Singapore GP to go ahead as unhealthy haze tests drivers
Formula 1 has rolled into Singapore to find the air as testing as the track. Singapore's National Environment Agency classified air quality as "unhealthy" on Tuesday 6 October 2026, yet the Grand Prix weekend schedule was not expected to be disrupted, The Guardian.
The haze has drifted across from wildfires in neighbouring Indonesia. A "super" El Niño, a natural warming of the Pacific that shifts rainfall patterns, is fanning fires across parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Rainfall across the region has sat about 80% below normal since June, according to Wang Jingyu of Nanyang Technological University. Wang described the 2026 fire season as the most intense in more than a decade.
The trend has been moving the wrong way all week. On 4 October the National Environment Agency forecast the 24-hour PSI, the Pollutant Standards Index used to grade Singapore's air, in the high moderate to low unhealthy range. A day later that forecast rose to high moderate to mid unhealthy, with dry conditions observed over the island, National Environment Agency. Then came Tuesday's unhealthy reading.
Transboundary smoke haze of this kind visits Singapore from time to time, particularly during the southwest monsoon season from August to October. This year the scale is wider. More than 12.5 million people have been exposed to haze from fires across seven provinces on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
Racing is still on. An FIA spokesperson said there is a contingency in place if conditions worsen. The federation said any restrictions on outdoor entertainment activities would be unlikely to apply to F1 paddock members.
Night race organisers said N95 masks will be available on site if required. They added they will work closely with relevant agencies on any decisions involving visibility, public health or operations.
Health experts are watching closely. Chris Carlsten said prolonged exposure during the race could affect drivers' cognitive performance. He pointed to a study in which participants spent two hours in heavy air pollution before taking cognitive and reaction-time tests, with an effect described as similar to that of an alcoholic drink.
It would not be a first. The Singapore Grand Prix was last held in haze in 2019. Lewis Hamilton said at the time he had been advised not to run outside in the days before the race.
For fans, this means a familiar Singapore challenge with an extra layer. The Marina Bay circuit is a slow, bumpy street track where drivers sweat hard inside the cockpit for almost two hours. Now they must do it breathing harder air.
