In the round-up: The Singapore Grand Prix organisers have added new grandstands to the Marina Bay circuit for 2023 to account for the loss of the Float sequence from the track layout.
In brief
Singapore adds new grandstands after temporary loss of Float
Due to renovation work on a waterside platform known as ‘The Float’, the Marina Bay street circuit will not feature the sequence from turns 16 to 19 that ran by the platform and under the grandstand until renovations are completed midway through 2026.
Instead, the circuit will now run from the kink of turn 15 directly into the former turn 20 right hander, which will now become turn 16.
To compensate for the loss of grandstand space, organisers have announced two new grandstands will be added on the inside of the first corner and just before the pit entry before the final two corners. Tickets for the new grandstands will start from S$1,188.
Andretti has faith in Honda ahead of Indy 500
Michael Andretti says Honda are working “very hard” to ensure their engines will compete with Chevrolet during next month’s Indianapolis 500.Honda powered Marcus Ericsson to victory in last year’s Indianapolis 500, but Chevrolet engines have won each of the four oval races that have followed. Andretti, whose team run Honda engines, says he has faith in his engine supplier.
“I think they’re pretty equal, they’re getting pretty equal, ’cause there’s only so much you can do with this engine, right?,” Andretti said. “I think they’re getting closer to each other.”
“They’re always still trying to find that last little bit. I know Honda is working very hard still to do it. We’re told we’re going to have some more stuff for Indy. I’m hoping it will be what we need to beat the other guys.”
Madrid street circuit rumours resurface
Rumours the Spanish Grand Prix could move to a street circuit Madrid in the future have resurfaced in local media reports. Suggestions a temporary circuit could replace the Circuit de Catalunya outside Barcelona as the home of the race have been around for years, but gained fresh impetus recently.
Aston Martin’s leap forward means Spain now has two drivers who are potential podium contenders: Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jnr, who is from Madrid. The Spanish capital is also home to the recently-opened F1 exhibition at the Ifema facility. The mooted street circuit would run between that venue and the Valdedebas area, close to the Bernabeu stadium of Real Madrid football team. Spanish media suggests the track would replace the Catalunya circuit as the race’s home once its contract expires at the end of 2026.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Mick’s Diary: Life as an F1 Reserve Driver (Mercedes)
"I visited it back in 2014 as a young driver and was even sneaking in the simulator then, but everything is a lot bigger now than it was then! It is a state-of-the-art facility, very impressive in how things are structured and how every detail is thoughtfully taken care of. I’m still getting used to the level of preparation that you see here, and I am trying to soak up as much information as I can. Also, there’s still a lot of people I haven’t met but it’s been fun getting to know as many colleagues as I can."
"We started this plan in 2017. We started from very far. We were almost starting from scratch in 2017. We had nice facilities from the BMW era, but they remained like this for the next 10 years – no upgrades, no improvements. We were 180 people. Now we are more than double."
Every Formula 1 Driver Who Tried to Push His Car to the Finish Line (Jalopnik)
"Innes Ireland’s Lotus stopped at Casino Square, and this madman pushed the damn thing all the way to the finish just so he could be classified in ninth place."
Zak O'Sullivan talks F3 racing for Williams and his career goals (Irish Post)
"I think it's really cool. Williams has such a big heritage in the sport of motor racing and within F1. Being involved and under their wing has been a massive help for me. I think the fact that you can lean back and learn from an F1 team is always really helpful. I hope it continues."
How An Eccentric Racing Heir Became King of Hollywood Media (LA Mag)
"Penske, now 44, grew up in Detroit and New York around racing, as the youngest son of motorsports icon Roger Penske, the billionaire owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and various championship-winning Penske Racing teams. Jay Penske has kept his hand in the family racing business by creating his own path, leaning into the future by going all-electric in 2014. So there he was, facing the camera a few months ago in a brief but rare public appearance during the team’s 15-minute online presentation, praising the new third-generation Formula E car, an open-wheel machine with a top speed of 200 mph."
