LET THE FIRST EVER 'NIGHT' 'STREET' RACE BEGIN!

I saw how they fenced off the whole street around Singapore for the Formula 1 race. The thick walls and the high fences give you the feeling that you are watching a prison race. Yeah, the fences are not making the race look like a sports event, it makes it look extremely like a 'high security' event. You can also see it as a caged wrestling match. For the racers, they must be feeling extremely weird. I mean just compare it with the Monaco Grand Prix, it feels more street race than Singapore's. The vibrancy of the city with the many interesting and magnificient views.

I have also seen the lights on for testing for some time now. It feels like watching a football match in a stadium. It doesn't feel very night to me. It must be extremely hot to be under those super bright lights which are very near to you! At least in stadiums, they are very high up there at a distance. I don't know but I feel that it is even brighter than a day's race.

All I want to say is this 'street' and 'night' race does not have the feel and the depiction of it at all. It just feel very artificial and fake. You block the whole street off and you turn up the lights in super high brightness.

Nevertheless, this Sunday, the world will witness the first ever 'night' 'street' race. With all the security features in place and the kind of blockages everywhere, I think I will just watch it from the comfort of my home. It is really not how I had envisioned the race was but still to have the race going through the Anderson Bridge will be interesting. You have some view towards Marina Bay and Singapore river apart from the CBD. There are constant torrential rains with strong wind lately these few days which can decide the race winner.

The Formula 1 fans are filling up the whole city in big numbers. It is so loaded that some of the tourists have to book hotels all the way to Johor Bahru. Incredible! You understand the kind of crowd we are dealing with here. I see them putting up instruction boards for these Formula 1 tourists to read about how to collect tickets and go to races at the immigration checkpoint at Woodlands. I for one will avoid the Causeway this weekend. No way man, I don't want to be playing rugby against Formula 1 fans.

Ferrari always have the edge with new races. Massa won in Valencia, M. Schumacher won in Bahrain and Indianapolis, Barrichello won in China and Irvine won in Malaysia. Enough track records to prove a point? They are still the highest grand prix winners since 1950 with 208 while McLaren have 161 and Williams have 113. Well, hopefully it is not as tight as Monaco as I feel there is more space to overtake.

Singapore Time (GMT+8)
Tonight: Practice Session (10pm)
Tomorrow: Qualifying Session (10pm)
Sunday: Singapore GP race (7:30pm)

Driver's Championship
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 78 points
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 77 points
Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 64 points
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 57 points
Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 53 points

Constructor's Championship
Ferrari 134 points
McLaren 129 points
BMW Sauber 117 points
Toyota 41 points
Renault 41 points


The circuit length is 5.067km(estimated 61 laps). It has 23 turns and the race direction is anti-clockwise. The maximum speed can be achieved in excess of 300 km/h along Raffles Boulevard, between 250 and 300 km/h on Pit Straight,St. Andrew’s Road and Esplanade Drive. I hope the glass panels from the surrounding buildings can withstand the sound wave. The slowest corners are 80-100 km/h at T3, T10, T14, T18, and T19. The overtaking opportunities are at Turn 1 Pit Straight, Turn 7 Raffles Boulevard and Turn 14 Esplanade Drive.

Finally, prepare for the horror of a terrible F1 accident! It happened with artificial light on too!
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May you all enjoy the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix!