Marina Bay Street Circuit

How it began

The first Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix took place on 28 September 2008 and was the first night race in World Championship history: the track is lit by floodlights, and the race starts in the evening local time so that Europe can watch it in the daytime. Fernando Alonso won for Renault.

In 2009 it emerged that Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash in that race had been staged on the orders of the team’s management, to bring out the safety car at just the right moment for Alonso. Team principal Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds left Renault.

The race was not held in 2020 and 2021. The current contract has been extended until 2028.

The track

The street circuit runs anticlockwise through the Marina Bay district in the centre of Singapore. The lap is slow and stop-start: there are hardly any long straights, the walls are close, and the race has come up against the two-hour limit more than once.

The climate is a feature in its own right: temperatures above thirty degrees and high humidity, even at night, make this one of the most physically demanding races for the drivers.

The original lap was 5.073 km long. In 2023 the section alongside the floating platform in the bay was replaced by a straight, the lap was shortened to 4.940 km and the race distance increased to 62 laps; since 2025 the lap has been 4.927 km.

Memorable races

Sebastian Vettel won in Singapore five times — in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019. On 17 September 2017 Vettel, Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen collided at a wet start, and Lewis Hamilton won.

On 17 September 2023 Carlos Sainz won for Ferrari — the only race of the 2023 season that Red Bull did not win. On 22 September 2024 Lando Norris won, and for the first time in the history of the Singapore Grand Prix there was no safety car.