NASCAR’s race to evolve (Sports Business Journal)
"The California transaction underscores how the 75-year-old NASCAR, which owns the largest portfolio of nationally sanctioned racing venues in America, is rethinking the very fundamentals of its business. It decided it was better to capitalize on the rising land values near Los Angeles and deploy that money to other initiatives than just continue with the status quo, which was running a capital-intensive, 2-mile track an hour away from L.A."
F1 Las Vegas | Topping Out Ceremony (Las Vegas Grand Prix via YouTube)
Video of the topping out ceremony when construction began of the first permanent building of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
What a weekend! 👏
Alex Powell, our Junior Driver, took his first KZ2 victory on Sunday at the first round of the @fiakarting European Championship. 😊 pic.twitter.com/j2mLHfhsGh
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 17, 2023
Genuinely impressed by the amount of death threats and abuse I’ve received 😂
Definitely a new record by far, really appreciate the effort to help me learn all these new Spanish words 😘I’m going to the beach now 😎 hasta luego ❤️
— Callum Ilott (@callum_ilott) April 16, 2023
You don’t deserve this, mate! And most Argentinians aren’t like this! You are the one pushing the team forward and helping Canapino the most… every 🇦🇷 fan should be grateful to have you.
Next time you’re in Buenos Aires, I would teach you some of the nice Spanish words. 💪🏼— Franco Colapinto (@FranColapinto) April 17, 2023
Just having breakfast and realized something… 11 years ago we were told we were being replaced because we werent winners… lets pls forget about me for a second but just while im having my coffe i found out @Sebastien_buemi my former team mate in F1 keeps….
— Jaime Alguersuari (@SquireMusic) April 17, 2023
On adding wins and trophies to his back.. i forgot how many world titles he has already to his back and i m not just happy and proud of him but as time goes by I realized how many race wins and maybe world titles he would ve won at Red Bull racing F1. Again pls dont judge me…
— Jaime Alguersuari (@SquireMusic) April 17, 2023
Annnnnd representing @ds_penske_fe at the official rookie test in Berlin is… 👀
The duo of Robert @ShwartzmanRob and @WillStevens_! ⚡️ @SABIC #BerlinEPrix
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) April 17, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
With modern hybridisation of motorsport often being complex and hard to follow, @Tifoso1989 praises the WEC’s newest TV graphic designed to clarify how much power hypercar teams have available in a race…
The Virtual Energy Tank graph was a great addition to the WEC races. It really helps understanding the different teams’ strategies, when they will stop, how much energy they are consuming…Very cool staff btw. There was a similar graph in F1 that showed live fuel consumption in 2014 which gave insightful details about the different driving style but I don’t why it was removed.
Tifoso1989
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Alan and Consi!
On this day in motorsport
- 30 years ago today Paul Tracy won the CART IndyCar Grand Prix of Long Beach for Penske ahead of Bobby Rahal and Nigel Mansell
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
18th April 2023, 1:33
In reference to COTD. @Tifoso1989
The fuel usage graphic was removed because it became less important when fuel saving became less of a factor.
In the first 2-3 years of the V6 turbo hybrid era fuel saving was a huge part of things and how much fuel they had left near the end was a more important factor so a graphic to show why some may be slower and doong lots of loft and coast at various parts of a race was felt important.
As the fuel allowance increased and the engines and hybrid systems became more efficient fuel management became a less important factor and the fuel usage graphic therefore became less relevant. It’s now much more equal over a race distance and doesn’t have the significant effect on performance at different stages of a race as it did in those initial years.
And as that happened pace management became more about the tires which is why they started looking for ways to highlight tire life rather than fuel usage. Although the tire performance graphic was met with mixed reviews and ended up been dropped as it wasn’t as accurate as was hoped.
