#F1 Singapore Airlines #SingaporeGP 2023 Preview. #Formula1 #SingaporeGrandPrix
Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2022 Race Start, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay, Singapore. Image credit to Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images. 2023 Singapore GP Preview, F1 Singapore GP Preview, Formula 1 Singapore GP Preview, Singapore Grand Prix Preview.
2023 Singapore GP Preview – After Max Verstappen edged one-step closer to his third consecutive World Driver’s Championship crown with a solid victory at Ferrari’s home Grand Prix in Monza, round 16 of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the streets of Marina Bay in Singapore under the lights this weekend for the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023. This will be the fourteenth running of the Singapore Grand Prix as part of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The Singapore GP will be back-to-back with the Japanese Grand Prix.
2023 Singapore GP Preview – A look at the Marina Bay Street Circuit
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is a street circuit around Singapore’s Marina Bay in a harbour-side similar in style to the Circuit de Monaco (Monaco Grand Prix). The circuit is designed by KBR.inc, a modification of the original one first proposed by Hermann Tilke.
It is a twisty circuit that is the slowest in Formula 1 running at normal race distance above 305 kilometres (190 miles) which features walls leading to frequent safety cars, regularly nudging the race distance above two hours. The bumpiness, heavy braking zones, lack of daylight and humidity makes the 61-lap race very demanding for both man and machine. It has some 90-degree turns, but is pretty variable, featuring technical sections and quick direction changes. Overtaking is mostly done at the end of the first sector, where top speeds are at their highest. Runoff areas exist at the end of the long straights but are very short by Formula 1 standards. At most parts of the circuit, cars run very close to the walls.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit has undergone a couple of changes since being part of the Formula 1 Calendar since 2008 including a slight re-profiling of the circuit in 2009 where turns 1, 2 and 3 were modified to aid overtaking and also turn 10 (formerly Singapore Sling) where high kerbs caused many accidents. In 2013, a configuration change of the “Singapore Sling” turn 10 with a single apex left hand bend which has seen corner entry speeds up to 40km/h faster. This year it has undergone minor changes ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, the modifications run from turn 11 to 13; drivers will still turn right at turn 11 but it will now kink to the left slightly on entry with the track shifting to the left-hand side of Fullerton Road. This will change the profile of turn 12, as drivers will now use the other side of Anderson Bridge while the turn 13 hairpin has been widened by a metre to increase overtaking opportunities.
Following a modification before this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, a long straight on Raffles Avenue replaces corners 16-19, bypassing the technical Float sequence. Previously turn 20, turn 16 is now a massive braking point, turning hard right before slinging back left for the 17th corner. How fast the cars approach turn 18 is determined by the turn 17 exit, therefore most of the drivers will exit turn 17 within millimetres to the wall to gain a speed advantage. The run down towards turn 18 passes the 165 metre (541 foot) tall Singapore Flyer, where turns 18 and 19 are taken flat-out at about 180 kph (110 miles per hour) before getting on the throttle again towards the main-straight across the start/finish line.
While in Monza the cars ran in a low downforce configuration, Singapore requires a high downforce configuration. The cars run at 46% full throttle over a lap and the circuit is one the least fuel-efficient races of the year due to its stop-start nature. Marina Bay is also very tough on brakes, with about a quarter of the lap spent braking and while wear is not a major difficulty, problems are caused by the temperatures the brakes reach due to a lack of opportunities for cooling.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is 4.928km (3.062mi) in length with 19 corners and runs in an anti-clockwise direction.
Race distance is 308.706km (191.821mi) in length with 62 laps in total.
Sebastian Vettel holds the record for most victories at the Singapore Grand Prix with five to his name.
Oracle Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport are the most successful constructors at the Singapore Grand Prix with four victories each to their respective names.
2023 Singapore GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2022: Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing. 2021-20: Not Held. 2019: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2017: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2016: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1.
2023 Singapore GP Preview – Tyres
Pirelli will be bringing with them to Marina Bay, the softest compounds in its range; the white-side walled P Zero C3 Hards, the yellow-branded P Zero C4 Mediums and the red-marked P Zero C5 Soft tyre along with the green-marked Intermediate and blue-branded full wet tyre in case of rain.
Drivers will have eight sets of the C5 softs, three sets of the C4 mediums and two sets of the C3 hards.
ICYMI: Italian GP Rewind – Verstappen clinches 10th consecutive victory in-a-row at the Italian GP
Verstappen Italian GP Victory – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen lead home team-mate Sergio Perez to victory in a Red Bull one-two at the Italian GP as Carlos Sainz kept Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc at bay in an intense battle for third.
Verstappen’s victory was his 10th in-a-row, which gave the Dutchman the outright record of consecutive Formula 1 wins ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Alberto Ascari.
