F1 teams and drivers welcome sprint race at 2026 Singapore Grand Prix

SINGAPORE – The choice of Singapore as a new sprint race venue for the 2026 Formula One season may have raised eyebrows due to the perceived unsuitability of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, but several team principals and drivers have welcomed it, saying that it will inject new excitement for fans.

The 2026 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix from Oct 9 to 11 will be the first time a sprint race is held here, with the other five sprint races in China (March 13-15), Miami (May 1-3), Canada (May 22-24), Britain (July 3-5) and the Netherlands (Aug 21-23).

Introduced in 2021 to increase F1’s entertainment value and provide more opportunities for wheel-to-wheel action, sprint races run for 100km, about one-third the length of a regular F1 race, lasting for about 30 minutes.

According to the F1 website, the venues chosen for sprint events have “great overtaking potential” and are “picked to try and ensure the sprint is a flat-out, aggressive melee from start to finish”.

While the 4.927km Marina Bay Street Circuit, which is tight and twisty, is viewed as not being conducive for overtaking, Alpine’s managing director Steve Nielsen said in a press conference at the F1 Pit Building on Oct 3 that he would like to see more sprint races, as there are “too many” practice sessions.

F1 sprint weekends drastically reduce practice time, offering only one 60-minute practice session on Friday – compared to three on a standard race weekend – before a sprint qualifying session.

The 100km sprint race, which has no mandatory pit stop, is held on the Saturday of the race weekend, with up to eight points available to drivers finishing in the top eight. That is followed by traditional qualifying to set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.

Nielsen added: “When we do races now, where we have three free practice sessions, it seems very long... I think it would be nice for the guys and girls in the grandstands to have more stuff to look at.

“So I would be an advocate of having more sprint races and I’m happy there’s one in Singapore.”

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also supports having a sprint race at the Marina Bay circuit.

The Ferrari driver told the official F1 channel that the reduction in practice time may help create more variability within the field and hence more excitement.

“As a sprint race next year, that’ll make it really, really tough, because this is a track where we really utilise those three (practice) sessions,” he said.

“If you’re going from (first practice session) straight into a sprint (qualifying session) I think it could be good, because in all honesty it’s not a good race in terms of racing, because you need a one-second advantage on the car ahead of you to have a chance of overtaking.

“Even though you have four DRS zones, it’s like Monaco, there’s hardly any overtaking here at all. Last year, we had no safety cars either, so it was pretty dull. So I think a sprint (race) will really make it more of a lottery and throw a bit of a spanner in the mix,” he added.

But less practice time in Singapore may not bode well for everyone, with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto stating that racing in the day time (the sprint race in Singapore will flag off at 5pm) is “not ideal”.

“They (F1) may have a problem,” the Brazilian, 20, told the media on Oct 3. “I’m not a rookie anyway next year, but definitely it’s a problem. Singapore in the day time… not ideal. I’ve been lucky to get into F1 at this moment. There are some sprints, but not a lot of them yet. “For the future rookies, I think having sprints, only one free practice, it’s not going to be easy.”

But Willliams team principal James Vowles played down worries over the suitability of Singapore for the sprint race as well, as viewership figures go up whenever there are such races.

The Briton said: “I’m not worried about Singapore. Frankly, what we see on sprint race weekends is the numbers go up, the audiences go up, so it is generally a hit.”

Adding to the intrigue for 2026 is the fact that sweeping new regulations will be introduced, with F1’s next-generation car likely to be lighter, smaller and nimbler.

Aston Martin chief executive Andy Cowell said it would be “interesting” to see what the overtaking is like with the new regulations in place, which would mean Singapore may not be an odd choice for a sprint race after all.

He said: “We may well see more overtaking and so Singapore being chosen isn’t a problem. The fans love sprint race weekends, and we all work for the fans, so I therefore support it.”

Cowell’s thoughts on the matter are similar to Mercedes driver George Russell, who said that it is not clear yet how the new regulations could affect racing in 2026.

Russell said in an interview with The Straits Times on Oct 1: “What we know of Formula One today will be totally different next year, so I don’t think any sort of rules that apply today will potentially be the same next year.

“So I’m excited for it (a sprint race). Singapore is one of the best Grand Prix races on the calendar, so I think people will be excited for it.”

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri made a statement on Oct 3 when he topped the timesheets during a heavily disrupted second practice session on the eve of qualifying.

The drivers’ championship leader clocked 1min 30.714sec, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, who was 0.132sec behind, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was 0.143sec adrift of Piastri.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso topped the first practice session ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Verstappen.

The second practice session suffered two lengthy red-flag interruptions involving separate crashes by Mercedes’ Russell and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, while there was also a crash between Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc in the pit lane.