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134-610: The Singapore Grand Prix is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship . The event takes place on the Marina Bay Street Circuit and was the inaugural night race and first street circuit in Asia designed for Formula One races. The original Singapore Grand Prix was held at Thomson Road from 1966 to 1973, before returning to the calendar in 2008 at Marina Bay. Fernando Alonso won

268-483: A rev limiter . The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. But talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India , that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series . On 24 June, Formula One's governing body and

402-619: A ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983 . But by then, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977 , were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 , a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix . The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were

536-469: A driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship. Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of

670-451: A fire extinguisher and put the fire out himself. Sebastian Vettel , an eight-time winner in 2011 before Marina Bay, led the drivers' championship by over 100 points. He won the race from his 11th pole of the season. Vettel, Button, Webber, Alonso and Hamilton filled the top five places. Michael Schumacher again struggled as he slammed into the Sauber of Sergio Pérez . On 22 September 2012,

804-513: A first corner collision with Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen and Red Bull's Max Verstappen , which led to the retirement of all three drivers. Vettel's title rival, Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton , took full advantage and won the race from 5th on the grid to extend his championship lead over Vettel from 3 points to 28. After a disappointing weekend in Monza , Ferrari arrived in Singapore with high hopes of

938-572: A fourth DRS zone added to the circuit between turns 14 and 16 to increase overtaking, making it the second track in Formula One history, along with the Albert Park Circuit , to feature as many as four DRS zones. Lando Norris took pole position and won the race as he led every lap. He missed out on a first career grand slam as Daniel Ricciardo took the fastest lap of the race. Max Verstappen finished in second and Oscar Piastri rounded off

1072-463: A gap in the fencing. Nico Rosberg was making his 200th Grand Prix start. He was locked in a two-man tussle for the title with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton . Rosberg took pole position, and held off Daniel Ricciardo to win while Hamilton finished third. Rosberg went on to win the title. On 19 June 2017, the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Geneva released its provisional 2018 calendar, in which

1206-479: A guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series and boycotted a Grand Prix, and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement , which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it gave FOCA the administration of those rights. FISA imposed

1340-404: A management buyout to become Brawn GP , with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP laid off hundreds of employees, but won the year's world championships. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber . The Lotus F1 Team was another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with

1474-467: A net fifth position behind the impressively recovering Vettel and ahead of Barrichello. Button seemed to have the speed to catch Vettel, who was concerned about his brakes following the retirement of Webber as well as that of Alguersuari, of Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso, also with brake problems. Button closed the gap to under two seconds before he too appeared to develop brake problems. Fortunately for Button, his attempts to catch Vettel had given him

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1608-468: A new Concorde Agreement committing them to the sport until 2025, including a $ 145 million budget cap for car development to support equal competition and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to adapt to budgetary and logistical limitations. A significant overhaul of the technical regulations intended to be introduced in the 2021 season was pushed back to 2022, with constructors instead using their 2020 chassis for two seasons and

1742-568: A new look to the track, ending the reign of the 2.4-litre power unit, but a controversial ban on radio communications dominated pre-race proceedings. Mercedes 's Lewis Hamilton sailed to his seventh win of the year, becoming Singapore's third multiple winner in the process as teammate Nico Rosberg retired with technical problems. Sebastian Vettel , bound for Ferrari in 2015, finished second ahead of new Red Bull partner Daniel Ricciardo . Lewis Hamilton arrived in Singapore one pole position shy of his idol Ayrton Senna 's record run of eight in

1876-521: A number of Grand Prix racing organisations made suggestions for a new championship to replace the European Championship, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the new International Formula for cars did not become formalised until 1946, to become effective in 1947. The new World Championship was instituted to commence in 1950 . The first world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix , took place at Silverstone Circuit in

2010-404: A partnership with Lego , with the first new sets releasing in 2025. The regulations governing Formula One are set to be revised for the 2026 season, with big changes planned to help encourage closer and more competitive racing. Changes include: In November 2024, General Motors reached an agreement to enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans

2144-461: A post-qualifying gearbox change saw the Brazilian take a five-place grid penalty. Alongside Button, Nakajima , Kimi Räikkönen, Buemi , and Trulli were knocked out in this session. The top 10 drivers set their early quick laps. Hamilton took the early lead with Vettel and Rosberg close behind. Barrichello spun off and hit the wall hard, destroying much of the left side of his car, which brought out

2278-466: A press release stating it had been informed it was not entered for the 2010 season, and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting. On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012. To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into

2412-508: A reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams—most notably the changes introduced for 1998 . This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing

