“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
The 2026 Singapore Grand Prix is upon us, and it will be a little different to the previous 16 editions of that Formula 1 race.
For the first time, the Marina Bay Street Circuit will host a sprint weekend, but it also will differ from other sprint weekends, for scheduling reasons. The only free practice session and the sprint will take place in the afternoon, while both qualifying sessions and the main race will proceed at night.
Conditions in FP1 will therefore be unrepresentative from the remainder of the weekend – except the sprint. Looking at the past four Singapore events, track temperature was consistently 3C to 5C cooler on Friday evening compared to Friday afternoon, so drivers and teams will head into sprint qualifying with no relevant data.
“It’s going to be a very challenging weekend for that reason,” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said.
“To have a sprint race on a street track is going to be quite tough for everybody, not only for us drivers but also for the whole team, to set up the car right, to make sure that we are in the right functioning window for tyres, for the car, and also for the level of commitment you want to put when you do the lap in the sprint [qualifying].
“But it’s an exercise I particularly like and a track I really like, actually one of my favourites of the season. So I’m looking forward to this challenge, but it’s going to be very tricky.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Srinivasa Krishnan
“I really like that,” Cadillac’s Sergio Perez concurred. “It puts a little bit more uncertainty on the weekend, a little bit more tension. And on a street circuit, on a race that is so hard to get the confidence, speed up, it’s good. The driver can make a bit of a difference in these sorts of weekends.”
To make that difference, the key will be to get as much mileage as possible in free practice, regardless of the potentially unrepresentative temperatures.
“The most important thing is just to find a good balance with the car straight away in FP1. That will probably just help a lot for the rest of your weekend,” Red Bull’s Max Verstappen commented, with team-mate Isack Hadjar adding: “It’s not going to be easy.
“I like on street circuits the fact that you get to build up to the limit through all the free practice sessions, so it’s going to be a bit different, the risk approach is going to be a bit different as well, but I guess you just have to do it.”
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
The teams will make the most of previous years’ data, like track evolution into the evening, to figure out how to set up the car for sprint qualifying.
Asked how much guesswork was going to be involved, Pierre Gasly replied: “Quite a bit. We know Singapore as a track is already very challenging – just from the nature of a street track, bumpiness. Sprint weekend is going to make it even more, let’s say, tricky from that front. And it’s going to be important to start and hit the ground running right away.
“Generally, with the car we have, I know we are in a decent place. But am I confident we’ll get the car absolutely nailed for the entire weekend? Probably not, but we’ve done as much work as we could to get in a good place.”
The Alpine racer added: “It’s mainly trying to work out with offsets from the past and what we’ve seen in the past, and apply it to these cars – which some can be applied and some can’t. We’ll try to navigate through it, it’s never a straightforward weekend.”
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg shared that analysis. “It’s definitely going to be more difficult, more challenging to find the sweet spot, and obviously the one-hour practice is not very much,” the veteran said. “We all, from history, know a little bit the effects of what happens with the track temperature difference and less sun, but still, it leaves a bit of uncertainty and some question marks out there.”
Some drivers think they can thrive in those unusual circumstances, and Franco Colapinto even went on to praise Fernando Alonso. “Fernando is the best at that. Probably you’d like a sprint quali straight away?” the Argentine jested, sat next to the two-time world champion in Thursday’s press conference. “No! Not even practice!”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Meanwhile, in a trying 2026 season for last year’s title contender, Oscar Piastri was slightly more downbeat regarding his own prospects.
“With this year’s car it’s never come that easily for either of us, but especially for myself, so definitely going to put things to the test,” the Australian said of swiftly finding a decent set-up with the MCL40.
“But it will be interesting to see what it’s like, obviously, for everybody. It’s a bit of a different Singapore to normal; on a street circuit you’re always trying to build things up, slowly creep up on it, whereas this weekend we don’t have that luxury. So in some ways it’ll be a good litmus test for Monaco next year [with a sprint race in the principality in 2027]. It should be good fun.”
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