Formula 1’s original night race is one notorious for its difficulty in overtaking opportunities.
A track that so often champions qualifying results, with seven of the last ten wins coming from pole position, only drivers that qualify below expectation may carve the most passing manoeuvres.
But that is not to say that overtaking is impossible around the Marina Bay track, as these three places have demonstrated.
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Turn 1
Not so much during the middle of the race, such is the short length of the DRS zone down it, but the short run towards the first corner will be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the gruelling 62-lap race.
In races that have mainly, but not always, been won from outside pole position; decisive parts of the race took place in the opening seconds.
In 2017, in soaking wet conditions, Max Verstappen was caught in between the two Ferrari drivers of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, which triggered the most dramatic crash, and moment, of the season.
And in 2022, the last Singapore Grand Prix not to be won from pole position, Sergio Perez passed pole-sitter Charles Leclerc ahead of the first turn.
WATCH: Chaos at the start of the #SingaporeGP ☔️🙈😯
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 17, 2017
Raikkonen = OUT
Vettel = OUT
Verstappen = OUT
VIDEO >> https://t.co/1wWcP385HE pic.twitter.com/f5O8xJgzPL
Turn 7
Following one of the quickest parts of the Marina Bay Circuit, turn 7 marks the end of the DRS zone that has seen a big chunk of passes through the years.
If drivers are stride-for-stride through the fifth turn, then their battle will likely continue on through the flat-out kink of turn 6 and into the slower-speed left-handed turn 7.
In 2018, Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari swarmed past Max Verstappen’s Red Bull on the opening lap, while Lewis Hamilton has endured a series of incidents there. In 2010, he ended his race when the rear of his McLaren collided with Mark Webber’s Red Bull, and in 2011 he punctured Felipe Massa’s Ferrari.
Turn 16
Before 2023, there were four more corners to the Marina Bay track layout. However, recent re-developments have yielded a flat-out run between the right-hander of turn 14, and the entry into the turn 16/17 chicane.
At the end of another one of the current four DRS zones at this track, a small run-off area on the outside encourages even opportunistic moves. Despite the medium-speed entry into the turn, drivers have still executed overtakes there; like Charles Leclerc on Nico Hulkenberg, in 2024.