Work to redevelop the area called The Float at the Marina Bay Circuit into a new entertainment and stage area means that the section that until now made up Turns 16, 17, 18 and 19 will not be usable next year , at the 2023 Singapore GP .
That is the part of the circuit world-famous for Nelsinho Piquet’s deliberate accident in the 2008 race, which helped his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso win that year’s grand prix.
The works to turn that part into the future “NS Square” (Plaza NS) will begin in March 2023 and it means that, for the Singapore GP next year, the track will lose all that section in front of the famous grandstand.
Now, with changes to the Singapore layout, the track will feature a flat section from the right-hand turn at Turn 14, incorporating a new 379.3-metre-long straight from Turn 15 to the new tight curve 16.
The first simulations of the changes at the Singapore GP circuit estimate that the lap time will drop drastically to 1:27.7 seconds.
At this year’s Singapore GP, Charles Leclerc took pole with a time of 1:49.412. However, the conditions in that qualifying were not ideal, with the track starting wet and dry free practice times being more than five seconds a lap quicker. That is, in 2023 we could see a record almost 20 seconds faster, around 17 seconds or so.
As a result of the changes, which will reduce the length of the track to 4.928 kilometres, the number of race laps at the upcoming Singapore GP will increase to 63 laps from the current 61.
Although the changes have been agreed with local architects and approved in principle by F1, they become subject to formal approval by the FIA World Motor Sport Council .
The track is expected to return to its traditional layout by 2024, once the new NS Plaza area has been completed.
aerial view of singapore circuit
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