By Lim, Siew Kim written on 29-Nov-2009
National Library Board Singapore

Comments on article: InfopediaTalk

Singapore's inaugural Formula One (F1) race, called 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix was held on 28 September 2008 (Sunday), at Marina Bay.  It was the first and only race to be held at night in F1's history, and the first F1 street race in Asia.

History
The inaugural Grand Prix in Singapore was held in mid-September 1961 at the Thomson Road circuit. It was called the Singapore Grand Prix, but was sometimes referred to as the Orient Year Grand Prix because the event was staged in connection with the Visit the Orient Year, a tourist promotion campaign. The name of the motor racing event was changed to Malaysia Grand Prix in 1962, and was re-named Singapore Grand Prix in 1966, after Singapore's independence in 1965.  The annual race was organised for about 12 years before they were discontinued, owing to various reasons, among which were the deaths that occurred over the years of the event. The 1973 Singapore Grand Prix, a Formula Libre event, was the final race held before the ban.

After a lapse of about 35 years, the motor racing event in Singapore was resumed in 2008 as one of the rounds of the FIA Formula One World Championship (popularly known as Formula One or F1).

Formula One in Singapore
F1 is the highest class of automobile racing that is approved by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for world motor sport and the federation of the world's leading motoring organisations. Based in Paris, FIA is a non-profit organisation under whose umbrella are more than 220 national motoring and sporting organisations from 132 countries. FIA administers the rules and regulations for all international four-wheel motor sport, including the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The term 'formula' in F1 refers to a set of rules that all participants and cars have to adhere to. The F1 season is made up of a series of races called Grand Prix, which are usually contested on purpose-built circuits.

With a potential massive global television audience of some 600 million people each season, the F1 event enables Singapore to leverage on the glamour of the world's most-watched motor race to raise its profile as a global city.

Besides putting Singapore in the global spotlight for a weekend, the event can have long-term spin-offs such as attracting more tourists, conferences, and sporting and business activities. The event's worldwide publicity also helps to brand Singapore as a 'liveable' city and attract foreign talent to it. In the same vein, the F1 president, Bernie Ecclestone, thinks the event will make Singapore a destination instead of a stopover.

Singapore's successful bid to host the F1 race over five years from 2008, with an option for a five-year extension after 2012, came at a cost of $150 million. With co-funding from the government, Singapore Telecommunications sponsored the event title- Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. The race organiser and promoter is Singapore GP Pte Ltd.

The event is unique as it is the first F1 night race in the history of the sport. A night race in Singapore also means that more television viewers in Europe can watch the event 'live' as it will be noon time in Europe.

Being the tourism event of the year, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB)  markets the F1 night race overseas through trade shows, consumer roadshows, advertisements, marketing brochures and its website. STB also organises a programme of activities for F1 fans so that they have a positive and enriching visitor experience and increase their tourist spending in Singapore. In addition, STB encourages businesses in the vicnity of the racing circuit at the Marina Bay to attract Singaporeans by being innovative in their promotional campaigns.

Inaugural 2008 F1 race
The inaugural F1 night race in Singapore was the 15th of 18 rounds of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship.  It was held over the weekend of 26-28 September, with the practice sessions, qualifying sessions and the race proper held on the three nights respectively. The race started at 8.00pm Singapore time on 28 September.

Lighting up the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the first night race required up to 10,000 lamps, with a system comprising more than 1,500 projectors, 134 km of power and optic cables, and 240 steel pylons. Safety concerns for racing at night was a key consideration of the organisers in the lead up to the race. Organisers held a blessing ceremony on the race track on 11 September, with representatives of 10 religious groups in Singapore conducting prayers for a successful and safe race.

The race was contested by 10 teams with speeds of more than 300 km/hr over 61 laps, on a 5.067km long circuit around the Marina Bay Street Circuit and a total race length of 309.087km. Victory went to Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso, driving for the Renault team. Renault's victory, however, had been tarnished by what was termed the Crashgate scandal. Its top two bosses, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, had to resign over charges that they had asked former driver Nelson Piquet to crash at Turn 17 early during the race to allow Fernando Alonson to clinch victory. The matter was brought before the FIA.

