Home F1 FIA details on Singapore GP circuit changes, DRS zones & more

F1, FIA, Singapore GP — SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - OCTOBER 02: A shot of the Anderson Bridge during the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 02, 2022 in Singapore, Singapore. Scuderia AlphaTauri (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202210020632 // Usage for editorial use only //

FIA details on Singapore GP circuit changes, DRS zones & more

14/09/2023

The FIA has shared details for F1 Singapore GP’s circuit layout changes along with DRS zones, track limits and more.

One of the biggest talking points coming into this weekend’s F1 Singapore GP was the layout changes made at Marina Bay Circuit owing to construction. The old Turns 16, 17, 18 and 19 is gone and instead they will go straight from Turn 15 to Turn 20-21.

This will cut down the lap times and provide new challenge to F1 drivers. The FIA Race Directors’ has noted down about those changes along with some others, they are:

Removal of the paint in the working lane.
Realignment of the walls from Turn 15 until old Turn 20, old Turns 16, 17, 18 and 19 removed.
Resurfacing start of Pit Straight until exit Turn 6.
Resurfacing from entry Turn 14 until exit Turn 16.
Re-alignment of the concrete wall at Turn 17 on LHS.

Moving on to track limits, in general for a street circuit, it has always been the walls but the FIA has a special mention for drivers cutting the run-off at Turn 1-2-3. The re-joining will be monitored by the stewards even though there is no mention of a punishment for it.

Here’s the FIA guidelines about the run-off in Turn 1-2-3:

Any driver who fails to negotiate Turn 2 by using the track, and who passes completely to the right of the orange kerb/line element, must keep to the right of the red and white polystyrene block, and re-join the track on the outside of Turn 3.
The above requirements will not automatically apply to any driver who is judged to have been forced off the track, each such case will be judged individually.
In all cases detailed above, the driver must only re-join the track when it is safe to do so and without gaining a lasting advantage.

In terms of the three DRS zones, the FIA states that the first detection zone is at Turn 4 and its activation is at 48m after Turn 5, while the second’s detection zone is at 102m before Turn 13 and activation is at 78m after Turn 13.

And the final zone’s detection point is at 105m after the apex of Turn 17, while the activation is at the exit of Turn 19. The FIA stewards panel will be led by Garry Connelly, who will have support from Matteo Perini, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Paul NG.

There won’t be any movie filming in this weekend’s F1 Singapore GP unlike the other European races which had them.

Here’s the full FIA Race Directors’ note: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Singapore%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Director’s%20Event%20Notes.pdf

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