2546-533: A right-front brake failure. McLaren brought in both Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen for their second stops, and Timo Glock also pitted. The Safety Car was not deemed necessary to clear Webber's car, giving Jenson Button, who had been following Kovalainen, the opportunity to put in a series of fast laps before his pit stop. With Barrichello running in seventh after a small problem at his second pit stop, Button had an opportunity to stay ahead of his teammate and extend his Championship lead. He pitted on lap 51, emerging in

2680-432: A row. Another win would also put Hamilton on 41 – the same number as Senna. Sebastian Vettel took his first Ferrari pole, then made it four wins at Marina Bay as Hamilton retired with a loss of electrical power just after half-distance. Daniel Ricciardo split the two Ferraris in second place, while Formula One rookie Max Verstappen shouted 'No!' when told to move over for Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz . During

2814-434: A season (13, since beaten by Max Verstappen ), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2021). Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010 ). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at

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2948-442: A smaller contact patch between tyre and track. According to the FIA, this was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety. Results were mixed, as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip. This resulted in pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking, as these devices tended to make

3082-445: A suspended disqualification from the sport for manipulating the previous year's race. Fernando Alonso became the first man to win twice in Singapore. Now at Ferrari, he took pole and resisted Red Bull 's Sebastian Vettel on his way to the 25th victory of his F1 career. Michael Schumacher , making his F1 comeback in 2010 , struggled in his Mercedes and was 13th, while Heikki Kovalainen leapt from his burning Lotus T127 , borrowed

3216-457: A ten-second cushion over Barrichello with two laps to go. Nearly two hours after the race started, Hamilton completed the final lap to take the chequered flag, ahead of Glock and Alonso. Vettel and Button held on for fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Barrichello, Kovalainen and Robert Kubica in the final points paying position. Button extended his Championship lead by one point to 15 ahead of Barrichello, with just three races remaining. Vettel

3350-427: A token system limiting which parts could be modified introduced. The start of the 2020 season was delayed by several months, and both it and 2021 seasons were subject to several postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling of races due to shifting restrictions on international travel. Many races took place behind closed doors and with only essential personnel present to maintain social distancing . In 2022,

3484-743: A valid Super Licence , the highest class of racing licence the FIA issues, and the races must be held on grade one tracks , the highest grade rating the FIA issues for tracks. Formula One cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing cars , owing to very high cornering speeds achieved by generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce , much of which is generated by front and rear wings. The cars depend on electronics, aerodynamics , suspension , and tyres . Traction control , launch control , and automatic shifting , and other electronic driving aids were first banned in 1994 . They were briefly reintroduced in 2001 , and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008 , respectively. With

3618-626: A victory. However, Lewis Hamilton took pole position, ahead of Max Verstappen and the Ferrari of Vettel . At the start, the two Racing Point Force India drivers, Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon had an incident which resulted in Ocon retiring. Vettel overtook Verstappen right before the Safety Car was deployed. Vettel was the first of the front runners to pit, on lap 15. He was put on ultrasoft tyres , while most other people who pitted during that time went for

3752-403: A weekend. It typically begins with two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers ) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for

3886-399: A world championship race. It entered the 1961 British Grand Prix , the only front-engined car to compete that year. During 1962 , Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968 , sponsorship was introduced to

4020-550: Is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race. As of 2022, all drivers are given a free choice of tyre to use at the start of the Grand Prix, whereas in previous years only the drivers that did not participate in Q3 had free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at

4154-434: The 1955 Le Mans disaster . The first major technological development in the sport was Bugatti 's introduction of mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham , the world champion in 1959 , 1960 , and 1966 , soon proved the mid-engine's superiority over all other engine positions. By 1961 all teams had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99 , a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined Formula One car to enter

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4288-457: The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix . Other changes included the qualifying format, the point-scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming

4422-418: The 2009 race , the circuit was reprofiled slightly, including modifications to turns 1, 2 and 3 to aid overtaking, and also at turn 10 where high kerbs caused many accidents in 2008 . McLaren driver and reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position and sprinted away to win. Timo Glock finished second for Toyota , and Fernando Alonso was third in the first race for Renault after they received

4556-403: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit, dying nine months later from his injuries. Since 1994, three track marshals have died, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix , one at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and one at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix . Since Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths, the FIA has used safety as

4690-409: The 2015 race a spectator entered the track on the straight after Anderson Bridge, as leaders Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo sped by. He climbed over the fencing when the safety car was deployed. Eventual race winner Vettel described the man as 'crazy' in his post-race interview. The 27-year-old man was arrested by Singapore police after the incident. CCTV footage showed he had sneaked through

4824-425: The 2017 and 2018 seasons featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes ultimately won the titles with multiple races to spare and continued to dominate in the next two years, eventually winning seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020 and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021. During this eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, a Mercedes driver won 111 of

