Singapore Grand Prix
Championship

Singapore Grand Prix

section:championship
The Singapore Grand Prix is a motor racing event forming part of the Formula One World Championship. It takes place on the Marina Bay Street Circuit and was the inaugural night race and first street circuit in Asia designed for Formula One. Sebastian Vettel holds the most wins at the venue with five victories.

First organised in 1961, the race was initially known as the Orient Year Grand Prix at the Thomson Road Grand Prix circuit. It was renamed the Singapore Grand Prix in 1966, shortly after Singapore became a sovereign country in 1965. The event ran at Thomson Road from 1966 to 1973 before being discontinued, with reasons including increased traffic, the danger and unsuitability of the track for racing, road closure inconvenience, and fatal accidents during the 1972 and 1973 races.

In 2008 an agreement for a five-year deal was signed by Singapore GP Pte Ltd, the Singapore Tourism Board, and Bernie Ecclestone. In November 2007 it was announced that telecommunications company Singtel would be the title sponsor, making the official name the Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. The Singapore government co-funded the event, providing 60% of the S$150 million total cost. Around 110,000 tickets were made available and the event sold out completely.

The inaugural Formula One race in 2008 was the 15th round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship and the 800th Formula One World Championship race since the championship's inception in 1950 — the first ever held at night. The track was illuminated by projectors that adapted their output to match the shape of the course. Felipe Massa took pole in his Ferrari (1:44.801, 174.055 km/h) and dominated until released early from a pit stop, breaking his fuel rig. Fernando Alonso won for Renault (1:57:16.304, 61 laps), though that result was later tarnished by the revelation that Renault management had ordered Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash to bring out the safety car at a moment chosen to benefit Alonso. Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest lap (1:45.599, 172.740 km/h) for Ferrari.

The circuit was reprofiled slightly for 2009, including modifications to turns 1, 2, and 3 to aid overtaking, and changes to turn 10 where high kerbs had caused accidents in 2008. Lewis Hamilton took pole for McLaren (1:47.891, 169.270 km/h) and won (1:56:06.337, 61 laps). Timo Glock finished second for Toyota. Alonso was third in Renault's first race after receiving a suspended disqualification for manipulating the previous year's race.

Fernando Alonso became the first driver to win twice in Singapore, now at Ferrari. He took pole (1:45.390, 173.287 km/h) and resisted Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. Michael Schumacher, in his F1 comeback season, finished 13th. Alonso also set the fastest lap (1:47.976, 169.137 km/h).

Vettel, leading the Drivers' Championship by over 100 points, won from his 11th pole of the season (1:44.381, 174.962 km/h) for Red Bull (1:59:06.757, 61 laps). Jenson Button set the fastest lap (1:48.454, 168.392 km/h) for McLaren. Schumacher crashed into the Sauber of Sergio Pérez.

On 22 September 2012, Bernie Ecclestone and Singapore Grand Prix agreed to keep the race on the calendar until 2017. Hamilton took pole for McLaren (1:46.362, 171.704 km/h) alongside the Williams of Pastor Maldonado, but retired with gearbox problems. Vettel won in the Red Bull (2:00:26.144, 59 laps), dedicating his 23rd win to Sid Watkins, who had died shortly before. Nico Hülkenberg set the fastest lap for Force India (1:51.033, 164.480 km/h).

The "Singapore Sling" chicane at turn 10 was reconfigured ahead of the 2013 race into a flowing left-hander before the Anderson Bridge. Vettel took his third successive Singapore win (1:59:13.132, 61 laps) from his second Singapore pole (1:42.841, 177.302 km/h) for Red Bull, recovering from Nico Rosberg's Mercedes briefly leading at race start to win by over half a minute. Alonso stopped his Ferrari to collect Mark Webber, whose Red Bull was in flames at turn 7.

Singapore Airlines became the race sponsor from 2014 onwards. Hamilton won for Mercedes (2:00:04.795, 60 laps) from pole (1:45.681, 172.538 km/h), his seventh win of the year and his third at Singapore. Rosberg retired with technical problems. Hamilton also set the fastest lap (1:50.417, 165.137 km/h).

