Marina Bay Street Circuit

Coordinates: 1°17′29.05″N 103°51′50.93″E / 1.2914028°N 103.8641472°E / 1.2914028; 103.8641472

Marina Bay Street Circuit

Location	Singapore
Time zone	GMT +8
Major events	FIA Formula One Singapore Grand Prix
Length	5.073 km (3.15 mi)
Turns	23
Lap record	1:45.599 ( Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)

The Marina Bay Street Circuit (otherwise known as the Singapore GP Street Circuit) is a street circuit around the city state's Marina Bay and is the venue for the Singapore Grand Prix.^[1] The track is 5.073 km (3.152 mi)^[2] long in a harbourside location similar in style to the Monaco Grand Prix and the new circuit in Valencia.

The circuit is designed by KBR, Inc.,^[3] a modification of the original one first proposed by Hermann Tilke.^[4]

Characteristics

On the day of confirmation of the Singapore Grand Prix in the 2008 Formula One season, a routemap was published.^[5] The pit area of the circuit is located in an empty plot of land off Republic Boulevard and beside the Singapore Flyer. A temporary track leads from the pit area and under the Benjamin Sheares Bridge to Republic Boulevard and turns onto Raffles Boulevard. It then proceeds along Nicoll Highway, Stamford Road and Saint Andrew's Road around the Padang, past the City Hall.

The track then goes onto the Anderson Bridge, past the Fullerton Hotel and make a tight left turn to Esplanade Drive beside the Merlion Park. It joins Raffles Avenue and cut right after the Esplanade to the front of The Float at Marina Bay and return to the pit area via another temporary road around the Singapore Flyer. The track layout is unique in that in between turns 18 and 19, the cars race underneath a section of grandstand of the Floating Platform.

The track was widely criticised by F1 drivers to be excessively bumpy, particularly on Raffles Boulevard between turns 5 and 7, resulting in a very unforgiving circuit, especially given the hot and humid conditions of the Singapore climate. World championship leader Lewis Hamilton commented that it was twice as hard to negotiate as the more famous Monaco street circuit, and unexpectedly physical - requiring double the amount of energy over a single lap as compared to the Monaco circuit.^[6]

Several drivers, including Sébastien Bourdais and Fernando Alonso, expressed their concern about the high and harsh kerbs at the chicane at turn 10 of the street circuit. Ferrari's Felipe Massa compared the kerbs akin to "little tortoises that would wreck the car if you get something wrong".^[7] The drivers were worried that hitting the bumps could cause suspension damage or even damage a tub. They also raised concerns that the bumps would pitch them into the wall on the outside of the corner. Whilst the FIA had been involved in the development of these kerbs, in response to the drivers' concerns FIA race director and safety delegate Charlie Whiting agreed to lower the kerbs at the turn 10 hairpin ahead of Friday's free practice.^[8] The kerbs were further reduced in height for Saturday and Sunday's night race. The chicane at Turn 10 was reprofiled for the 2010 race in an attempt to make it safer and the turns more gradual by moving the kerbs, however Lewis Hamilton said in an interview this modification made the chicane more dangerous by making the entry to the corner smaller, calling the complex "the worst corner in F1".^[9]

The entry of the pit lane, which begins at the penultimate corner of the 23-turn layout, was deemed to be "difficult and incredibly dangerous" by several drivers due to the fast nature of the corners where they were situated.^[10] The problem was deemed to be primarily due to the speed differential of those entering the pits and those continuing on another lap and their sharing of the same race line. The controversial pit entry at Singapore was then modified ahead of Saturday's official Qualifying round by extending the pit entry line away from the pits. This change compelled drivers to commit to the pit entry earlier, providing additional warning to those following behind.^[11] In March 2009, three of the circuit's corners were given names after a competition amongst local F1 fans to submit ideas. Turn 1 was named Sheares after Benjamin Henry Sheares, the second president of Singapore; Turn 7 was named Memorial due to its proximity to a Second World War civilian memorial; and Turn 10 was named Singapore Sling.^[12]

In January 2010, it was reported that race organisers were considering changes to the circuit for the 2011 season.^[13] No major changes were made to the layout for the 2011 race, however Singapore Tourism Board has sought submissions on opportunities to reinvigorate the layout or completely relocate it in the future.

Gallery

• 

  Esplanade stretch of the circuit, one week before the 2008 race

• 

  Bird's eye view of the circuit, two days before the 2008 race

• 

  Turn 7 of the Marina Bay Street Circuit

• 

  Turn 22

• 

  The penultimate turn

• 

  The Stamford Grandstand between Turns 7 and 8

• 

  The Audience Stand

• 

  The Raffles Avenue after Turn 14

References

1. ^ "Singapore confirms 2008 night race". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 2007-05-11. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/5/6063.html. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
2. ^ "Track changes ahead of Singapore Grand Prix". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 2009-09-22. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/9/9960.html. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
3. ^ "Circuit Guides: Singapore". Hilton Hotels & Resorts. Hilton Worldwide. http://www.hiltonracing.com/grand-prix/circuit-guides/singapore/. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
4. ^ "Singapore to host F1 Grand Prix next year". Channel NewsAsia (MediaCorp). 2007-05-11. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/275566/1/.html. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
5. ^ Lim, Julian (2007-05-11). "It's on! Formula One race is coming to Singapore in 2008". AsiaOne (Singapore Press Holdings). http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20070609-13632.html. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
6. ^ "Singapore F1 track too bumpy, drivers complain". AsiaOne (Singapore Press Holdings). 2008-09-27. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Sports/Story/A1Story20080927-90384.html. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
7. ^ Collantine, Keith (2008-09-25). "F1 drivers largely happy with the Singapore track, apart from the tortoises". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/09/25/f1-drivers-largely-happy-with-the-singapore-track-apart-from-the-tortoises/. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
8. ^ "Whiting orders kerb solution". UpdateF1 (GMM). 2008-09-26. http://formula-1.updatesport.com/news/article/1222420802/formula_one/F1headlines/Whiting-orders-kerb-solution/view.html. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
9. ^ Holt, Sarah (2010-09-24). "Lewis Hamilton criticises Singapore chicane revisions". BBC Sport (Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore: BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9032137.stm. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
10. ^ "Singapore pit-lane is 'incredibly dangerous'". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2008-09-27. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/169571-0/singapore_pit-lane_is_incredibly_dangerous.html. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
11. ^ "Singapore pit entry altered". UpdateF1 (GMM). 2008-09-27. http://formula-1.updatesport.com/news/article/1222523323/formula_one/F1headlines/Singapore-pit-entry-altered/view.html. Retrieved 2010-09-25. 
12. ^ "New corner names for Singapore Grand Prix circuit". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 2009-03-20. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/3/9034.html. Retrieved 2009-03-20. 
13. ^ Strang, Simon (2010-01-28). "Singapore considering layout changes". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81107. Retrieved 2010-01-29. 

See also

• Formula One
• List of Formula One circuits
• Singapore Grand Prix

External links

• Official F1 Singapore Grand Prix website
• BBC's circuit guide
• Google Maps hybrid view of the circuit
• Google Earth placemark of the circuit
• Official Circuit Map
• Information at the Official Formula 1 site with sectors shown
• Circuit simulation preview with commentary by Mark Webber
• Asian Festival of Speed results