4958-593: The Alfa Romeo name, Sauber introduced a title partnership with the online casino Stake.com , resulting in the team's new identity as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber . Sauber will hold Stake's sponsorship name until the end of 2025, after which it will become the Audi works team for the 2026 season onwards. Scuderia AlphaTauri , Red Bull's junior team, dropped its name and took on sponsors from Hugo Boss and Cash App, becoming Visa Cash App RB, or VCARB for 2024. Formula One announced

5092-674: The Benjamin Sheares Bridge that spans on the expressway above the circuit, which is in turn named after ex-President of the Republic Benjamin Sheares . "Memorial" is named after the WWII War Memorial in the middle of the city, and "Singapore Sling" is the name of Singapore's signature drink . Announced on Thursday evening (UTC) that title sponsor ING and Mutua Madrileña had terminated their sponsorship deals with Renault with immediate effect. This move followed

5226-449: The Brawn cars onto the 'clean' side of the starting grid, on the racing line. The race began shortly after 8pm local time with Lewis Hamilton making a clean start from pole position. Nico Rosberg took advantage of being on the clean side of the track to overtake Sebastian Vettel into the first corner. Fernando Alonso attempted to also pass Vettel but was unsuccessful, giving Mark Webber

5360-486: The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport. In 2008 and 2009, Honda , BMW , and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within a year, blaming the economic recession . This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance of the sport. The Honda F1 team went through

5494-697: The Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf livery at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix . Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the 1968 season. The wings were introduced by Lotus's owner Colin Chapman who installed modest front wings and a rear spoiler on his Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . In the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics, previously used on Jim Hall 's Chaparral 2J in 1970, that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. The aerodynamic forces pressing

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5628-518: The Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since Alfa Romeo's and Renault's departures in 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW , Toyota , Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through

5762-496: The World Manufacturers' Championship ( 1925 – 1930 ) and European Drivers' Championship ( 1931 – 1939 ). The formula is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947 . The first Grand Prix in accordance with the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix , anticipating the formula's official start. Before World War II ,

5896-409: The 'sprint shootout'; such a system made its debut at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is set to be used throughout all sprint sessions in place of the traditional second free practice session. Sprint qualifying sessions are run much shorter than traditional qualifying, and each session required teams to fit new tyres – mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3 – otherwise they cannot participate in

6030-570: The 160 races, with Hamilton winning 81 of these and taking six Drivers' Championships during this period to equal Schumacher's record of seven titles. In 2021 , the Honda-powered Red Bull team began to seriously challenge Mercedes, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle that saw the pair exchange the championship lead multiple times. This era has seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in

6164-528: The 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap'. Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus —led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes , the boss of Air Asia ; Hispania Racing —the first Spanish Formula One team; and Virgin Racing — Richard Branson 's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team , which planned to run out of

6298-561: The 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz reentered the sport as a manufacturer after it purchased Brawn GP and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. During the 2009 season, Formula One was gripped by the FIA–FOTA dispute . FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the next season, including an optional budget cap for the teams; teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings, and an engine not subject to

6432-762: The AP reported that Bernie Ecclestone and the Singapore Grand Prix had agreed that the Grand Prix would remain on the Formula One calendar until 2017. Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth pole of the season for McLaren and his second in Singapore. A surprise visitor to the front row alongside him was the Williams of Pastor Maldonado , but it was Sebastian Vettel 's Red Bull that inherited the race lead when Hamilton pulled out with gearbox problems. Vettel then dedicated his 23rd Grand Prix win to Sid Watkins , who had died shortly before

6566-491: The F1 governing body announced a major rule and car design change intended to promote closer racing through the use of ground effects , new aerodynamics, larger wheels with low-profile tyres, and redesigned nose and wing regulations. Red Bull emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup. The 2022 and 2023 Constructors' and Drivers' Championships were won by Red Bull and Verstappen, with multiple races to spare. In 2023

6700-421: The FIA opened applications for new teams to enter Formula 1 in the then near future. Of the teams that applied, only Andretti were approved by the FIA, with them then being rejected by Formula One Management , though they have launched an appeal. In early 2024, the Formula One landscape underwent a significant change in the sphere of team sponsorships and collaborations. Having competed for five seasons under

6834-490: The Formula One championship in the current season. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship. Manufacturers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship. * Built by Cosworth A pink background indicates an event which

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6968-501: The German to 40 points. Coming off a second consecutive victory for Ferrari under rising star Charles Leclerc , Ferrari was on course to continue their rise in form; after an early trip back to pit lane during FP1, Leclerc powered through to take pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. After making a pit stop, Leclerc lost the lead to his teammate Vettel and eventually Hamilton, who had gambled on an extended running time on

