Hamilton clocks on to McLaren sleeping plan

Not only are drivers having to cope with substantial differences from European time zones but the local start time of 8pm on Sunday (1pm in Britain) means adapting training regimes which usually aim to have drivers at their most alert in the afternoon rather than the evening.

Hamilton said: "Our doctor has prepared a very precise schedule because all the practice sessions and the race are so late in the day.

"Essentially, we must not acclimatise to the local time, which is totally different to how we normally operate. Our training programmes ensure that over a race weekend we are at peak performance during the afternoons.

"As a result we are going to be staying in European time so this doesn't get disrupted. So we will get up early afternoon for breakfast, have supper at 1am and go to bed at around 3am."

McLaren, like other teams, have commandeered a complete floor in their hotel and will have security personnel to ensure Hamilton and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen are not roused from their slumbers.

Cleaners are banned, phones in the rooms will be disconnected and windows blacked out.

The attention to detail is vital as Hamilton leads the championship from Ferrari's Felipe Massa by just one point having lost an appeal against his 25-second penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Hamilton appeared at the FIA hearing in Paris on Monday and insists he is fully focused on capturing his first world title.

"It didn't really disrupt my week because I went straight to the airport and got on the plane," he added.

"We went there and gave it our best shot, perhaps it wasn't the best result but we move on. I am not focussing on the past and I am just moving forward and concentrating on the next race. We approach it with the same confidence as we have the last ones.

"We are all in the unknown here in Singapore but we have come to try and score as many points as we can."

Rain is forecast for Sunday evening and to combat the threat of glare reflecting off a wet track, McLaren have developed a special rain-resistant coating for their drivers' helmet visors.

Drivers will find the new street circuit around Singapore's swish Marina Bay district is similar to Monaco in layout.

Each 3.149-mile lap has 24 bends and the track is expected to be just as slow as Monte Carlo, with a projected average lap speed of 110mph.

Up to 1,500 lamps, fitted with 2,000 watt halide bulbs and spaced four metres apart, have been mounted on poles 10m above the track surface and will produce lighting four times brighter than at a Premier League football ground.

As a safety measure, power is supplied by huge generators set up in pairs so that if one fails the other will cut in immediately without drivers suddenly being left in the dark while weaving between concrete barriers.