Revised Formula 1 circuit layout from 2023, track to no longer include Bay Grandstand
Updates will be made to the track layout due to the upcoming redevelopment of The Float @ Marina Bay into NS Square.
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen drives during the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Oct 1, 2022. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: The Marina Bay Street Circuit will look a little different next year when Formula 1 returns to Singapore.
Updates will be made to the track layout due to the upcoming redevelopment of The Float @ Marina Bay into NS Square, the organisers of the Singapore Grand Prix said on Wednesday (Oct 19).
Works on NS Square are scheduled to start in March next year and are expected to be completed by end-2026. They were due to begin in March 2022, but were rescheduled to start a year later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The track will no longer include the Bay Grandstand while the redevelopment works are under way," the race organisers said.
From the next race, the revised circuit layout will be reduced to 4.928km and the number of laps increased to 63.
Turns 16 to 19 will be realigned into a 397.9m straight, bringing the circuit's number of turns to 19.
The official lap record for the current layout of the Singapore Grand Prix is 1:41.905, held by Danish driver Kevin Magnussen.
Race organisers said that the best qualifying lap time on the new layout is 1:27.7, according to simulations based on a 2020 Formula 1 car. The minimum race time is expected to be 1:30.34.
They added that the changes are subject to the approval of world motorsport governing body Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and that more information will be released when the changes are finalised.
The 2022 edition of the race was won by Mexican Sergio Perez, after a slow burner, rain-delayed race interrupted by two safety cars and five virtual safety car periods. The race was called at its two-hour time limit after 59 of 61 laps.
Tickets for the event sold out, with about 302,000 fans attending the three-day event. It marked the largest attendance since the first night race in 2008 where 300,000 were in attendance.
The last edition of the race, held in 2019, drew 268,000 spectators.
The Singapore Grand Prix was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A contract was signed in January 2022 for Singapore to host the F1 Grand Prix for another seven years - the longest extension for the race to date.
Tickets for the 2023 edition of the Singapore Grand Prix are available at the race organiser's website and authorised ticketing agents.
The tickets include various grandstand offerings, priced from S$298 to S$1,788, as well as combination packages that range from S$798 to S$1,088.