The race had an aborted start due to AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda suffered a suspected MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit – Heat) failure on the initial formation lap.
All 19 cars had to return back to the grid with an almost 20-minute delay as Tsunoda’s Honda-powered AT04 was recovered.
When the 51-lap Italian GP began, pole-sitter Sainz got a solid getaway into the Variante Del Rettifilo Chicane and covered Verstappen to hold third place, as behind the two, Leclerc became under pressure from Mercedes’ George Russell as they headed down to the Variante Della Roggia Chicane, but Leclerc managed to keep the Mercedes at bay.
At the end of the opening tour, Sainz held a 0.788 second lead over Verstappen with Leclerc a further 1.504 second adrift in third, Russell fourth and Perez rounding out the top five.
Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon reclaimed sixth place off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri heading into the Variante Della Roggia Chicane.
On lap five, Verstappen said to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: “He’s already sliding a bit, so it’s okay,” says Verstappen. With his engineer responding, “just be sensible,” which didn’t get a response from the Dutchman.
At the beginning of lap six, Verstappen was right into the slipstream of race leader Sainz with DRS assistance, but the latter managed to keep the championship leader at bay.
On the ninth tour, the fight for the lead saw Verstappen having a look again at Sainz, with the latter once again keeping the Red Bull behind. In the battle for fourth, Russell was also under intense pressure from Perez in the other RB19 entry.
On lap 10, Sainz’s was 0.425 seconds ahead of Verstappen with Leclerc holding third, Russell fourth and Perez rounding out the top five.
A lap later, Perez with DRS assistance went to the outside of Russell, but the latter managed to keep the Mexican behind once more. Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly came in for a set of hard compound tyres. He emerged in last place.
On the 14th lap, Perez made a move on Russell into the Variante Del Rettifilo Chicane but both drivers went off into the run-off area with the former letting the latter back through into fourth.
A tour later, race leader Sainz had Verstappen right on his tail with the former suffering a front-right lock-up into turn one and out of the chicane, the Red Bull was side-by-side of the Ferrari through the Curva Grande as Verstappen made his way on the inside of the Spaniard and overtook him at the Variante Della Roggia to take the lead.
Also, Perez made his way past Russell into the Variante Del Rettifilo Chicane to clinch fourth place.
On the 17th lap, Verstappen held a 1.7 second gap to Sainz with Leclerc in third place, Perez fourth as Russell completed the top five.
On lap 20, Sainz pitted from second to take on a fresh set of hards, along with Russell from fifth as both drivers emerged in ninth and tenth respectively.
Race leader Verstappen and Leclerc followed suit a lap later, both for a fresh set of the C3 harder rubber and the former came out in sixth behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso with Leclerc behind team-mate Sainz in eighth place.
Perez stopped a tour afterwards from the lead and emerged behind the Ferrari pairing of Sainz and Leclerc in seventh place.
Lap 23 saw Norris pit from second for a used set of hards and came out in 11th place.
On lap 24, Piastri pitted from the lead and came out behind team-mate Norris as the two tangled into the Variante Del Rettifilo Chicane as the latter kept in-front of the Australian.
On the 25th tour, the yet-to-pit leading Hamilton had Verstappen right on his heels and the latter breezed his way past his 2021 title rival down the main-straight with DRS assistance and reclaimed the lead well before the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane.
Lap 28 saw Sainz, Leclerc and Perez all jump Hamilton to grab second, third and fourth respectively as the latter came into pit for a fresh set of the C4 yellow side-walled mediums and emerged in tenth place behind Alonso.
On the 29th tour as race leader Verstappen posted another fastest lap of the Grand Prix, the fight for second place had Leclerc and Perez closely behind each other as behind them, Hamilton made his way by Alonso on the inside of the AMR23 to take ninth place.
On lap 30, Verstappen’s lead increased to 5.871 seconds over second-placed Sainz with Leclerc and Perez closely behind in third and fourth respectively as Russell rounded out the top five.
A lap later, Leclerc out of DRS range was hounded by Perez’s Red Bull into the Variante Del Rettifilo Chicane, but the Monegasque driver kept the RB19 at bay and managed to cover him into the Variante Della Roggia as the Mexican dipped his wheels into the gravel.
On the 32nd lap, with DRS assistance Perez made his way down the inside of Leclerc and grabbed third place from the Ferrari to take third place.
With 15 tours remaining, Verstappen’s gap was 8.158 seconds clear of Sainz with Perez in third place, whilst Leclerc and Russell were fourth and fifth respectively.
On lap 38, Verstappen was on course to catching his former team-mate Gasly, as the Dutchman started to lap the back markers. Not that that it derailed the reigning world champions’ progress. Perez looked to be a lap away from having DRS assistance on second-placed Sainz, whilst behind, Albon was still defending valiantly from Norris’s MCL60 in the fight for sixth place.
