For those of us living under a rock or who are just not fans of F1 (ie. most of the world I guess, including myself), the latest leg of the grand prix was held right here in Singapore over this weekend. Despite the hype in the run up to the race, I just couldn't bring myself to feel the excitment and get caught up in the frenzy that seemed to have griped the nation. While businesses around me were gearing up for the weekend, jacking up their prices and cashing in on the fact that our tiny country was crawling with tourists who'd come in to watch the race, the only affect of F1 that I felt was the increased traffic as I drove into work due to the major roads that had been closed and converted into the F1 track. On Friday night, I was working at the office till about 8pm and only stopped because the noises of the F1 engines as they completed their warm-up laps made it impossible to concentrate.

 

Frankly, I couldn't see what all the fuss about. To me it was just a bunch of cars speeding around the roads of our central business district. NG tried to convince me otherwise and even wanted me to go with him to watch the race (he'd scored himself a weekend pass to the event) but I told him the ticket would have been wasted on me and would probably be more appreciated by someone else.

 

And yet, there I was on Sunday night, glued to my TV screen throughout the 61 laps as the cars whizzed past places that I was so familiar with... parliament building, the supreme court, the merlion, the esplanade theatres, even a stretch of the ECP. The race itself was nail-biting stuff: Picquet's crash that caused the shuffle in the track positioning, Massa's mishap with the feuling tube, Alonso jumping from 15th place at the start to win the whole damn race. It was the kind of race that would have made any non-believer a fan, including myself, I have to admit.