{"id":918265,"date":"2026-10-06T14:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/918265\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T14:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:30:11","slug":"f1-drivers-face-unhealthy-singapore-air-as-super-el-nino-fuels-wildfire-haze-formula-one-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/918265\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 drivers face \u2018unhealthy\u2019 Singapore air as \u2018super\u2019 El Ni\u00f1o fuels wildfire haze | Formula One 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Singapore\u2019s Formula One<\/a> night race is an annual opportunity for the city-state to showcase its dazzling, illuminated skyline. But this year, the lights of the country\u2019s many skyscrapers will shine a little less brightly.<\/p>\n

The south-east Asian nation is shrouded in a thick haze that has drifted from huge wildfires in neighbouring Indonesia, with Singapore now among the world\u2019s most polluted cities.<\/p>\n

Haze is a recurring problem in Singapore during Indonesia\u2019s dry season, but conditions have worsened this year as a \u201csuper\u201d El Ni\u00f1o exacerbates fires across parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan.<\/p>\n

\u201cRainfall across the region has been about 80% below normal since June, fuelling the most intense fire season in over a decade,\u201d said Wang Jingyu, an assistant professor at Singapore\u2019s National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University.<\/p>\n

Air quality levels in Singapore were classified as \u201cunhealthy\u201d on Tuesday by the country\u2019s National Environment Agency and F1\u2019s travelling circus will be greeted by smoky skies when it arrives from Kuala Lumpur following Sunday\u2019s eventful race at Sepang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The polluted conditions are not expected to cause any disruption to the racing schedule this weekend, but an FIA spokesperson told the Guardian that \u201cthere is a contingency in place\u201d if the haze worsens and there \u201cmay be some restrictions on outdoor activity\u201d, although that is unlikely to apply to members of the paddock and would instead focus on \u201centertainment activities\u201d.<\/p>\n

The organisers of the Singapore night race said they will ensure the availability of N95 masks on-site if required and will \u201cwork closely with the relevant agencies\u201d to make any decisions regarding the race weekend if the haze causes \u201cvisibility, public health or operational issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

The polluted air will add another challenge for drivers racing around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, already regarded as one of the toughest events on the F1 calendar because of its high humidity and tight, twisting track.<\/p>\n

Members of the all-women The Power of Mama volunteer firefighting team spray water onto smouldering peatland in Mensubuk Lama, West Kalimantan. Indonesia has been battling fires for weeks. Photograph: HERIBERTUS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Chris Carlsten, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and an expert in the effects of air pollution on physiology, said prolonged exposure to the haze during the race could affect drivers\u2019 cognitive performance.<\/p>\n

In one study, participants spent two hours in conditions with high levels of air pollution before completing a series of cognitive tests, including assessments of their reaction times. \u201cOur findings show that the pollution effect is similar to that of an alcoholic beverage,\u201d Carlsten said.<\/p>\n

The haze could also impact the drivers\u2019 pre-race preparations, says Chris Tyler, a reader in environmental physiology at the University of Roehampton who has worked with F1 drivers including Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz. Drivers often exercise outdoors to acclimatise to the Singapore heat in the run-up to the race, but Tyler warned that \u201cthese are the sorts of environments where prolonged exposure to the pollution over a number of days could be somewhat detrimental.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lewis Hamilton received similar advice in 2019, when the Singapore Grand Prix was last held in hazy conditions. The seven-time world champion said he had been advised not to go running outside in the days leading up to the race. Carlsten said he would advise all drivers to wear masks if the air quality remains poor, allowing them to \u201ckeep their lungs clean\u201d before the race.<\/p>\n

While the murky air is currently shrouding Singapore\u2019s striking skyline, it should not obscure the drivers\u2019 view as they weave their way through the illuminated city streets this weekend. The FIA said it has \u201cno concerns\u201d about visibility. A Formula One spokesperson said: \u201cThere is absolutely no risk to the event and the conditions where the event is taking place are not at any level of concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also little indication that the teams are worried, with several telling the Guardian they have made no changes to their plans. Audi, competing in their first Singapore Grand Prix, said its drivers are trained to cope with a range of conditions, including \u201cvarying levels of air quality\u201d.<\/p>\n

For the hundreds of thousands of spectators expected to pack the circuit, however, the health implications are less straightforward. Unlike the drivers, who will spend only a relatively short period on track, fans could be exposed to the polluted air for several hours, particularly those attending the concerts and other events around the race.<\/p>\n

Wang said short-term exposure to haze will generally cause only mild irritation in healthy people, likely in the form of a dry or sore throat, coughing or sneezing, but vulnerable groups, including elderly people, pregnant women and children, face a higher risk, with haze potentially aggravating pre-existing conditions such as asthma or triggering acute bronchitis.<\/p>\n

Rain could offer some respite from the smoky conditions, with thundery showers forecast for Singapore on both Friday and Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Singapore\u2019s Formula One night race is an annual opportunity for the city-state to showcase its dazzling, illuminated skyline.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-918265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}