7102-454: The Safety Car conditions, including both Brawn cars. The Safety Car did not benefit Rosberg, as Formula One regulations prevent a drive-through penalty being served under Safety Car conditions, meaning he would have to stop within two laps of the restart when the field was still closely bunched. During this round of pit stops, Alguersuari repeated the infamous mistake made by Felipe Massa at the 2008 race by attempting to exit his pit garage with

7236-523: The Singapore Grand Prix was given a tentative date of 16 September. At the time, the race (as well as the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai) were subject to confirmation by the commercial rights holders. On the eve of the 2017 race, the track and F1 announced an extension for the race through 2021. This race was a critical event in the season as polesitter and title contender, Sebastian Vettel, was involved in

7370-647: The UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Promoters held non-championship Formula One events for many years. Due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these was held in 1983. This era featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati . The first seasons featured prewar cars like Alfa Romeo's 158 , which were front-engined , with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 seasons were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over

7504-517: The United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina , competing for Alfa Romeo , won the first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio won the championship in 1951 , 1954 , 1955 , 1956 , and 1957 . This set the record for the most World Championships won by a single driver, a record that stood for 46 years until Michael Schumacher won his sixth championship in 2003. A Constructors' Championship

7638-550: The United States as the only non-European-based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams—which did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams—ran around at the back of the field until they collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin, then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, at

7772-406: The average annual cost of running a team—designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport—at approximately £220,000,000 (or $ 265,000,000), Formula One's financial and political battles are widely reported. The Formula One Group is owned by Liberty Media , which acquired it in 2017 from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6.4 billion ($ 8 billion). Formula One originated from

7906-858: The ban on driver aids was in name only, as they "proved difficult to police effectively". The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997. On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Brabham was also competitive during the early 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet . Powered by Porsche , Honda , and Mercedes-Benz , McLaren won 16 championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford , Honda, and Renault to also win 16 titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at

8040-622: The buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. But a link with its previous owners still survived, with its car continuing to be powered by a Renault engine until 2014. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships, which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari ). Hence, during

8174-403: The cars to the track were up to five times the car's weight. As a result, extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height , leaving the suspension virtually solid. This meant that the drivers depended entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface. Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged

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8308-574: The chequered flag in Monaco and Rubens Barrichello victorious in Valencia . Prior to the race, Button led the Championship by 14 points from teammate Barrichello, with Brawn's closest challenger Sebastian Vettel lying 12 points behind the Brazilian and 26 behind Button. Kimi Räikkönen of Ferrari was looking for a fifth consecutive podium, having scored three quarters of his 40 2009 championship points in

8442-422: The days final session in fifth. Jenson's teammate Barrichello struggled to take eleventh almost one second slower than Vettel. Although Webber crashed out with one hour remaining in the session he managed to sixth. The final practice session got under way with no cars posting a time for the best part of 15 minutes. With the first session of the weekend not being red-flagged it was Lewis Hamilton who finished top of

8576-456: The dearth of Formula One cars. When a new Formula One formula for engines limited to 2.5 litres was reinstated for the 1954 world championship, Mercedes-Benz introduced its W196 , which featured things never seen on Formula One cars before, such as desmodromic valves , fuel injection , and enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for the next two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport competitions due to

8710-583: The deployment of the Safety Car to remove debris from the track. Sutil spun attempting to pass Jaime Alguersuari on the inside of Turn 14 and, with his car facing the wrong way, attempted to rejoin the circuit as Heidfeld was taking the corner, causing a collision that forced both cars to retire, Heidfeld's first non finish since the 2007 United States Grand Prix . Sutil was later reprimanded and fined $ 20,000 by stewards for dangerous driving. Most cars that had thus far not pitted for fuel and tyres did so under

8844-567: The end November 2007, three-day passes to the public went on sale in February 2008. Single-day passes went on sale a month later. The event went on to achieve a full sell-out for all of its tickets. The 2008 race hosted the Amber Lounge after-party and in 2010, Singapore became the second location to host the Amber Lounge Fashion show. The first race held at the new Marina Bay Street Circuit

8978-409: The end of 1993 . Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello . The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also died in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until

9112-541: The end of 2006 after 16 years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP . During this period, FIA frequently changed the championship rules with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders , legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at

9246-439: The end of 2016. A major rule shakeup in 2014 saw the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth power unit manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg , with

9380-418: The end of lap three with a recurring brake problem. With Barrichello in seventh and Button out of the points scoring positions in 10th, Vettel looked to capitalise and try to close Button's 26 point lead in the Championship. By lap 13 he was 2.1 seconds behind Rosberg, who was in turn 2.5 seconds behind Hamilton. Vettel was the first of the leaders to stop, on lap 17. A lap later Rosberg pitted but he misjudged

