Welcome to the Marina Bay Circuit and the Singapore Grand Prix. This is known as the toughest race of the season for the drivers. Even though it’s a night race, it’s still hot and humid, so the drivers boil in their seat as they navigate the bumpy and tight street circuit making 70 gear changes a lap. It’s also a long race with last year’s running taking 1h 46m to complete. It’s so tough on the drivers that they can lose up to 3kg in weight and sometimes even have to be lifted out the car.
The circuit originally had 23 turns, but that was reduced to 19 in 2023 to try and make the race slightly less gruelling for the drivers and improve the on-track action. Along with the 19 turns (12 left-handers and 9 right) on the 4.94km lap there is also three DRS zones offering plenty of overtaking opportunities. But drivers must be careful; the Safety Car has been released at every outing of the Singapore Grand Prix and in fact in the 13 times Formula 1 has raced at the track, the Safety Car has been deployed 24 times. So, in terms of strategy, it can be a waiting game for when to pit. It all makes for a thrilling race.
The Team has had plenty of success in Singapore. From 2010 to 2022 at least one Bull has stood on the podium. That run was broken in 2023, when it became the only race that the Team didn’t win in the season. Sebastian Vettel won there three times whilst driving for the Team (and twice more for Ferrari), and in 2022 Checo – the street circuit specialist – won after starting the race in P2. Strangely Max has never won in Singapore, the only circuit on the calendar he has never won at.
With good memories for Checo in Singapore and Max wanting to break his streak of never winning here, the Bulls will be keen to get out under the floodlights and put their RB20s through their paces.
They will head out on track in Singapore for Free Practice One on Friday at 17:30 track time (09:30 UTC). Make sure you come back here for all the latest news, reports, videos and images from Singapore.
