Second Singapore F1 race emerges as possible Russian GP replacement

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, F1 announced the cancellation of the race in Sochi scheduled for 25 September, as well as terminating the grand prix’s contract.

It has left a gap on the initial 23-race calendar that F1 was looking to fill with a return to Qatar, which hosted its first grand prix last year at the Losail International Circuit.

Qatar signed a 10-year deal to host a grand prix starting from 2023, taking this year off due to the country hosting the FIFA World Cup. But it emerged as the strong favourite to replace the cancelled Russia race, kicking off the triple-header going that will take F1 onto Singapore and Japan.

But Autosport has now learned that some uncertainty from the event organisers in Qatar has led to alternative options being explored, including running two races in Singapore.

The idea has been discussed with the promoters in Singapore, which could possibly run the two races on consecutive weekends at Marina Bay Street Circuit at slightly different times of day, starting one at dusk before the other retains the traditional 8pm start for a full night race.

A similar approach was taken for the pair of races in Bahrain at the end of 2020, when the Sakhir Grand Prix started a few hours later than the Bahrain Grand Prix one week earlier.

Singapore has not hosted a grand prix since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has recently reopened to tourists and plans are moving ahead for F1 to return on the scheduled 2 October weekend.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT02, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, and the rest of the field away at the start

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

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