A formula for success

Climbing inside the beast, I had to stretch my legs forward to reach the pedals and lean back until I was sitting in a low, reclining position. I revved up the engine, pulled out of the pit building and drove past the starting line, steadily gaining speed, faster and faster, the lights from tall buildings whizzing by like fireflies. I neared a turn and tried to push the brakes down in time but — boom! — the car crashed into a barrier, slamming me inside the cockpit as it spun around, making horrendous skidding noises. Game over.

That was the F1 simulator, which on the outside is an exact replica of a real F1 car and takes joy riders on a virtual race around the Singaporean circuit. They don’t require you to wear a helmet, but you do have to sign an indemnity waiver.

Singapore, a small city with a big roar, will be the grounds for another world’s first: F1’s first-ever night race, and Asia’s first-ever street race. On September 28, the inaugural Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix will start its engines at a newly completed pit building and drive in a counter-clockwise direction for an estimated 61 laps around the busy downtown area of Marina Bay. The Singapore race is only one of three counter-clockwise circuits this year, the other two being in Brazil and Turkey, and the reason for changing the direction of the course is because there isn’t enough run-off for a clockwise circuit. If a driver misses one of the turns, he’ll end up in the water.

It was only last September 27 when Singapore received approval from the Federacion Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) for the proposed 5.067 km-long street circuit. Less than a year later, the S$40 million dollar pit building has been completed, 70 percent of the track has already been laid with Polymer Modified Binder, a material that will offer vehicles 20 percent more grip, and an innovative new lighting system will be fully set up by the end of August. The lights are said to replicate daylight conditions, and will expend a total of 3,180,000 watts at a level of 3000 lux, four times brighter than a sports stadium. 

Bright Lights, Big Dreams

We had the opportunity to see the lights for ourselves, on the freshly tarred road by the newly minted and minty-looking pit building. As Valerio Maioli explained the technical aspects of the lighting system he designed, we waited for the sun to go down. The lights, which were projected some 10 meters above ground, did not give the sun a run for its money but were bright enough for me to clearly read my numerous press handouts and take non-fuzzy photographs without having to adjust my camera settings. More practically, the illumination is at a level that meets High Definition Broadcast standards and “ensures the safety of the driver with its continuity and uniformity,” as Maioli explains, giving the example of the Qatar night race, which had uneven lighting that cast lots of distracting shadows all around the cars.

When it comes to a lighting system that uses this much energy, concerns about environmental impact are bound to come up. Maioli has been fielding them for some time now and has this to say: “I can tell you we are more or less four times brighter than in a football stadium but our consumption is 16 times less than the stadium.”

Eco-conscious people will be glad to know that the FIA is planning next season to introduce clean technology systems that can be translated to road-relevant vehicles. This is a huge deal since the F1 industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars investing in engine technology that has no use outside F1.

Scenic Route

This night race is Singapore’s chance to showcase itself as a world-class destination on a global scale. The F1 is the most watched annual sport, being broadcast in 180 countries and only exceeded by the Olympics and World Cup in viewing figures. The race itself presented no small challenges: aside from the lighting, the circuit runs through a busy area of the Central Business District. Traffic will need to be diverted, security will have to be beefed up, and impact on businesses along the route must be minimized. But, as Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Administration CEO says, “A night race will add extra glamour... It’s going to be one of the most dramatic races on the calendar.”

Speeding along the Marina bay at 300 kph might not give the drivers much of a feel of the urban setting, but audiences worldwide will be treated to the pretty Singapore skyline, passing historic and ultra-modern landmarks like the City Hall, the Esplanade, the Padang, the Singapore Flyer (the world’s largest observation wheel), and underneath the Grandstand past the Floating Platform where major ceremonies are held. We got to tour the circuit — in a slow-moving bus, of course — and there are some crazy sharp turns and patches of narrow road that will add to the difficulty of the race. But seeing the architectural highlights of the city is definitely more exciting than the static blur of a trance-inducing racetrack.

Tickets range from S$168 for three-day walkabout passes to S$1,388 for three-day grandstand passes. If you really want to live it up, tickets for VVIP rooms in the Paddock Club — where you get a high-end suite, a good view of the action and hopefully lots of free champagne — go for S$7,500.

The official website is www.singaporegp.sg.