Marina Bay Street Circuit
Singapore Grand Prix
Is the Singapore Grand Prix Good for Racing?
Not really. The pole lap on the right spends only 52% of its distance at full throttle and brakes 12 times, so drivers hop from one tight corner to the next with little straight to set up a pass. F1 counted 62 overtakes in the 2024 race, about one a lap.
Qualifying carried most of the weight last year. George Russell won from pole and Max Verstappen finished second from second. Lando Norris was the only podium finisher to gain places, climbing from fifth to third.
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Strategy Factors
2025 Singapore Grand Prix
What to Look Out for at the Singapore Grand Prix
Singapore runs its first Sprint this year, which leaves one practice session before the grid starts to take shape. The run to Turn 1 is short, only 178m from pole to the braking point, so there’s little room to make up places before the first corner.
After the start, watch for the Safety Car. It came out in 83% of the six races before 2025, and a green-flag stop costs around 23s. A driver who pits under a neutralization loses far less, which is how a poor Saturday can still become points on Sunday.
F1's 2025 preview gives the Safety Car and VSC rates over six races, the 178m run to Turn 1 and the older pit loss.
Pirelli reports the 2025 pit limit rise to 80km/h and a saving of about six seconds per stop.
Singapore Grand Prix Tire Strategy
Six of the top 10 in 2025 started on mediums and switched to hards between laps 21 and 27. Max Verstappen started on softs instead, stopped on lap 19 and still took second.
The chart shows two outliers. Carlos Sainz ran 50 laps on mediums before switching to softs, and Lewis Hamilton was the only top-10 finisher to stop twice, fitting softs with 16 laps left and setting the lap record on lap 48.
For 2026 Pirelli brings C3, C4 and C5, its three softest compounds, to a track that punishes the rear tires out of slow corners.
Pirelli's August 27, 2026 announcement naming C3, C4 and C5 for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Stint lengths and compounds for the top 10 finishers of the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix shown in the chart.
Marina Bay Street Circuit Sector by Sector and Corner by Corner
Speeds, gears and braking points below come from George Russell‘s 1:29.158 pole lap in 2025 qualifying. He was at full throttle for 52% of the lap and spent 19.6 seconds on the brakes across 12 braking zones. His top speed was 316 km/h on Raffles Boulevard before Turn 7, and the slowest point was 65 km/h at the Turn 13 hairpin.
FastF1 timing data for George Russell's 1:29.158 pole lap, used for the speeds, gears, braking points and sector figures
Brembo's 2026 figures for Turn 1, 4 g and 110 kg of pedal load
Brembo's 2025 figures for Turn 7, 4.9 g and 151 kg of pedal load
Jolyon Palmer on the Singapore Sling and braking over the bridge
Pirelli on the 2023 layout making the lap smoother and faster
History of the Marina Bay Street Circuit
Marina Bay has raced under lights since 2008, and the layout has been redrawn more than once, first for safety and later to make room for construction.
Covers the 2009 pit lane changes, the 2013 and 2015 revisions, the pandemic cancellations and the 2023 Float bypass.
Supports corner names, the floodlight count and the 40km/h rise in entry speed after the Singapore Sling went.
How Much Does the Marina Bay Street Circuit Cost?
Singapore spends S$135m-140m ($106m-110m) a year to stage the race, according to its Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the government co-funds 60% of approved costs. That total covers the hosting fee, reported at $35m a year, plus the temporary track, grandstands and security. The permanent pit building cost about S$33m ($25.8m) and opened for the first race in 2008.
How Much Does It Cost to Build the Marina Bay Street Circuit?
There's no single build cost, because most of the lap runs on public roads. The three-story permanent pit building cost about S$33m ($25.8m), according to Singapore's National Library Board. Work began in August 2007, and the government said about 20% of the circuit was built from the ground up. Everything else, from the temporary track to the grandstands and hospitality, is set up each year and paid for inside the S$135m-140m ($106m-110m) annual race cost. No cost has been published for the 2023 layout change that replaced four corners with a straight for the NS Square project.
How Much Is the Singapore Grand Prix Hosting Fee?
Neither F1 nor Singapore has published it. RacingNews365 estimated the fee at $35m a year in 2023 after consulting promoters, F1 and the teams, and Speedcafe's 2024 table gave the same figure. The promoter, Singapore GP Pte Ltd, pays it as part of the race's running costs, and the government co-funds 60% of those costs through the Singapore Tourism Board. When Singapore won the race in 2007 it also added a race-week hotel cess, expected to raise S$15m-20m ($11.7m-15.7m) a year. The current seven-year deal, agreed in January 2022, runs to 2028. No escalator has been reported.
The 2022 race cost of S$135m-140m, the 60% government share and the costs it covers
The yearly cost estimate for 2022-2028 and the government's seven-year commitment
The $35m fee estimate for 2023
The pit building's cost of about S$33m
The pit building groundbreaking in August 2007 and the 20% of the circuit built new
Government co-funding of about 60% and the hotel cess of S$15m-20m a year
The seven-year extension to 2028, announced in January 2022
The 2023 layout change for the NS Square project
How Much Are Singapore Grand Prix Tickets?
A three-day Zone 4 Walkabout is the cheapest ticket at SGD548 ($429), and the cheapest grandstand is Stamford at SGD608 ($476), overlooking Turns 7-8. Regular grandstand seats top out at SGD1,798 ($1,408) at the start, the pits and the final corner, Super Pit costs SGD2,498 ($1,956) and hospitality starts at SGD5,110 ($4,001). Every price includes 9% GST. That makes Singapore the 20th cheapest of the 23 races in our ticket price table.
Marina Bay Street Circuit Questions
Yes, the Singapore Grand Prix is one of the most demanding races for drivers. The 2025 race lasted 1:40:22.367 over 62 laps, October’s average overnight low is 25°C, and George Russell’s pole lap braked 12 times. Of the pole laps we’ve mapped, only Monaco’s has more braking zones.
The 2023 change removed four slow Marina Bay corners that ran under the Float grandstand and replaced them with a straight into the new Turn 16. The shorter lap pushed the race from 61 laps to 62, and Mercedes saw a possible new passing chance under braking for Turn 16.
October rainfall is a poor guide to rain at the Singapore Grand Prix. The 1991 to 2020 averages give Singapore 168.3mm and 15 rain days in October, but those figures cover whole days, while the race runs after dark. They show storms are common that month, not whether one will hit a two-hour window at night.
The Singapore Grand Prix recorded 300,641 admissions across the 2025 weekend, up from 269,072 in 2024. That’s a cumulative count, so a fan with a three-day pass can be counted on each day they come in, and it isn’t the circuit’s capacity. This year’s prices are on the Singapore ticket page.
Singapore’s deal with Formula 1 runs through 2028, under a seven-year agreement signed in January 2022. The 2027 race is already dated for October 8-10, and unlike this year’s event it won’t be a Sprint weekend, since Singapore isn’t on the announced 2027 Sprint list.
Singapore puts the cost of staging its Grand Prix at S$135m-140m ($106m-110m) a year, and the government co-funds 60% of approved costs. The hosting fee paid to F1 is part of that total. It has never been published, but RacingNews365 and Speedcafe have both estimated it at $35m a year.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit’s permanent pit building cost about S$33m ($25.8m), according to Singapore’s National Library Board. The rest of the lap uses public roads, and about 20% of the circuit was built new for 2008. The temporary track, grandstands and hospitality are put up again every year.
