Sport | Motorsport
In the heat of the night
Tthe Singapore Grand Prix provides a new dimension to the world of F1 racing.
- By Adam Flinter, Web Editor
- Published: 21:36 September 28, 2008
- Image Credit: EPA
- Ferrari fans wave a flag before the start of the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Street Circuit on Sunday. Singapore is hosting the Grand Prix street circuit night race for the first time.
'Be part of history', screams the unmissable ad completely covering the double decker bus in Singapore.
If Formula One venues were ranked by promotional superlatives, then the newest addition to the circuit would certainly be a world championship contender.
Not only is it Singapore's first ever Formula One race, it is also Asia's first ever street circuit race, and of course - the world's first ever night race.
As you walk around the city, it is almost impossible to ignore the fact that a typhoon - containing the diminutive frames of Hamilton, Massa and Co had blown into town.
The job of the marketing people has certainly been made easier by the unique selling points of the race - especially the fact that the Marina Bay circuit is smack bang in the middle of the city - but Singapore's business community has not missed the opportunity.
To get some idea of how much hype there is surrounding this race, I set myself a challenge.
As I walked through my hotel and into the now trackside venue of Marina Mall on Thursday, I wondered if I could walk for more than two minutes without seeing anything Formula One related.
Of course, it was never something I was going to realistically achieve.
Paraphernalia:
Almost everywhere you turned you were greeted by F1 paraphernalia: from special racing promotions in clothing stores, to the displays of grand prix books and even to waitresses in five star hotels clad in pit-girl style outfits.
Buses are adorned with F1 ads, clubbers have found Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen staring down at them as they queue and Singapore's famous mythical Mer-lion mascot has suddenly found itself in a makeshift racing car.
But the award for the most inspired piece of marketing was a local church which got in on the act by using a metaphor (300km/h and still going round in circles) to try and attract people into worshipping a non-motorsport related god.
Inside the actual circuit there are parties, acres of green space to lie down in, endless food outlets and a real carnival atmosphere. Outside of the circuit, even those who have zero interest in the race struggle not to be involved.
The normally ubiquitous charms of live Premier League football were upstaged on the Saturday in the cafes of the popular Clarke Quay district, both in terms of pure interest and by the fact that you could hear the noise of the cars above almost everything else.
The Liverpool-Everton derby became a mere passing sideshow compared to the Hamilton-Massa Singapore showdown.
With all of this hype the city had reached a fever pitch and contrary to my natural cynicism, people genuinely seemed to be excited by the race, even if they didn't always really know what it was about. Despite the fact that the city centre had been closed down, and that rare UAE style traffic jams had started to build up because of the many road closures, the GP was a topic not far from everyone's lips.
One gentleman I spoke to said he was looking forward to the sleek racing machines pounding the same streets that he drives on every day, another revealed that he had never even watched an F1 race on the television but was sure to be trackside for the big event.
The city - already a vibrant metropolis - was simply buzzing with Formula One.
But there comes a time when the talking has to stop and the action has to start, and for those who call Singapore home, Friday's first practice session must have come as a relief.
As the first F1 car fired into life and went snaking out of the pits, large crowds had gathered to see if the reality matched up to the hype.
Well, the answer came within seconds.
The unmistakable falsetto roar from an F1 engine filled the night sky and within a minute, Singapore caught its first glance of the action. Being lucky enough to have a hotel room looking out onto the track I only had to step onto my balcony to bear witness to history being made.
I soon stepped back in to grab the earplugs the hotel had provided for me as the first few cars roared through an underpass, past a shopping centre and into a sharp 90 degree left hand turn.
Then the first McClarens roared past, their pristine silver paintwork glistening under the incredibly powerful lights that line the circuit. Bright red Ferrari's followed, cameras flashed, mobile phones excitedly filmed everything that moved.
Deafening noise
The noise really is deafening, my ears were left ringing from that first few minutes of watching. But that didn't seem to bother the crowds who were pressed against the windows of the Marina Mall, or surreally watching down from the comfort of their elevated hotel pool area.
Yep. Formula one is in town and history has been made.
Just one year from now, Abu Dhabi will be the next city to get the chance to host a race for the first time. And if its even half as good as Singapore, and there is no reason to doubt that it won't be equally as well organised, then there will be wide smiles (and sore ears) across the whole of the UAE.
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