Muddy fields from the first two days of dancing to Westlife, Black Eyed Peas and Marshmello? That’s not going to stop the big day that was Sunday – the last day of the Formula One (F1) Grand Prix weekend.
Sunday is also when the actual night race happens, rain or shine. Unfortunately, no amount of track blessings and pawang hujan (shamanism to stop rain in the form of chillies and onions) was going to stop the torrential rain – but that didn’t dampen anyone’s enjoyment of the day.
The 13th edition of the Singapore GP saw 302,000 attendees – a new record for the city. The three-day event was also completely sold out. If you went and are still recovering from the weekend, or watched it on TV all dry and clean, here’s a recap of last night.
In case you didn’t know, other races are also going on during the weekend besides the main showpiece, which is the F1 race. The Super Series (TSS) and W Series Races went on seamlessly under the scorching heat.
When that was done, the F1 Driver’s Parade commenced. The parade is when all 20 drivers jump into a vintage car and get driven around the track to wave at the crowds two hours before the scheduled race start. We even got a mini fashion show by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
The rain always makes for exciting – but dangerous – race conditions. On top of that, the Singapore street circuit is the longest race and one of the toughest on the F1 calendar with 23 corners for the drivers to overcome in one lap.
The extra one-hour wait didn’t discourage the fans one bit. Whether all poncho-ed up or just accepting varying states of drenched-ness, there were many still buying drinks, dancing in the rain to incredibly bad music that was playing and also drinking rain-diluted beer on the stands. The vibe was immaculate.
As soon as the rain subsided, it was rush hour in the pit lane as everyone scrambled to get the cars out there on the track. But before lights out and away we go, some traditions had to be honoured first – the national anthem.
Usually performed by a local artist from the hosting country, Singapore was represented by none other than our Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew. Firstly, who knew they had a cabin crew choir? Secondly, um we don’t stand like that while singing the anthem.
After all the formalities were done, the main event began – and of course, it was a pretty dramatic and action-packed race which saw six drivers crash out or retire from the race.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was slated to clinch the world champion title here in Singapore but unfortunately, only managed a seventh-place finish. His teammate Sergio Perez took first place on the podium with the Ferarri team taking second and third place.
Oh, and of course there were fireworks.
You would think the night was over – but not until Green Day sings. The pop-punk band played their delayed set to a still upbeat crowd at the very muddy Padang. This led to a bunch of grimy and dirty festival-goers on the trains.
As the city recovers and starts tearing down the grandstands and track lights in the next few days, it’ll be interesting to note that early bird tickets for next year are already up for sale.
The cheapest one you can get starts from $448 and you will only have Zone 4 access (which covers the Padang area) for three days. Love seeing fast cars go in circles? You might want to get the Pit Grandstand tickets – and they go for $1,088.
The 2023 F1 Singapore Grand Prix is set to happen on Sept 15 to 17 next year.
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