Drivers give thumbs-up to Singapore’s new turn ten

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

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F1 drivers have welcomed the changes made to Singapore’s turn ten this weekend.

The Singapore Sling chicane, which had previously been criticised by some drivers, has been replaced with a more conventional left-hand corner, guarded by TecPro barriers on the outside.

Lewis Hamilton, who had criticised the old chicane, was among the driver who praised the new corner.

“The circuit is much improved here without the chicane and Turn 10 feels like a much nicer corner now,” said Hamilton after the first day of running on the revised track. Mercedes estimate the change to the corner has reduced lap times by 1.5 seconds.

Sebastian Vettel said the new turn is “the best solution we have with the space that’s available”.

Fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber explained the choices and compromises at work behind the decision to change the corner:

“It’s been a difficult site for us to get right over the years. [Race director] Charlie [Whiting] is the first to admit that they’ve tried to find different scenarios to get us happy there and to get him happy with his numbers in terms of the run-off.

“The TecPro stuff is for me, I’m not… you know I’ve hit that here at turn one with a brake failure [in 2009] and it’s not… I preferred my Valencia crash, actually, compared to the TecPro stuff.

“It’s still, I believe, probably a safer corner now because if you have a failure in the old corner, and jumping those kerbs, when you’ve got a car which is on the plank, that’s not very good for us. So at least we now have an alley to go down – OK, it might be a little bit quicker, but the car will still be on the ground when it hits the barriers.”

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Drivers give thumbs-up to Singapore’s new turn ten”

  1. What did Kimi have to say about it?

    1. He doesn’t care. He knows what he’s doing

    2. It’s the same corner for everyone.

    3. Kimi: I’ve told you, that crash was not my fault.

  2. I’ve never been a supporter of Mark Webber, but I have to say, ever since he announced his retirement, he has become a much more interesting bloke with his opinion on things!

    1. @prof-kirk I don’t think Webber has changed much since the announcement. He has always been vocal in his opinions, it’s just that his retirement has caused a bit more interest (and therefore more reporting) on what he has to say.

    2. @prof-kirk I’ve not noticed any difference in his statements between now and a year ago, really… Maybe you’re now interested in what he says more than you used to?

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