Lizards of Singapore: Could 'Godzilla's kid' derail Red Bull?

It’s a peculiar situation only the streets of Marina Bay could provide but the Singapore locals could end up being a critical obstacle to overcome during qualifying and, more importantly, during Sunday’s Grand Prix.

There were several sightings of the commonly found monitor lizard during Friday’s FP1 session, littering the circuit as drivers fought to complete their first laps of the weekend. There were some near misses — Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Verstappen all slowing and swerving — but one lizard wasn’t so lucky, reportedly clashing with Fernando Alonso‘s Aston Martin.

Similarly to the groundhogs of Montreal — which cause equal amounts of chaos during the Canadian GP — the lizards themselves are protected by Singapore’s Wildlife Act, making it impossible for the reptiles to be removed from the circuit for the race weekend. So, with ‘Godzilla Jr’ here to stay, here’s everything you need to know about the Singapore locals and their possible effect on this weekends grand prix:

 

What kind of lizards could be found at Singapore GP? 

The hot and humid nature of Singapore makes it a natural home for reptiles such as lizards, with seven different species found across Marina Bay. The most noteworthy among them are the monitor lizards seen during Friday’s FP1 session, which can grow up to anywhere between three inches and ten feet in length.

Drawn to warmth, lizards can be frequent on-track visitors due to the amount of heat generated by the cars and their tyres, resulting in dangerous moments for both man, machine and monster. Luckily, there have been very few incidents in the past and as the race is held at night, encounters should become much less frequent as monitor lizards return to their burrows.

Monitor lizards are naturally timid creatures and often stay away from humans altogether, but are apparently keen on the thundering noise created by F1’s hybrid power units.

 

What could happen if a lizard appears on track at Singapore GP?

In an ideal world, the lizards of Singapore and speeding F1 cars will stay a safe distance from one another for the remainder of the 2023 race weekend. But, should another on-track invasion happen during qualifying or the grand prix, there are several circumstances that could occur.

Should a lizard decide to camp out on track during qualifying, the session would most likely be yellow flagged while the Singapore local is moved on by stewards. There would most likely be a similar reaction during Sunday’s race, although with 20 cars on track, the lizards should be much less likely to make an appearance.

But, if more on-track contact were to occur, it could change the results of the race dramatically. Colliding head-on with one of Singapore’s biggest reptiles would almost certainly cause damage to the front wing, tyres or even the suspension of an F1 car — forcing drivers into extra pitstops and losing precious time. As a result, some may chose to swerve in avoidance — possibly causing even more damage if the field is racing close together.

Ultimately, if local wildlife poses too much of a danger, the race could be red flagged.

 

Have drivers collided with Singapore lizards in the past? 

This weekend isn’t the first time ‘Godzilla’ has invaded the Marina Bay circuit. During practice for the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix, a young Verstappen came narrowly close to colliding with a “massive” lizard which wondered across the circuit ahead of his Red Bull.

After warning his team on the radio, his long-term race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied: “Face to face with Godzilla then mate?”

Fast-forward to 2023, Verstappen had another near miss — although this time around, the on-track visitor was “much smaller”.

“Maybe Godzilla had a kid?” Lambiase joked.

While there is still no indication as to whether any damage was caused when Alonso collided with ‘Godzilla Jr’ during FP1, they may still be plenty of opportunity across the weekend for chaos to unfold.

 

---

Birds, bees and other wildlife encounters at F1 grand prix 

The lizards of Singapore are just one of many parts of wildlife F1 must co-exist with during the series’ journey around the globe — some meetings ending better than others.

At the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix, several drivers had their annual run in with the indigenous groundhog — a small rodent which has an unfortunate habit of running across the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on race weekends. Nicholas Latifi‘s Williams was the last car to make mortal contact with one in 2022, the driver swearing repeatedly and asking the team to check his front wing while on a qualifying run in FP3.

Other animals have been slightly more fortunate.

Six years earlier, during the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix, a pair of “suicidal seagulls” prevented Sebastian Vettel from claiming victory over Lewis Hamilton — the birds sat perfectly on the racing line, forcing the German to lock up and run wide through Turn 1 to avoid them. The former rivals joked about the incident after the race, Hamilton claiming: “It was all planned”.

Vettel’s close wildlife encounters continued throughout his career. He raced alongside rogue dogs in India in 2011, almost hit a bird during qualifying for the German Grand Prix in 2019 and finally finished a disappointing twelfth at Imola in 2020 after having a run-in with the circuit’s supposed ‘lucky cat’.

“I don’t like cats” the German said.