Singaporean F1 Grand Prix: Making Motor Sport History

By Feann Torr - 17/October/2008

Singapore — It was an audacious experiment, one which could have ended in a botched-up mess...

But the Gods must have been smiling because the world's first night-time F1 Grand Prix was a tremendous success.

We arrived in Singapore on the Thursday of the F1 event and already the atmosphere was jubilant - if a little muggy. 

You could sense the anticipation in the air and unlike F1 races held at purpose-built race tracks around the world - often many miles away from metropolitan areas - the Singapore GP was smack bang in the middle of the city.

As our photos show, it looked amazing.

One of the smallest sovereign nations on the planet, Singapore is also one of the richest thanks to its huge shipping ports, and its population of 4.6 million knew that something special was coming.

However, one of the biggest issues facing a night race is illumination. Because F1 cars are so light and fragile, it's virtually impossible to mount lights on them.

Understandably, Singapore's F1 organisers looked at illuminating the whole track, and it worked a treat. It's not exactly the most eco-friendly way to go, with more than a thousand super-heavy-duty lights running all night for a week, but it was effective.

Friday Night

After a long wait, the F1 cars finally came out to play on Friday evening and scene was unforgettable: the sun setting in the background, the city lighting up, the track looking like a giant glow worm wending its way around Marina Bay. It was an astounding spectacle. 

The first practice session was at 7:00pm as the Earth turned its face away from the sun and saw tentative driving - the only other experience drivers had had on the Marina Bay Circuit was on bicycles the day before and computer simulators. 

While the Melbourne F1 GP is widely regarded as one of the best races on the calendar - particularly by the drivers and spectators and because of its close proximity to the city and picturesque surrounds - the Singaporean GP is smack bang in the middle of sky-scrapers, and the sound of the 19,000rpm Formula 1 engines ricocheting within this overgrown forest of concrete giants was unforgettable.

Listening to Mark Webber's Red Bull Renault F1 car hit the brakes from 250km/h, rapidly down changing through the gears, is incredible: the pops and backfires reverberate off the skyscrapers like unseen explosions, creating an incredibly cacophony. It was motor sports paradise!

The five kilometre long Marina Bay track can be treacherous, as Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella discovered... Like most street circuits there's barely any runoff so if a driver comes unstuck, it usually ends with a smashed up F1 race car. 

Saturday Night

The streets were full, people were absolutely everywhere around the track, so we were thankful that our hotel room on the 36th floor of the Swissôtel, adjacent to the track, had air conditioning and bar fridge full of icy cold brews.

We had a view of about a quarter of the track - roughly eight turns - and it beat just about every grandstand seat track side. I cannot begin to describe how good it was, and making use of a quality pair of binoculars made it even more intimate - you could even see driver's hands moving on the wheel.

First practice was between 7:00pm and 8:00pm as the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa, and Sebastian Vettel set about putting down some quick laps before the all-important qualifying.

At 10:00pm qualifying for the Singaporean F1 Grand Prix began, and though the skeptics will say the only reason the race is at night is so European TV audiences (and Bernie Ecclestone's advertising dollars) are maximised, it also makes sense to hold the race at night in this equatorial part of the world.

Simply put, it's incredibly humid and often extremely hot (up to 35°) in the day, and it makes sense to hold the race during the coolest part of the day - which is at night. Having been to the Sepang F1 Grand Prix in Malaysia, you begin to melt under the relentless sun, and the idea of night-time races is sensational in hot and steamy tropical climes, and I hope it catches on.

In the end Ferrari's Felipe Massa clocked the fastest lap at 1 minute 44.801 seconds, ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren F1 car, setting the scene for another classic Ferrari versus McLaren battle.

Sunday: Fuel For Thought

The day of the race arrived and the atmosphere had somehow reached an even more exciting level. The crowds built steadily from mid afternoon - a good five hours before the start of the race - both inside and outside the track and we were fortunate enough to get a debrief from Shell early on in the Grand Prix. Shell supplies the fuel for Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa's Ferrari F1 race cars.