A more useful and relevant graphic to bring back would be hybrid battery usage over a lap. It’s not been seen since the 2018 graphics refresh andto bo honest I’m not really sure why it was dropped.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
18th April 2023, 12:56
@gt-racer
Thank you for the detailed explanation !
Jere (@jerejj)
18th April 2023, 5:34
Both S/F straight sides towards T1 already have grandstands, so I don’t see where a new one could fit.
As for the short straight between the third-to-last & penultimate corners, only room for a small one.
Nevertheless, I still wish the change were permanent rather than only temporary for three seasons.
Nothing new necessarily about the Madrid in 2026 rumor anymore.
Nice first diary piece.
Interesting that Ilott has received death threats from Argentinians just because of his team.
Unacceptable nevertheless.
Buemi certainly would’ve won races at Red Bull Racing, if not a single WDC.
Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
18th April 2023, 6:57
A little correction about Madrid street circuit: the rumored location is “Valdebebas” (not “Valdedebas”) and it is not close to Santiago Bernabéu stadium, but Alfredo di Stéfano stadium, a much smaller venue where Madrid B-team plays its games.
That area is full of ultrawide avenues (up until 10 lanes, separated by three median strips), several roundabouts and a lot of orthogonal streets. It is very well connected to the airport, but not with the rest of Madrid city, and it is a recently-urbanized area, with a big and ugly field that cannot be considered “a park”. Not sure if it is the best possible location.
Mayrton
18th April 2023, 11:34
While I would be inclined to say anything is better than circuit de Catalunya, I feel street circuits do not belong to F1, period. It is taking the pi.. at the participants and viewers, driven by nothing but monetisation. An exception in the form of Monaco once a year, living up to the glamorous image is more than enough and has always been considered a bit of a joke/breather in-between the serious tracks and competition the remainder of the year. But with Liberty holding the rights I think we can expect much more targeting of one off audiences that are not a fan to such extent they will not travel to a circuit but want to be fed cookies from just outside of their doorstep.
bosyber (@bosyber)
18th April 2023, 13:54
I guess it sounds like a location with some space to move @diezcilindros, though I agree with Maryton that how F1 turns out to use that space might not be quite to the liking, and with the same priorities, as most fans might want :)
Jameson
18th April 2023, 15:52
I’ve watched from high up on the Singapore straight – one of the most restricted and least exciting views of F1 that I could imagine, the view into the pits was more exciting than what I could see of the action (there wasn’t Ferrari sandwich that year). Takeaway whiskey was nice tho.
Jonathan (@jonny705)
18th April 2023, 16:17
Someone please tell the Singapore organisers that this temporary track adjustment should be made permanent. The now-T16 looks much more appealing from a racing perspective.
skydiverian (@skydiverian)
19th April 2023, 20:47
Actually looking forward to it – if 16 becomes a passing opportunity then it’s definitely a change that should be made permanent. Circuits should be interesting and promote overtaking rather than being built to pass landmarks.
skydiverian (@skydiverian)
28th April 2023, 6:10
The article about Nascar’s race to evolve is disappointing in that about the sale of half of the Fontana oval and cites rising land value as the reason half of the land is being sold. Which was the reason that Riverside Raceway (20 miles southeast of Fontana) in 1988 was demolished and, to a lesser extent, Ontario Speedway (2 miles west of Fontana) in 1980.
Clearly the money is the factor but tracks closing due to rising land value and it being better to sell is a problem that’s existed for decades and clearly won’t be going away any time soon.
In the case of Fontana the Nascar race this year was one of the better races of the season and Indycar’s tenure there lead to some fantastic races over the years. On a historic level it’s the holder of the fastest closed course lap in competition with Gil De Ferran’s pole lap for the 2000 race at over 241mph. It’s disappointing that the current 2 mile track is going to the history books. I guess being a copy of Michigan (and Texas World Speedway which is currently being demolished for housing) might soften the blow but I thought the races there were generally better than those at Michigan.