Ferrari heads to Singapore Grand Prix as Marina Bay hosts its first F1 Sprint weekend
Scuderia Ferrari HP is back in action at the Singapore Grand Prix, which for the very first time will run to the Sprint format as the final Sprint weekend of the season.
- 4.927 km
- 19
- 21 laps
- 62 laps
What Happened
Scuderia Ferrari HP returns to the track at the Singapore Grand Prix, just a few days on from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang. Adding to the challenge of the weekend, the Singapore event will run to the Sprint format for the very first time, making it the final Sprint of the season. With a Sprint schedule in place, teams have just one free practice session, on Friday afternoon, before Sprint Qualifying a few hours later. The Sprint itself is run over 21 laps on Saturday, followed in the evening by qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix.
The only free practice session of the weekend
Sprint Qualifying
The Sprint, over 21 laps
Qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix
The Singapore Grand Prix race
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is 4.927 kilometres long and features 19 corners. Its layout was modified in 2023 with the removal of the sequence between Turns 16 and 19, which made it flow better, but it still retains the typical characteristics of a street circuit: a relatively narrow track, with the walls very close to the racing line and little room for error. The cars are subjected to considerable stress, particularly in terms of the braking system and cooling, while track position remains a decisive factor, making qualifying performance particularly important.
“The final Sprint weekend of the season presents an extra challenge because of the demands of Singapore's Marina Bay circuit, a track where drivers generally want as many laps as possible to build up confidence. The margins between the teams are very small and we need to ensure that we maximise all sessions, and FP1 in particular to allow the drivers to get to grips with the car. Singapore is one of the toughest races of the year for everyone in the team, especially so this year, coming as it does at the end of a triple-header. We will do all we can to bring home the best result possible.”
- 16 in Singapore vs 1,138 overall
- 4 in Singapore (25.00%) vs 250 overall (21.97%)
- 7 in Singapore (43.75%) vs 254 overall (22.32%)
- A driver can lose 3 kilograms of body weight over the course of the race, making Singapore one of the most physically demanding events of the season despite being held at night.
- The cockpit of a Formula 1 car can reach 60 degrees Celsius in the most extreme conditions, with high ambient temperature compounded by the car's own heat and humidity that can exceed 70%.
- Each driver negotiates 1,180 corners over the course of the 62-lap Singapore Grand Prix, at a circuit with 19 changes of direction and limited run-off areas.
- The first Singapore Grand Prix counting towards the Formula 1 World Championship was in 2008, and from then until 2023 the Safety Car was required every year — a run that ended in 2024, when the race was held without a single neutralisation.
Singapore is traditionally one of the most demanding events of the year for the drivers, and despite all the main sessions taking place in the late afternoon and evening, temperatures are expected to be very high with extremely high humidity. Frequent thunderstorms can make an already tough weekend even more challenging for drivers, team personnel and the cars. Michele Messina, sports physician at Med-Ex and a member of the medical support team for Scuderia Ferrari HP, said this triple-header is especially demanding because two weekends in a row involve extreme heat and humidity, and that recovery has to be planned rather than addressed once fatigue sets in, with sleep, light exposure, nutrition, hydration and physical activity all part of the strategy. He said the objective is to help the entire team perform at their best throughout the race weekend.
Previously from Ferrari N.V.
Ferrari comes to Singapore directly from the Bahrain Grand Prix at Malaysia's Sepang circuit, where Lewis Hamilton finished third and Charles Leclerc fourth. The pair fought back from a wrong tyre call to take those positions and give Ferrari their tenth podium of the season, in a race delayed by heavy rain and a software problem that halted the start procedure.
- Hamilton third, Leclerc fourth for Ferrari in rain-hit, delayed Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang
- Hamilton and Leclerc finish third and fourth as Ferrari take tenth podium of the season in Bahrain Grand Prix
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Ferrari N.V.'s official releases.
Why this matters
The Sprint format compresses the weekend, leaving every team just one free practice session before Sprint Qualifying, so Ferrari must find the right set-up almost immediately at a track where drivers want as many laps as possible. The race is also one of the year's hardest for the team's personnel, coming at the end of a triple-header and in extreme heat and humidity. Ferrari has won four of its 16 previous Singapore Grands Prix and taken 11 podiums there.
Terms in This Story
- Sprint format
- A shortened race weekend in which a shorter race is held on Saturday, with its own separate qualifying session, leaving teams less practice time than at a normal Grand Prix.
- Sprint Qualifying
- A qualifying session that sets the starting order for the Sprint race rather than for the main Grand Prix.
- triple-header
- Three consecutive Grand Prix weekends held back to back.
- street circuit
- A race track laid out on closed public roads, typically narrow with walls close to the racing line and little run-off area.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.