Hamilton’s bold proposal for F1 circuits to offer day and night options

SINGAPORE – Lewis Hamilton has proposed that more Formula 1 circuits are fitted with floodlights so they have the option of hosting races during the day or at night.

Formula 1 is racing at the Marina Bay street circuit this weekend, with the track having hosted F1’s first-ever night race in 2008.

Lewis Hamilton wants more F1 circuits to host night races

Now in its 17th running, it has been joined under the lights by Bahrain, Jeddah, Qatar and Las Vegas, while Abu Dhabi is a twilight event.

Aside from the cooler conditions compared with what would be unbearable daytime heat, night races also offer spectacular visuals.

Singapore’s success led to Bahrain switching to a night race in 2014, with Hamilton saying he would like more venues to have the capability of hosting either day or night races.

“I love the night races,” Hamilton told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media at the Marina Bay circuit.

“I remember when this one was being brought on and we did the test on the simulator back in the day when I was at McLaren. They did obviously an amazing job with the lighting, and then we’ve had that at other places.

“I remember testing and running in Bahrain in the middle of the heat. Hottest day ever, tyres and whole cars melting, and I was like, ‘Dude, this place would look epic at night’, and then years later they did end up doing a night race there.

“So I think in some places it works really well, particularly really extreme hot places, where if you’re in the middle of the day in Qatar, it’s probably going to be miserable for the fans, but also for everyone in the paddock.

“So some of the night races I think are really cool. We were just in Madrid, and that was beautiful during the day. I was like, this could also be cool at night, and many of the tracks could be.

“So, who knows? Maybe having the option to switch between that over time would be a cool development for tracks.”

But while the Briton does “not mind” the challenge of the different time zones, effectively going to bed in the early hours and waking up at midday, he concedes it will have an impact on his sleep score.

“So that’s something I’m thinking of,” he continued. “I think of every day trying to get a good sleep score, making sure I’m getting efficient sleep, which is tough to do here. And lighting and everything, what you eat and when you eat, all that stuff really affects you.

“But it’s a part of the weekend, so it’s massively challenging. I like it.”

That, however, is not the only challenge – nor the biggest challenge – that awaits the drivers this weekend.

This weekend Singapore is hosting the final Sprint weekend of the F1 2026 season, which means there will be just one practice session on Friday before Sprint qualifying. And FP1 could take place in the rain.

The weather forecast is for rain on all three days; the only question is how intense it will be, and whether it will reduce the humidity. The latter is predicted to be up to 80 per cent for Sunday’s Grand Prix, with the ambient temperature at 31°C.

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“There’s rain on the forecast every single day here, so that doesn’t really mean anything because it’s the humidity,” he said.

“Every year we come, there’s thunder and lightning on the forecast, and most often it never rains. So when it does rain here, it’s intense and it’s definitely difficult on the track.

“I think the short session that we have makes it tough, but it’s the same for everybody.

“So hitting the ground running definitely helps. Obviously, you have to try to cover even more. I doubt anyone got to go back during this switchover to test on the simulator or anything like that.

“So you’re coming straight from the last race straight into a new track, and you’re literally going straight into another session, potentially with a different balance, a slippery circuit.

“But everyone’s in the same boat. I think it’s kind of exciting.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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