Norris hopes Singapore circuit intervenes after heavy Stroll hit

Lando Norris hopes the Marina Bay Street Circuit will look a little different next year than it does this year. The McLaren driver would like to see the final corner modified slightly. Lance Stroll experienced a huge crash there during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, the worst of this season.

The layout of the semi-street circuit is already different in the final sector this year. Four slightly more angled corners have given way to a straight section, reducing lap times quite a bit. Charles Leclerc's pole time in 2022 was 1:49.412, this year Carlos Sainz drove a 1:30.984. The long straight should encourage overtaking in the race, although Lewis Hamilton does not expect much of that due to the lack of DRS.

Stroll hard into the wall

The necessary adjustments have already been made, but Norris would like to see the final corner made a bit safer. Stroll went off hard in qualifying and the McLaren driver could barely avoid his rival as he turned onto the straight himself. “I got there before any yellow or anything, so I didn’t see it or know of it until the exit of the corner. You [could] see the smoke as I was coming around the corner, but it was impossible to know what was happening", he reveals this to PlanetF1 and others.

Norris does have an idea why Stroll ended up in the wall so hard. “I don’t know if they can maybe make a small improvement to the track there for next year because there’s kind of like a bit of a dip or something, not smooth enough, and I think everyone’s a bit afraid to do it [at full speed,]. There’s been quite a few instances of as soon as you do it, you almost have to just get off the throttle and abort the lap because you try and commit and you’re going to end up doing what Lance did."

In the interests of safety, the current world championship number eight would like to see the 'exit kerb' changed to a more common kerbstone in 2024.