9514-485: The end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race stewards' discretion. 2021 saw the trialling of a 'sprint qualifying' race on the Saturday of three race weekends, with

9648-466: The fastest getting first place on the grid, referred to as pole position . From 1996 to 2002, the format was a one-hour shootout. This approach lasted until the end of 2002 before the rules were changed again because the teams were not running in the early part of the session to take advantage of better track conditions later on. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start

9782-505: The fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide

9916-406: The first ever Formula One race held at night. Since its inception, Marina Bay has been known for featuring at least one safety car in every race edition, with the exception of the 2024 race, with a total of 24 safety car deployments. The Singapore Grand Prix has been considered to be one of the most challenging and unique tracks on the Formula One calendar. Sebastian Vettel has the most wins on

10050-402: The first not to feature at least one safety car . Although the track has seen some minor changes as seen above, the basic layout has in many aspects remained unchanged. It is a twisty circuit that is the slowest in Formula One running at normal race distance above 305 kilometres (190 mi), which combined with its features of proximity to walls leads to frequent safety cars, further extending

10184-483: The first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity, the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races. Each car

10318-464: The fuel hose still attached. The race restarted on lap 26, with Vettel now pressurising Hamilton for the lead. Rosberg served his penalty on lap 28, demoting him to 14th position. Hamilton and Vettel traded fastest laps with the gap between them hovering under a second. Behind Vettel the longer-fuelled Timo Glock was being encouraged to keep pushing as his team believed they could leap-frog the Red Bull in

10452-632: The high down-force circuit of Singapore didn't seem to suit the car. They ended the session P16 and 17. Giancarlo Fisichella seemed to be struggling a lot being 1.2s behind teammate Räikkönen and 2.4s behind Lewis Hamilton. The first qualifying session began with Renault 's Romain Grosjean going down the escape round at turn 17 due to brake issues. Rosberg set the early pace but Button, Vettel, and Hamilton responded quickly with their own flying laps. Both Ferrari 's were struggling until Räikkönen took second with three minutes remaining. His teammate Fisichella

10586-449: The inaugural Formula One edition of the renewed Grand Prix, driving for the Renault team amid controversial circumstances, when it emerged a year later that his teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. had been ordered to crash on purpose by senior team management to bring out the safety car at a time chosen to benefit Alonso. The race itself was also notable for being the 800th Formula One World Championship race since its inception in 1950, and

10720-475: The intention of testing the new approach to qualifying. The traditional qualifying would determine the starting order for the sprint, and the result of the sprint would then determine the start order for the Grand Prix. The system returned for the 2022 season, now titled the 'sprint'. From 2023, sprint races no longer impacted the start order for the main race, which would be determined by traditional qualifying. Sprints would have their own qualifying session, titled

10854-427: The lack of run-off area within a street circuit) and race finishes always completing near to the 2-hour allocated time limit (with 4 races being time-limited, instead of completing the allotted laps). Drivers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship. Teams in bold are competing in

10988-411: The layout, with turns 16–19 removed to facilitate the construction of NS Square . Instead, there was a new flat-out section until turn 16, former turn 20, with number of laps increased from 61 to 62 and lap times decreased by approximately ten seconds. Race distance was expected to be covered by an hour and a half unlike previous editions usually lasting until the two hours time limit. The Grand Prix had

11122-509: The lead before a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane scuppered his strategy. Fernando Alonso of Renault was the only previous winner of the race but recent controversy over last year's victory surrounded the race. Last year's pole sitter Felipe Massa sat out the race with injuries sustained in the Hungarian Grand Prix . The previous street circuit races this year were won by Brawn GP with Jenson Button taking

11256-414: The level of grip on the pit exit, causing his car to cross the white line that distinguishes the pit lane from the race track, an offence that is punished by a drive-through penalty . Rosberg was issued with the penalty on lap 20 and would have to serve penalty within three racing laps. Hamilton also pitted on lap 20. The following lap, an accident involving Adrian Sutil and Nick Heidfeld necessitated

11390-550: The management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association , and in 1978, he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; Ecclestone persuaded

11524-505: The most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 , and boost pressures in 1988 , before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989 . The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension , which first appeared during 1983 on the Lotus 92 . By 1987, this system had been perfected and

11658-439: The name refers to the set of rules all participants' cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix . Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads. A point-system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for the drivers , and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold

11792-431: The opportunity to overtake Alonso on the outside of Turn 7. Both Alonso and Webber went off track as Webber completed the move. Stewards deemed Webber's move illegal and on lap seven he was told to hand the position back to Alonso, which also meant letting Timo Glock through as the German had also passed Alonso on the first lap. Alonso's Renault teammate Romain Grosjean was not having any more luck, having to retire at

