From Baku's Caspian Sea shoreline to Singapore's spectacular Marina Bay. Ahead of the second leg of F1's street race double-header, Aston Martin Aramco Sporting Director Andy Stevenson talks time zones, intense heat and humidity, and one of the most demanding racetracks in the world as he provides the lowdown on how the team will navigate the Singapore Grand Prix.

Singapore is unique as the paddock operates on a European time zone, despite local time being GMT+8. How does the team contend with this?

"You have to be very focused on the weekend schedule and ignore what the local time is. If you live on Singapore time and still work to the session times you'll struggle.

"This year will be a little bit different to the past because we're coming straight from Baku and we've already had a time change of three hours. In previous years, we've gone straight from the UK to Singapore and we've had a couple of days where people have adapted to the Singapore time zone and then had to flip back to Europe very quickly.

"It's all about being disciplined. It's all about making sure you get enough rest and it's about eating at the right times. It's very easy to fall into having lunch at lunchtime in Singapore when really you should be having breakfast. With the aid of the catering team, we make sure that we put meal times in the correct slots and that we're serving the correct foods. We're trying to trick the body into thinking that nighttime is daytime."

Another challenge of Singapore is the heat and humidity. How do you and the team combat that?

"Acclimatisation is key. You've got to go outside and get used to the heat and humidity – don't sit in air conditioning all day. Singapore's going to be hot, so expect it to be hot. Don't think, 'I'll try and keep myself cool or tell my body that it's not hot', the more you accept it, the better you deal with it.

"The most crucial thing is taking on enough liquid. You've got to make sure that you keep yourself hydrated and if you stop sweating, there's something wrong.

"I don't suffer with the heat much but it's different for everybody, which over the years we've learned through bringing in professional doctors and physios via Formula Medicine.

"Some people's bodies are just better at adapting than others so as a team we've got to look out for one another.

"Our team doctor, Rahul Chotai, will be checking in all the time and I'll do the same – I'm constantly watching to make sure that everybody is alert and still feeling fit and healthy. We have some busy days in Singapore and it's very important to look out for the welfare for everybody."

This race weekend comes immediately after the previous round in Azerbaijan. Has that created different challenges compared to travelling straight to Singapore from the UK?

"Double-headers are tough, even if you reduce the travel between the Grands Prix, but we have introduced systems and more resource to make the transition more efficient, so it's not been much of an issue.

"Our primary focus is performance on track; we don't want to be burning everybody out moving tonnes of equipment around, we need them to be focused on their job.

"We've got a great team and we have a lot of processes in place to try to make things as smooth as possible so going from Azerbaijan or from the UK doesn't matter too much, as we're always prepared."

How will the team fare on the streets of Singapore this weekend?

"There are such fine margins at the moment. What we have, generally speaking, is a fantastic championship. F1 has finally got what everyone has wanted for a long time with different cars being able to win but, unfortunately, we're toward the back of that group of cars at the moment.

"It's so competitive; Fernando was less than a tenth behind Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in Qualifying in Baku, and that car won a race not long ago.

"We're around fifth-fastest wherever we go and it's probably going to be similar in Singapore but, as we saw in Azerbaijan, if we execute everything well we can be ready to pick up extra points from any incidents ahead."

After Singapore there are four weeks without a Grand Prix. Is this gap in the calendar an important opportunity to recharge before the final flyaway rounds of the season? What will you be doing in the break?

"We've always got work to do and we're always trying to improve, so we can always make use of anybody who wants to come to work! The gap in the calendar does give the race team the opportunity to take some holiday and draw a breath, though.

"That opportunity isn't there for everybody because there's a lot of work that still needs doing, and I'm looking forward to having some time where I can focus on longer-term projects and tasks.

"For much of the season we're going from race to race so having that little break in the schedule is great for me to catch up on things and do some planning for next season.

"I think the break will be good for everybody, whether they get time to have a holiday or just a break from travelling, because the final part of the season is going to be really busy with two triple-headers and three Sprint events.

"Having said that, after a very short time away from the circuit I'm always itching to get back to the track. I can't wait to head to Austin next month for the United States Grand Prix."