Interestingly, the Ferrari F1 cars use almost exactly the same fuel that we fill up with at the bowser. Shell reckons that it's V-Power high octane fuel constitutes around 99 per cent of the Ferrari F1 cars' fuel. So if you ever steal an F1 car, you know where to fill it up.

Be warned though, the Ferrari F1 cars chew up around 78 litres of fuel per 100km, or about 3 miles per gallon.

The way in which the fuel is delivered to the F1 cars is quite involved: The fuel is packaged and tested by FIA officials to make sure it meets regulations, and then is flown to each Grand Prix two weeks ahead of time awaiting combustion.

We also discovered that the octane rating for F1 fuels and some other 'secret' elements are different for each race, to better suit atmospheric pressure and that sort of thing, and the octane rating for the Ferrari F1 race car fuel ranges between 95 and 102 RON depending on the race.

Shell sets up a 'track shack' at each and every Grand Prix meet and flies its own technicians to oversee Ferrari's fuelling process, and to make sure the fuel is stored in the right conditions, at the right temperature and to help with the smooth running of the race.

Sunday Night

Before the race we were treated to VIP passes to the Ferrari paddock area, including access to the Ferrari hospitality area and I have to say that Singapore really impressed with its race day infrastructure.

Being right above the pit area in air-conditioned comfort was quite an experience, watching all the comings and goings of the F1 teams, cars and drivers. Even Kimi Räikkönen popped in for a quick chat to the gathered media and celebrity guests - but let's just say he's not the most talkative man in the paddock...

As the race began, hopes were high that Aussie driver Mark Webber would score some points, but it wasn't his night and his car died about half-way through the race on lap 29.

One of the most impressive aspects of the hospitality area above the pits on the main straight of the Marina Bay Street circuit was the portable Kangaroo TV sets. 

Developed for things like NFL and motor sports such as F1 and Le Mans, these wireless devices allow you to switch to any camera angle at any time during broadcasts, such as those which occur during practice, qualifying and the race.

So after watching the race from the car camera of Mark Webber for 10 minutes, I decided to check some lap stats, then listened in to Ferrari's team radio, and checked out all the other camera angles. These tiny TV sets essentially afford unfettered access to everything the broadcasters get, and it's just sensational.

It looked as though Ferrari's Felipe Massa had the world's first night-time F1 Grand Prix in the bag during the early stages of the race, but a refuelling accident in the pits cost him the Grand Prix. 

Brazilian-born Massa ended up finishing 13th overall after a moving away when the fuel hose was still connected to his car, dragging the hose half-way down pit lane.

In the end the win went to Spaniard Fernando Alonso and his Renault F1 Team, in what was a fairly processional but largely bingle-free race.

The big winner in the world's first night-time F1 Grand Prix was arguably the city of Singapore. With an awesome party atmosphere, the vibrant city was buzzing with excitement and the night life was top notch too - just don't expect to get much change from $20 when you buy a mug of beer. Cheap it ain't!

The only thing I thought the race lacked was support races. There were Aston Martins and Porsche 911s, but they had such short races and were about as exciting as sandpaper. The track was empty most of the day, which was a bit of a shame.

Hopefully next year there'll be some stock car racing a la V8 Super Cars. That would really spice things up, and way there'd be more spills and thrills to boot.

Overall, it was an astounding success from start to finish. For mine, the sound of the F1s tearing around the city, the backfires, the downshifts and over-revs were the most memorable, but generally speaking being a spectator from both up high in a hotel and track side was terrific.

Indeed, the Singaporean F1 GP was an audacious experiment that showed just how riveting night racing can be.

The only question is, when will the Australian F1 Grand Prix switch to a night-time race? Now THAT would be spectacular!

Related Links:
- Singaporean Night Time F1 Grand Prix (2008)
- Ferrari F430 Spider (Road Test)
- Ferrari California (2008)