11926-461: The pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid for the race start. 2009 Singapore Grand Prix The 2009 Singapore Grand Prix (formally the 2009 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix ) was a Formula One motor race held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on 27 September 2009. The 61-lap race was the fourteenth round of the 2009 Formula One season . It

12060-409: The pit lane were also changed. The cars entered the pit lane before turn 22 while the most significant change was the exit of the pits with the cars now joining after turn 1. As a result, the total length of the circuit increased by 6 metres. Turns 1, 7 and 10 were now known as "Sheares", "Memorial" and "Singapore Sling" respectively. The namesake of these names are as follows: "Sheares" is named after

12194-559: The pits. Vettel pitted for his second stop on lap 39 and was clearly pushing very hard, running over a kerb on his out lap and damaging the underside of his car, having already lost his right wing mirror. However, worse was to come, as on lap 40 the stewards handed him a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. This left Hamilton 9.2 seconds ahead of Glock, who was in turn 7.6 seconds ahead of Alonso as Vettel served his penalty on lap 43. Red Bull's afternoon went from bad to worse three laps later as Webber spun out at Turn 1 after

12328-439: The podium. George Russell came fourth for Mercedes , while Charles Leclerc recovered to fifth for Ferrari . Lewis Hamilton finished in sixth place as he started on a different tyre strategy. Carlos Sainz Jr. took seventh place as he started in tenth place after crashing in qualifying. Fernando Alonso , Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez rounded off the scoring positions. It was the fastest Singapore Grand Prix, as well as

12462-511: The previous four races. Brawn led the Constructors' Championship on 146 points (and could have clinched the Constructors' title in Singapore), whilst Red Bull were 40.5 behind on 105.5. Ferrari and McLaren were 3rd and 4th respectively. The circuit was also reprofiled slightly, including modifications to turns 1, 2, 3, 13 and 14 to aid overtaking, and also at turn 10 where high kerbs caused many accidents in 2008 . The entrance and exit to

12596-476: The previous year's Singapore Grand Prix race-fixing scandal that resulted in a suspended ban for the team. Renault removed the sponsors' logos from their cars before they ran them on track. Mutua Madrileña continued however to back 2005 and 2006 World Champion Fernando Alonso . The first session of the weekend ended as the previous race finished with the two Brawns on top, Rubens Barrichello in front of Jenson Button . Renault 's Romain Grosjean caused

12730-426: The race on Sunday. Each driver may use no more than thirteen sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres, and three sets of wet-weather tyres during a race weekend. For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with

12864-502: The race. For the 2013 race, it was announced that the 10th turn of the track, the "Singapore Sling" chicane, would be reconfigured so the cars would have to navigate a flowing left-hander before accelerating towards the Anderson Bridge. Sebastian Vettel took his third successive win in Singapore with Red Bull and the 33rd of his career as a fourth straight title also loomed. He did it from his second Singapore pole, recovering from

12998-461: The race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap. The current qualifying system

13132-447: The running to nearing the race time limit of two hours. The race tests the limits for both drivers and cars. It has some 90-degree turns, but with a high degree of variability, featuring technical sections and quick direction changes. Overtaking is primarily done at the end of the first sector, where top speeds are at their highest. Runoff areas exist at the end of the long straights, but are short by Formula One standards. At most parts of

13266-666: The season with neither a Brawn nor a Red Bull driver on the podium. This was also the last race of 2009 for Glock, as he was injured during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix and was replaced by test driver Kamui Kobayashi . Heikki Kovalainen scored his last World Championship points at this race, as did second-placed Glock. As a consequence of the race, Championship leader Jenson Button extended his lead by one point finishing in fifth, one position ahead of Brawn teammate and Championship rival Rubens Barrichello . Fellow rival Sebastian Vettel had been challenging Hamilton for

13400-446: The session P17, around 1.6s behind teammate Kimi Räikkönen . The second session was also red flagged this time with Red Bull's Mark Webber. A big accident on the pit straight as the nose, front left wheel and the wing took the impact as a lot of debris was put onto the track. However the other Red Bull of Vettel finished the session top 0.2s ahead of Alonso. Kovalainen took third, Heidfeld fourth and championship leader Button finished

13534-431: The session to be stopped after losing control of the car at the same corner that Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed out during the race at last year's event . Adrian Sutil and Heikki Kovalainen were the others who had on track incidents. Fernando Alonso split the two Red Bull 's in fourth, Mark Webber finished the session in third and Sebastian Vettel in fifth. Giancarlo Fisichella continued to struggle as he finished

13668-459: The session. The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction and grip, and also gives

