The Singapore Grand Prix has built a reputation as the most punishing test in Formula 1 – a race where even the fittest drivers emerge visibly drained and drenched in sweat. Under the Marina Bay floodlights, the drivers are pushed to physical and mental limits few other events come close to replicating.
The conditions are brutal. Temperatures inside the cockpit regularly top 60C and humidity can rise to 90%, which turns each lap into a sauna session. The race itself almost always runs to the two-hour maximum, making it one of the longest and most intense on the calendar. And unlike circuits with long straights or sweeping turns, each of the 19 corners arrive in relentless succession – coupled with the bumpy street surface it leaves the drivers with no room for error, otherwise they risk crashing on a circuit hemmed in by concrete walls.
For the drivers, survival isn’t just about raw speed and high downforce – it’s about thorough preparation. Months of specific training, meticulous attention to diet and hydration, and even carefully managed routines all feed into giving them the best chance of conquering the season’s ultimate test.
Why is Singapore so challenging?
Every circuit brings its own challenges, but Singapore’s combination is uniquely punishing. With cockpit temperatures exceeding 60C, there is little natural airflow to cool drivers once they’re strapped into their seat. Over the course of two hours, that’s pretty much the equivalent to exercising in a sauna while wearing fireproof overalls and a helmet – yikes!
The Marina Bay Circuit layout compounds the difficulty, with each lap demanding constant physical exertion. Despite the circuit reaching 4.9km, its 19 low-speed corners and bumpy surface mean that only Monaco is the only race with a slower average speed. The stop-start rhythm also means repeated spikes of braking G-force, leaving little chance to rest and a lot of pressure on the body.
Then there’s the duration – Singapore races often flirt with the two-hour time limit, particularly when the Safety Car appears. This Grand Prix is known for featuring at least one Safety Car in every race since its addition to the calendar in 2008, with the exception of the 2024 race. For drivers, the longer duration means their peak heart rate and concentration must be sustained far longer than anywhere else which is just as mentally taxing as it is physically.
This relentless race is clearly something to be respected and prepared for. As Carlos Sainz once put it: “If you survive Singapore, then you’re fit for anything else in Formula 1!”.
Building physical resilience
Although Singapore falls in the final quarter of the season, preparation for it begins long before the season even commences. The foundation is laid in pre-season, when drivers focus on endurance work and plenty of strength and conditioning to build the stamina and resilience needed for a year of racing. And even then, Singapore is already at the forefront of their minds, as highlighted by Sainz: “When I’m training in pre-season January and February, I’m thinking about Singapore – I’m not thinking about the first race.”
That year-round base of fitness is then sharpened with Singapore-specific preparation as the race approaches. The turning point is usually the summer break in August, when the heat training intensifies. As Nico Hulkenberg’s former trainer Martin Poole put it: “Every year the subject of Singapore comes up around July time. It’s in the back of our minds that training over the summer break needs to ramp up a bit, we do more sessions outside in the heat, and try to acclimatise Nico to the discomfort of performing in the heat and humidity as much as possible. It’s the only race that we train specifically for.”
That training often means running in multiple layers to trap heat, long turbo sessions in climate-controlled heat chambers, and extended stints in saunas – all designed to mimic the punishing conditions of Marina Bay and the sweltering cockpit environment. By the time drivers arrive in Singapore, they’ve already rehearsed the discomfort of pushing flat-out in sauna-like humidity for two hours.
Staying on European time
Over the race week itself, there’s the crucial decision of when to train, eat, and sleep. With the Singapore Grand Prix held at night, the first race to do so in 2008, drivers don’t switch to Singapore’s time zone. Instead, they stay on European hours throughout the weekend.
That means waking up in the early afternoon, eating breakfast around 2pm, and finishing their day well past 3am. Hotels are kitted out with blackout curtains to help drivers sleep through the morning, while teams alter the schedule for their entire operation – team meetings, gym sessions, media commitments, and debriefs – to align with this new artificial clock.
The logic behind this odd tactic is straight forward, as hopping between time zones mid-season would only add another layer of fatigue to an already-exhausting race. Sticking to European time zones ensures that the drivers’ bodies perform as if it were an afternoon race in Monza or Budapest – even if in reality, Singapore is already into the early hours of the morning.
By the time the lights go out on Sunday evening, the aim is to have preserved as much energy as possible. Because once the race begins, there’s no hiding from what comes next!
Fluids, fluids, and more fluids
In the week leading up to the race, drivers go through a process known as hydration loading. Large volumes of water and electrolyte-rich drinks are consumed, often balanced with increased salt intake to encourage fluid retention. The aim is to start the weekend at peak hydration, knowing that numerous kilograms of body weight will still be lost during the duration of the race.
Even with these strategies, fluid loss is dramatic. George Russell has spoken about losing 4kgs of body weight during the 2024 edition after his body overheated. Each car is fitted with a hydration system, but with capacity limited to around 1.5 litres, it is nowhere near enough to replace what’s lost.
Staying cool
Whilst the months of training prepare the body for the heat and humidity of Singapore, the challenge on the ground is keeping core temperatures under control. With conditions in the cockpit getting distractingly hot, recovery between sessions is crucial to keep the drivers healthy.
Drivers turn to numerous methods to keep themselves cool by any means necessary. Ice baths are prepared in the garage for drivers to hop into as soon as they jump out the car, while garages are further stocked with fans, ice towels and even frozen slushies or ice lollies for quick relief. The bottle of water inside the car is often pre-frozen ahead of the session, so they thaw gradually and provide some cooling alongside the all-important hydration as the conditions in the cockpit grow hotter.
Ahead of this weekend, the FIA officially classified this years’ Singapore Grand Prix as a ‘heat hazard’. In response, teams have been mandated to fit a new ‘Driver Cooling System’, which they will be advised to use over the weekend. The technology combines a pump, plumbing and a thermal store, circulating chilled fluid through a fireproof vest fitted with fine tubes that sit against the driver’s torso. The idea is to keep core body temperature lower for longer – which could make a key difference in a race as tough as Singapore.