With ten laps remaining, in the battle for second place, Perez was right on Sainz’s tail with DRS assistance on the main-straight as the latter kept the RB19 behind.
Perez had a look once more a tour later, but Sainz once again managed to keep the Mexican down in third place.
With eight laps left, Sainz once again maintained second place as Perez ran into the Variante Del Rettifilo Chicane run-off area and had to give the place back to the Spaniard.
Once again on lap 45, Perez tried to force his way past Sainz into the Variante Del Rettifilo Chicane, but the Mexican ended up in the run-off area and had to hand the place back to the Ferrari driver.
With five laps remaining, Perez finally with DRS assistance managed to get past Sainz into the second place with DRS assistance into the turn one chicane.
Leclerc likewise a tour later, made his way in-front of his team-mate into the Variante Del Rettifilo, but the Monegasque suffered a lock-up allowing Sainz to get side-by-side of his team-mate down the Curva Grande and Sainz managed to get back in-front of Leclerc and narrowly avoided contact into the Variante Della Roggia as the Spaniard remained ahead in third place.
With three laps remaining the fight for the final podium placed continued between both Ferrari drivers as Sainz suffered a lock-up into turn one and still remained ahead of team-mate Leclerc.
On the final tour, Leclerc suffered a massive lock-up into turn one trying to make a last lap overtake on his team-mate, but Sainz held position to keep third.
Verstappen crossed the line to clinch the Italian GP victory and the 47th of his career by 7.686 seconds over Red Bull team-mate Perez as Sainz beat team-mate Leclerc to the line for third.
Russell finished a distant fourth but was in-front by enough despite being slapped with a five-second timed penalty for cutting turn one whilst passing Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon shortly after the Briton had stopped.
Hamilton likewise had a five-second time penalty at the finish – as he had fought by Williams Racing’s Albon and McLaren’s Norris to take sixth in the latter stages then pulled clear from that pairing, who engaged in an intense battle throughout the second stint.
Norris undercut McLaren team-mate Piastri with the former complaining about his team-mate’s pace in the opening stint after starting behind, but when the Australian came out from his stop, he clipped his team-mate’s left-rear and nearly dropped his MCL60 racer.
Piastri was then caught by Hamilton’s F1 W14 entry in the second stint and they had two incidents at the Variante Della Roggia Chicane – the second one breaking Piastri’s front wing as Hamilton, pushing from the inside, moved over and caused the collision in view from the race stewards.
The seven-time world champion nevertheless charged up to and passed the pairing ahead, as Albon and Norris in seventh and eighth respectively as Alonso followed in ninth for Aston Martin.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas completed the top ten – the Finn involved in a clash with Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant, for which the American was penalised and was relegated from 11th to 13th in the classifications.
AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson came home 11 and in-front of Piastri who settled for 12th.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu finished 15th and ahead of the aforementioned Gasly as both Haas VF-23 entries of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen ended the Grand Prix a lap down.
You can watch the highlights of last round’s Italian GP here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd9eALWJRzY
2023 Singapore GP Preview – The Situation
Next up on the Formula 1 calendar is the stunning Marina Bay Street Circuit this weekend for the Singapore Grand Prix.
The brilliant night race from Marina Bay in south-east Asia sees conditions hot and humid with drivers losing 3 kilograms of fluids during a Grand Prix where the corners keep coming and concentration decreases for two hours of running.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen will be looking to extend his winning streak to 11 races and put himself one-step closer to wrapping up his third consecutive World Driver’s Championship.
However, it is a circuit in which the two-time world champion is yet to score a victory, with this year’s race his best opportunity to date.
Ferrari will also be hoping to gain some ground on the Dutchman after a solid race at their home Italian Grand Prix last time out, with Carlos Sainz securing third after clinching pole position in-front of the “Tifosi”.
Mercedes are hopeful of a better weekend on a circuit also where it is set to suit their F1 W14 entries and one where Sir Lewis Hamilton has had a lot of success before, taking four victories at Marina Bay.
Interestingly, Sergio Perez is the only non-world champion to have won the Singapore GP. World Champions Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Hamilton are the only winners around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, which can only be tamed by the best.
Verstappen returns to Marina Bay sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship with 364 points and a 145 point-advantage over Red Bull team-mate Perez who is second on 219 points whilst Fernando Alonso is a further 194 behind the Dutchman in third on 170 points.
Oracle Red Bull Racing come to Singapore comfortably at the top of the Constructors Championship with 583 points and a 310 point-lead over nearest rival Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team who are second on 273 points while Scuderia Ferrari are third and a further 355 behind the Milton Keynes based-outfit on 228 points.
Click here for Formula 1 2023 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings
The Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023 weekend begins Friday September 15 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday September 16 and the 61 lap Race Sunday September 17.
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