13802-537: The soft tyres and later came out behind both Ferrari drivers. For a brief moment, Antonio Giovinazzi led the race for the Alfa Romeo-Sauber team before being overtaken four laps later by Vettel. After Giovinazzi was passed by faster cars, three safety cars were called for the retirements of George Russell , Sergio Pérez and Kimi Räikkönen . Ultimately, the podium consisted of Sebastian Vettel, who took his last career race win, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. This

13936-423: The softs. He exited behind Pérez but overtook him a lap later. Verstappen pitted for soft tyres on lap 18, and exited just in front of Vettel. Vettel, being on the higher wear ultrasofts, did not attack in order to make it to the end. On lap 34, Pérez had a clash with Sergey Sirotkin which resulted in him getting a drive-through penalty. Sirotkin himself got a 5-second time penalty after forcing Brendon Hartley off

14070-406: The sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season by default. On 20 December 2007 Bridgestone signed a contract that officially made it the exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would be an important factor. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form

14204-482: The sport . Team Gunston became the first team to run cigarette sponsorship on its Brabham cars, which privately entered in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the 1968 South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968. Five months later, the first works team , Lotus, initially using the British racing green , followed this example when it entered its cars painted in the red, gold, and white colours of

14338-646: The sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021. In August 2020, all ten F1 teams signed

14472-450: The surprise of seeing Nico Rosberg 's Mercedes briefly ahead at race start to take victory by over half a minute. Fernando Alonso was on the podium yet again before stopping his Ferrari to pick up Mark Webber , whose Red Bull was in flames at Turn 7. On 15 April 2014, it was announced that Singapore Airlines would sponsor the Singapore Grand Prix, starting from that year. F1's new-generation turbo-charged, hybrid-powered cars brought

14606-532: The team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. The team continued this form in the next two seasons, again winning 16 races in 2015 before taking a record 19 wins in 2016 , with Hamilton claiming the title in the former year and Rosberg winning it in the latter by five points. The 2016 season also saw a new team, Haas , join the grid, while Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever race winner at age 18 in Spain . After revised aerodynamic regulations were introduced,

14740-502: The teams reached an agreement to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified, and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for reelection to the FIA presidency in October. Following further disagreements, after Mosley suggested he would stand for reelection, FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued

14874-667: The teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising. The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA war , during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre argued repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations. The Guardian said that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used [FOCA] to wage

15008-672: The technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically, thus increasing financial burdens. This, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive but to stay in business. This effectively forced several teams to withdraw. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton ), wins in

15142-526: The time sheets. Sebastian Vettel finished second trying to make the most of this Red Bull car as his teammate Mark Webber struggled for pace finishing down in thirteenth. The Williams of Nico Rosberg came third with Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen in fourth. Rubens Barrichello finished in sixth behind the two BMW 's of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld . Rubens's teammate and championship leader Jenson Button struggled and only managed fourteenth. The two Force India drivers didn't look quick at all as

15276-478: The track as well. Drivers from McLaren , Williams , Renault (formerly Benetton ), and Ferrari , dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 . The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 , as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997 , and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix ) between 1988 and 1997 . Due to

15410-507: The track, cars run very close to the walls. In general, victory is dependent on a drivers' experience and skills. The Singapore Grand Prix has been frequently described by drivers as being the “toughest race of the Formula 1 calendar”; the endurance of drivers is heavily strained due to various factors such as high heat, high humidity, high amount of sweat and bodily fluid loss , high number of corners (19 in total), little margin for error (due to

15544-561: The track, with five Singapore Grand Prix victories. In 2022, a contract extension was announced which will put the race on the Formula One calendar until at least 2028. First organised in 1961, the race was initially known as the Orient Year Grand Prix , located at the Thomson Road Grand Prix circuit . It was renamed to the Singapore Grand Prix in 1966, shortly after Singapore became a sovereign country in 1965. The event

15678-461: The track. Later on in the race, he was battling with Romain Grosjean as Hamilton and Verstappen approached to lap them. Instead of letting the leaders pass, Grosjean continued to attack Sirotkin which allowed Verstappen to close the gap to Hamilton and nearly overtake him. The Frenchman was handed a 5-second penalty and 2 penalty points on his licence. In the end Hamilton won, with Verstappen second and Vettel third, increasing his championship lead over

15812-425: The wake behind the car turbulent or 'dirty'. This prevented other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure, as the harder compound could not grip

15946-415: The yellow flags. The red flag was brought out with 26 seconds remaining on the clock. The session was restarted, but the very low amount of time meant that no one was able to get back on track, and the session was effectively ended early. Hamilton took pole position ahead of Vettel, Rosberg, and Mark Webber. Although Barrichello qualified fifth, he started the race tenth after his gearbox change. This session

