After racing on the shores of the Caspian Sea, Formula 1 again tackles a street circuit, this time in the City-State of Singapore, just 140 kilometres North of the equator, the imaginary line that separates the northern and southern hemispheres.

The shift a long way south from Baku means a big change in two elements of the weather, namely humidity and temperature. The former is usually above 70%, while the temperature which remains more or less the same in winter and summer, fluctuates between 24 and 31°C. This makes the Singapore weekend one of the most physically demanding for the drivers, who can lose up to three kilos in weight during the race, aggravated by the twisty nature of the track which offers little respite when at the wheel.

The Singapore Grand Prix was the very first to be run entirely at night since its inception in 2008, with the race starting at 8pm local time. This means that everyone involved can effectively stay on European time, thus at least eliminating the problem of jetlag.

Once again for this round, there's a special edition of the Pirelli Podium Cap, produced by Pirelli Design with the creative contribution of designer Denis Dekovic. It is magenta in colour, capturing the intensity and vitality for which this race in Asia is famous.

The Compounds

Pirelli has made no changes since last year for the dry weather compounds at the Marina Bay circuit, with the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft. Although there exists the softer still C6, when the compounds for the second part of the season were announced during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, evaluations carried out before the summer break ruled out the softest tyre in the 2025 range, because the forces exerted on the tyres and the high temperatures at this event might have created some overheating issues. In fact, in this race, thermal stress is the main cause of tyre performance degradation.

Medium and Hard will clearly be the compounds of choice for the race, but the Soft could come into play for any driver wanting to make the most of its extra grip at the start, or if there's a Safety Car period towards the end of the race. Modifications made to the track layout a couple of years ago mean overtaking is a bit easier, although obviously, it is still rather complicated to get past another car. Therefore, being able to call on the big performance difference between relatively new Softs and Mediums or Hards that have done many laps, could be a factor to bear in mind.

In 2024 the Medium was the most popular choice for the start with 14 drivers going for the C4, while four went with the Hard and two the Soft. The flexibility of the Medium meant there were several possibilities in terms of when to make the only tyre change, as the one-stop strategy was, as usual, clearly the fastest choice. Traffic and tyre management allowed drivers to extend the opening stint, in the most extreme case to 49 laps. Last year's race was one of the very few at this track not to have required the Safety Car to put in an appearance.

The Track

Marina Bay is one of the twistiest circuits on the calendar, its 4.940 kilometres featuring 19 corners since modifications made in 2023 reduced the number from 23. This was done by putting a 400 metre-long straight into the section after turn 16. The track surface has the same characteristics as the neighbouring city streets, with very low roughness, while the many road markings can pose an additional hazard in the rain. There is not much in the way of run-off areas and the barriers are very close, even though, in parts the track is actually quite wide.

There are four DRS zones, but as mentioned, overtaking is generally a rarity. The increase in the pit lane speed limit from 60 to 80 km/h should have a significant effect on strategy, with a one-stop almost obligatory.

Variables that are hard to predict include neutralisations and the weather, which at the Equator is highly changeable. Thunderstorms are far from uncommon and the rain can wash away the rubber laid down, which resets track conditions, thus influencing tyre performance

Keyword: Darkness

The Singapore Grand Prix was Formula 1's first night race, a feature later imitated by a few other events, the most recent addition to the calendar being Las Vegas. The Marina Bay circuit therefore had to pioneer the significant technology required to light up the track and ensure the best possible visibility for drivers on track. The particular challenge is dealing with light reflecting off the track surface and onto visors, thus making it difficult to pinpoint exact braking points. Usually with night races, the temperature during the actual race is lower than that seen in other sessions held earlier in the day. However, in Singapore this is hardly the case because the latitude here means the difference in temperature from day to night is almost negligible. Whereas in other night races such as those in the deserts of Abu Dhabi and Jeddah the difference is much more pronounced.

Statistics Corner

There have been 15 editions of the Singapore Grand Prix to date and in ten of them, or two thirds, the winner has started from pole position. It shows just how important is qualifying, especially if a comparison is made with Monaco where 46.48% of the races have been won from pole. Only in the very first year in 2008, has the winner come from a position lower than fifth. Fernando Alonso started from 15th, but that race featured a completely chaotic sequence of events.

The most successful driver in Singapore is Sebastian Vettel with five wins, followed by Lewis Hamilton on four. Seven drivers have shared all the wins here and four of them will be on track this weekend. Unusually, Max Verstappen is not one of them, as he is yet to break his duck at Marina Bay. Not only has he never won, he has never taken pole, although he has made it to the podium on three occasions. Of the teams, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull lead the way on four wins apiece. When it comes to pole positions, Vettel and Hamilton top the table on four, with Ferrari the clear leader among the teams with seven. The German driver also has the most podium finishes on eight, ahead of Hamilton on seven and Alonso on five. Red Bull leads the teams with 15 ahead of Ferrari on 11, while Mercedes and McLaren are third equal on seven.