01Hot and occasionally bothered
From the blustery boulevards of Baku, we head to the sweltering streets of Singapore for Round 18. The Marina Bay Circuit is bone-shakingly bumpy, boiling hot and held under blazing floodlights.
The Singapore Skyline At Night© Vladimir Rys
Ask certain folk at the Team about the Singapore Grand Prix and it’s likely you’ll get the sort of grim stare reserved for someone caught double-dipping at the hotel buffet. Indeed, there is a feeling in some quarters that the Marina Bay Circuit is something of a bogey circuit for us.
That impression has its roots in the earliest days of the race. When Mark Webber exited the inaugural event in 2008 with a gearbox issue, some fairly left-field speculation posited that electromagnetic interference from the nearby Singapore MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) system, which was under construction at the time, might have caused the failure.
Recent visits to Singapore haven’t done much to alter the perception. In 2017, Max exited the race after a collision with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen following the start. In 2022, the Dutchman qualified a puzzling eighth and laboured to seventh at the flag in a race he described as “incredibly messy”. While despite having a dominant car at every other circuit, both Max and Checo failed to make it to Q3.
There's Something Special About Singapore© Getty Images
However, those shockers somewhat colour the reality of our Singapore experience. Sebastian Vettel converted pole to victory in 2011 and 2013. Danny Ric bagged a quarter of consecutive podiums from 2014-2017, and Checo drove the race of his life in 2022 to take a brilliant win (‘This is the Mexican Way’). Indeed, in 15 visits to Marina Bay we’ve racked up 15 podium finishes – four of which were wins.
The bottom line is that Singapore has been as kind to us as it has been cruel. So, what does all that mean for 2025? Short answer: it’s hard to know. High downforce circuits haven’t been too kind to the RB21 so far, but a corner has been turned in recent weeks, so we’ll go to the Lion City with high hopes of a good result, as Max said after winning in Baku last time out.
“If the car is nice to drive, then [Singapore] is more about just the physicality of the race. But if everything’s going well, you can relax a bit more, and then naturally it’s less physical as well. It’s just about getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. It’s a cool track. Of course, I’ve never won there, but it’s a cool feeling to drive there, and I hope this year we’ll be a bit more competitive.”
So, what might influence our competitiveness in the heat of the Singapore night? Let’s take a look…
02Oracle Strategy Guide with Hannah Schmitz
03Challenges and Key Factors
It’s obvious and we talk about it every year, but the heat in Singapore really is punishing. It’s not just the fact that temperatures in the cockpit can climb well above 50˚C, it’s that there is no respite from it. The buildings all around means very little breeze gets through to the car and there’s almost no cooling. And with average daily humidity at this time of year edging towards 80% it can be really debilitating.
It’s not just the extreme heat that makes Singapore physically demanding. The streets of Singapore are very bumpy and plenty of drivers, Max included, have complained of discomfort at Marina Bay. With the current ground effect cars, the problem of bottoming out is even more severe and if a car is set up unkindly it can be extremely tough for a driver. For this year’s race there has been resurfacing in quite a few areas, including from Turn 2 to the exit of Turn 3; from the entry of Turn 6 to the exit of Turn 7; from the entry of Turn 9 to the exit of Turn 9; from exit Turn 14 to the exit of Turn 16, and from the exit Turn 16 to the exit of Turn 19. The changes could make the Singapore experience a bit more pleasant.
Perhaps because it is so physically and mentally challenging, Singapore has a phenomenal record of Safety Car interventions. Over the last 10 editions of the race, all but one has featured one or more Safety Car deployments. That outlier was last year’s edition. Having said that about the physical demands, there have been plenty of lap one deployments (2016, 2017 and 2018 spring to mind) so staying out of trouble in Turn 1 is key.
No change from last year, with a C3-C5 selection for this event. According to Pirelli, a step softer, with the C6 coming into play was considered but due to the heat, tight confines and high thermal degradation the idea was dismissed.
It was a one-stop last year with Lando Norris winning with a switch from Medium to Hard tyres on lap 30. Max raced the same compounds in the same order to P2, switching a lap earlier. In 2023, Carlos Sainz won on a Medium-Hard strategy, stopping on lap 20. The previous year Checo took that sparkling win at a damp Singapore with an Intermediate/Medium plan. So, whatever way you slice it, it’s a one-stop race, and if Sunday’s race goes smoothly, expect the same again. Another aspect to look out for: the pit lane has been widened by 1 metre and the speed limit there has been increased from 60km/h to 80km/h. Whether the drop in pit lane time loss will result in a risky but potentially rewarding switch to two stops remains to be seen.
It’s massive. Singapore’s streets are pretty mucky at the start of the weekend and there’s not much grip available. It ramps up steadily through Friday and Saturday and times can tumble dramatically.
04Marina Bay Street Circuit: Track Layout & Key Features
Marina Bay Street Circuit - 2023 Revised© Oracle Red Bull Racing
The Marina Bay Street Circuit has been through a few iterations and the current layout dates from 2023, when the track was shortened and the slow section from turn 16 to 19 was turned into a long straight which opened up the possibility for overtaking.
The opening section of the lap features a couple of tight turns before cars are fed onto the first long straight and the first of four DRS zones, from Turn 5-7. Turn 7 is a good overtaking opportunity. From there, Drivers head toward a tricky section from Turns 10 to 13 before two linked DRS zones from Turn 13 to Turn 16. Turn 17 is a hard-braking left hander and then it’s on to the final two corners, which make up a long left-hander that feeds onto the start-finish straight and the fourth DRS zone.
05Oracle Virtual Laps with Yuki
06Shop the ORBR x Castore x Hypebeast Collection - Unveiled in Singapore!
The Hypebeast Limited-Edition Night-Camo Team Kit© Oracle Red Bull Racing
Click here to view the collection!