Vettel took his first Ferrari pole (1:43.885, 175.521 km/h) and his fourth Singapore win (2:01:22.118, 61 laps), becoming Singapore's third multiple winner. Hamilton retired with electrical power loss. A 27-year-old spectator entered the track as leaders Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo passed; he climbed the fencing when the safety car was deployed and was arrested by Singapore police. Max Verstappen shouted "No!" when told to move over for Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz.

Rosberg made his 200th Grand Prix start in Singapore. He took pole (1:42.584, 177.747 km/h) and won (1:55:48.950, 61 laps), holding off Ricciardo. Rosberg went on to win the championship. Ricciardo set the fastest lap (1:47.187, 170.113 km/h) for Red Bull.

A contract extension through 2021 was announced on the eve of the race. Vettel — the polesitter (1:39.491, 183.272 km/h) and title contender — was caught in a first-corner collision with Ferrari teammate Räikkönen and Verstappen, retiring all three. Hamilton took full advantage from fifth on the grid, winning (2:03:23.544, 58 laps) for Mercedes to extend his championship lead over Vettel from 3 to 28 points, also setting the fastest lap (1:45.008, 173.643 km/h).

Hamilton took pole (1:36.015, 189.832 km/h) for Mercedes and won (1:51:11.611, 61 laps), with Verstappen second and Vettel third, extending his championship lead over Vettel to 40 points. During the race Esteban Ocon retired after an incident with Pérez at the start, and later Romain Grosjean received a 5-second penalty for failing to let Hamilton and Verstappen lap him. Kevin Magnussen set the fastest lap for Haas (1:41.905, 178.860 km/h).

Charles Leclerc took pole (1:36.217, 189.434 km/h) for Ferrari. After his pit stop, Leclerc lost the lead to teammate Vettel and then Hamilton, who had gambled on extended running on soft tyres. Antonio Giovinazzi briefly led for Alfa Romeo-Sauber before being passed four laps later. Three safety cars were deployed for the retirements of George Russell, Pérez, and Räikkönen. Vettel won (1:58:33.667, 61 laps) his last career race, with Leclerc second and Verstappen third — Ferrari's first 1–2 finish since the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix. Magnussen set the fastest lap again for Haas (1:42.301, 178.168 km/h).

Both races were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions imposed by the Singapore government.

On 27 January 2022, the Singapore Grand Prix's contract was extended to 2028. Leclerc took pole (1:49.412, 166.588 km/h) for Ferrari. Sergio Pérez won for Red Bull (2:02:20.238, 59 laps). Russell set the fastest lap (1:46.458, 171.211 km/h) for Mercedes.

Turns 16–19 were removed to facilitate construction of NS Square, replaced by a flat-out section until former turn 20, increasing the lap count from 61 to 62 and reducing lap times by approximately ten seconds. Carlos Sainz Jr. took pole (1:30.984, 195.462 km/h) and won for Ferrari (1:46:37.418, 62 laps). Hamilton set the fastest lap (1:35.867, 185.507 km/h) for Mercedes.

A fourth DRS zone was added between turns 14 and 16, making Singapore only the second circuit alongside Albert Park to feature four DRS zones. Lando Norris took pole (1:29.525, 198.648 km/h) and won for McLaren (1:40:52.571, 62 laps), leading every lap. Ricciardo set the fastest lap (1:34.486, 188.218 km/h). Verstappen finished second and Oscar Piastri third. It was the then-fastest Singapore Grand Prix and the first edition not to feature at least one safety car.

The pit lane speed limit was raised from 60 km/h to 80 km/h. Russell took pole (1:29.158, 198.941 km/h) — an all-time lap record — and won for Mercedes (1:40:22.367, 62 laps). Hamilton set the official lap record (1:33.808, 189.079 km/h) for Ferrari. It was the fastest Singapore Grand Prix and the second consecutive race without a safety car, as well as the first with no retirements.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit is a twisty layout considered the slowest in Formula One at normal race distance above 305 kilometres. Its close proximity to walls leads to frequent safety car deployments and the race frequently approaches the two-hour time limit, with four editions being decided by the time limit rather than by completing the allotted laps. The circuit features 19 corners with little run-off area. Drivers have frequently described it as the "toughest race of the Formula 1 calendar", citing high heat, high humidity, high bodily fluid loss, and the little margin for error. Overtaking is primarily done at the end of the first sector where top speeds are highest. Until the 2024 race, every Formula One edition at Marina Bay featured at least one safety car, totalling 24 deployments.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.

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