A guide to the Singapore Grand Prix Circuit
The newly introduced Singapore Grand Prix circuit is not in fact new, having evolved into its present street circuit route during the mid- to late-sixties when it hosted F1 races before being abandoned in 1973.
Traffic inconveniences were cited as a main reason back then and so this time around they have opted for a night race, which will be a unique first for F1. As such is will be run through the streets of the city’s Marina Bay district with flood lights.
The circuit itself is 5.067kms long, making it lengthier than most F1 tracks, and will include 61 laps for a total length of 309.087kms. It runs in an anti-clockwise direction incorporating 12 left turns and nine right turns with a single hairpin bend and at least five modest straights.
Most of the circuit covers the old colonial district of the city, north of the Singapore river, with a back drop of fine old buildings, leafy grounds (covered in grandstands) and the waters of the bay as a day time backdrop.
The fastest lap recorded was 1:54.9 by Leo Geoghegan but the circuit has not been used in 35 years of major racing and this is certain to be reset this year. With so little recent history its difficult to predict how the course will be raced.