16080-662: Was 25 points behind Button while Webber's crash meant he was now officially out of the running for the World Championship. Brawn would need 12 points from the remaining three races to clinch the Constructors' Championship, while Ferrari's poor race, with neither driver scoring points, allowed McLaren to close the gap to Ferrari to three points in the battle for third. Under Bernie Ecclestone 's proposed 'winner takes all' medals system, Button would have been declared World Champion after this result, with no other driver able to match his tally of six race wins. The Olympics-style system

16214-458: Was Ferrari's first 1–2 finish since the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix . Both the 2020 and 2021 iterations of the event were cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions then-imposed by the Government of Singapore, on arriving foreign tourists. On 27 January 2022, the Singapore Grand Prix's contract was extended up to 2028. The Grand Prix had major changes in

16348-526: Was added in the 1958 season . Stirling Moss , despite being regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers in the 1950s and 1960s, never won the Formula One championship. Between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished second in the championship four times and third the other three times. Fangio won 24 of the 52 races he entered—still the record for the highest Formula One winning percentage by an individual driver. National championships existed in South Africa and

16482-525: Was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only

16616-583: Was announced that the telecommunications company Singtel would be the title sponsor of the event. The official name of the event became the Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. The race was co-funded by the Government of Singapore , footing 60% of the total bill, or S$ 90 million, out of a total tab of S$ 150 million. Around 110,000 tickets were made available for the country's first Formula One race. Corporate hospitality suites and packages went on sale at

16750-512: Was discontinued after 1973 and a variety of reasons have been suggested, including an increase in traffic, the very high danger and unsuitability of the track for racing, the inconvenience of having to close roads for the event and fatal accidents during the 1972 and 1973 races. Announced in 2008, an agreement for a five-year deal was signed by Singapore GP Pte Ltd, the Singapore Tourism Board and Bernie Ecclestone . In November 2007, it

16884-537: Was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining races' outcomes more than driver skill, banned many such aids for the 1994 season. This resulted in cars that previously depended on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive. Observers felt

17018-436: Was eliminated alongside Sutil , Alguersuari , Romain Grosjean, and Liuzzi .. At the beginning of the second qualifying session, Mark Webber was the pace-setter, but an amazing lap by Nico Rosberg secured his place in Q3. Button was struggling throughout the session, and, after narrowly avoiding putting the car into the wall on his final lap, he qualified a dismal twelfth. His teammate, Barrichello, made it through to Q3, but

17152-404: Was hosted by Lindsay Lohan . Another massive SingaporeGP Season event Fuel Festival featured headliners Underworld , will.i.am , Peter Hook ex- New Order , Bloc Party , Guru Josh , Darren Emerson , Freaks , Hybrid , Samantha Ronson , and Johnny Vicious and was hosted by Lindsay Lohan which takes place 24 September at Suntec Convention Centre as well as 25 to 27 September nightly at

17286-473: Was not part of the Formula One World Championship. Formula One World Championship Formula One , commonly known as Formula 1 or F1 , is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the world's premier forms of racing since its inaugural running in 1950 . The word formula in

17420-661: Was planned to be used to decide the 2009 World Champion but was dropped after pressure from teams in favour of the traditional points method. Cars that use the KERS system are marked with "‡" Cars that ran KERS are marked with "‡" The inaugural F1 Rocks concerts was held in Singapore. Headlining acts include Beyoncé , The Black Eyed Peas , ZZ Top , Simple Minds , N.E.R.D. , No Doubt , Jacky Cheung and A*Mei which took place 24 to 26 September nightly at Fort Canning Park . This also included Mark Webber , Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button doing fun challenges and it

17554-471: Was the 15th round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, and was also the first night-time event in Formula One history. The timing of the night event also meant that it could be broadcast live at a convenient time for TV audiences outside of the Asia-Pacific. The track was also illuminated by a series of projectors which adapt their output to match the shape of the course. On track, Felipe Massa

17688-442: Was the first man to sit on the Singapore pole in his Ferrari, and dominated the race until he was released early at a pit stop, breaking his fuel rig and dropping him to last place. The race was won by Fernando Alonso driving for the Renault team, though that result has since been tarnished by controversy . Renault were found to have ordered Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash, as the ensuing safety car would strongly benefit Alonso. For

17822-410: Was the second Singapore Grand Prix to be part of a Formula One Championship and the tenth Singapore Grand Prix overall. It was also the second Formula One race to be held at night. The race was won by McLaren - Mercedes driver and reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton . Toyota 's Timo Glock finished second and 2008 race winner Fernando Alonso took third position, making this the only race of

17956-417: Was the third of four to be red flagged during the weekend; only the third practice session was not interrupted. Approximately three hours before the scheduled race start it was announced Nick Heidfeld would be starting the race from the pitlane, after his team discovered insufficient ballast had been fitted to his car. This promoted all the cars behind him one position on the grid, significantly moving both

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