The weather is difficult to track in Singapore, and being the tropical location that it is heavy rain is always a possibility. Predictably, the weather forecast for this weekend’s 2014 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix says we can expect thunderstorms for both tomorrow’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race.

As always, humidity and temperatures will be high, with predicted peaks coming in at 74 percent and 88 degrees F (31 degrees C) respectively. To offset this, the race is run at night when it’s slightly cooler. However, running at night brings up other issues. Teams need to be wary of ambient and track temperatures that tend to fall, rather than rise, as the race goes on.

Marina Bay Circuit

, where the race is held, is a street circuit. It’s very bumpy, and the stop-start nature of the race makes traction and braking stability crucial to lap times. Pirelli has nominated its two softest tire compounds for the race: P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft.

Teams were testing both during today’s initial practice session. Fastest was Mercedes AMG’s Lewis Hamilton, though right on his tail—just 0.133 of a second behind—was Ferrari man Fernando Alonso. Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest of the day. Mercedes’ other driver Nico Rosberg was fastest early on but had to stop when Pastor Maldonado crashed his Lotus into a wall.

Going into qualifying tomorrow and Sunday’s race, Nico Rosberg leads the 2014 Drivers’ Championship with 238 points. Lewis Hamilton is in second with 216 points while Daniel Ricciardo is in third with 166 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes AMG sits on 454 points versus the 272 of Infiniti Red Bull Racing and 177 of Williams.

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