All conventional tyre deg dominated strategy went out the window with the rain affected Singapore and Japanese grands prix. Getting the strategy right was all about when to switch from inters to slicks in Singapore and from wets to inters in Japan. This had a number of interesting strategic side effects.
In Singapore the track was exceptionally slow to dry even after the rain had long-since stopped. The lack of sunlight and wind combined with high humidity all contributes to this trait but it was exacerbated this year by some of the track having been resurfaced but not others. The newly laid section in the first sector was quicker to dry than the old surfaces further into the lap – with Turns 7, 17 and 21 remaining treacherous for a long time. Which meant that even though parts of the track were ready for slicks quite early into the race, they would have been disastrous in those turns. So the track remained imbalanced between the two for about half the race distance. Even after the change to slicks finally became feasible, those problem corners remained.