmar Szafnauer, CEO of Sahara Force India, fills in the details of his team's excellent weekend;  from RenaultSport, Remi Taffin, Head of Track Operations, will be telling us how recent alternator problems were overcome in the build-up to Sev Vettel's win - and about that engine-melting retirement of Williams' Bruno Senna! I'll be talking, too, to Luiz Razia, the rapid Brazilian who has been winning races this year in GP2 and who recently tested for Sahara Force India.  Like many young drivers out there, Luiz has F1 in the cross-hairs, and he'll be explaining how the young driver market works, 2012-style - and what it was like to race GP2 in Singapore.  

Run under lights in the exotic "Jewel of the Orient", the Singapore Grand Prix has in its short, five-year life quickly established new standards in terms of race presentation, logistics and global approbation.  In order to capture some of the flavour of this exotic event, we will be airing this week's show live from Singapore.  We'll be talking about the atmosphere in the F1 paddock as the 2012 F1 World Championship approaches its increasingly tension-filled final phase and discussing possible outcomes.  And, to accommodate the time difference between Singapore and Europe/the USA, we'll be doing so in a later time slot this week:  the show airs on Thursday, rather than the usual Wednesday, and will do so at 11:00 ET (16:00 UK and 23:00 Singapore time).