A programme of events that were organised in conjunction with the inaugural race. In addition to the Singapore River Festival was a President's Challenge F1 Charity Luncheon at the Istana where 30 tables were available at either $30,000 or $50,000. Parties were held at Zouk at the Padang, which featured international DJs at the three-day party, Amber Lounge (exclusively for Formula 1 celebrities), and the Mercedes Benz Centre (an invite-only fashion extravaganza called Stylo Fashion Grand Prix).

Around 300,000 onsite spectators and more than 100 million television viewers around the globe watched the inaugural 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

2009 F1 race
The second FI night race in Singapore was held on 27 September (Sunday) with the practice and qualifying sessions held two days prior. It was won by Briton, Lewis Hamilton for McLaren-Mercedes.

Drawing on the experience of the 2008 race, the STB improved on the 2009 programme, such as shortening the GP Season from three weeks to 10 days and packing it with 'quality' events. More effort was put into attracting non-F1 fans who may visit Singapore for the electric atmosphere in addition to shopping and sightseeing. Provisions were made for the 'man in the street' to watch the race 'live' by making the general walkabout tickets affordable, at as low as $28. Hotel rates, which was a major complaint of F1 2008, for race fans were lower than the previous year, with no requirement to book a minimum number of nights.

A three-night inaugural music festival F1 Rocks Singapore, was held at Fort Canning Park with high profile performers, such as Beyonce, Jacky Cheung and A*mei, providing the glitz and glamour. The festival was for a 'live' audience, with various performances subsequently sold as television programmes worldwide.

2010 F1 race
The 2010 F1 race was held from 24-26 September. It was a sell-out event -  more than 98 per cent of  the 87,000 tickets released per day were sold. The race was won by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.



Author
Lim Siew Kim



References
Big bucks, for a big-time race; Night race element a key reason why SingTel paid $15 million for the title sponsorship of 2008 F1 race. (2007, November 30).Today. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from Factiva database.

De Cotta, I. (2009, August 12). Formula 1 is here to stay [Microfilm NL30214]. Today, p. 49.

De Cotta, I. (2008, September 12). Prayers for a safe race weekend. Today. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from Factiva database.

Ed, S. (2010, September 27). Ferrari's Alonso wins a thriller. Business Times. Retrieved October 1, 2010 from Factiva database.

Foo, A. (2008, September 19). City's image will be the big F1 winner. The Straits Times. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from Factiva database.

Ho, D. (2008, September 19). The Ultimate Night Race. Today. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from Factiva database.

Lim, L. (2009, September 27). SM: F1 good for Singapore branding [Microfilm NL30165]. The Sunday Times, p. 1.

Lim, L. & Lim, M. (2009, September 28). Its Hamiltons night amid Singapore lights [Microfilm NL30165]. The Straits Times, pp. 1 & A4.

Lim. W. C. (2009, June 6). Shifting gears to woo F1 fans [Microfilm NL30053]. The Straits Times, Home, p. B5.

Motor car events big attraction in this year's G.P. (1966, April 8). The Straits Times, p.10. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from NewspaperSG database.

Party time. (2008, September 6). The Business Times.  Retrieved October 2, 2009, from Factiva database.

Singapore to host first Formula One night race. (2008, September 26). Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from Factiva database.

Success formula. (2008, October 6). The Business Times. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from Factiva database.

Tan, H. L. (2008, September 26). STB reaches its last; Race infrastructure, business continuity its biggest challenges.  Today. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from Factiva database.

Telling the people. (1961, September 20). The Singapore Free Press, p.6. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from NewspaperSG database.


Further readings
Chee, F. (2009, September 27). Singtel Singapore Grand Prix: Star-studded affair off the track [Microfilm NL30165]. The Sunday Times, p. 4.

Crashgate scandal has no particular impact on Spore [Microfilm NL30152]. (2009, September 18). Today, p. 4.

De Cotta, I. (2008). The Singapore Grand Prix : 50 years in the making. Singapore : MediaCorp, 2008.
(Call no.: RSING 796.72095957 DEC)

Eddino Abdul Hadi.(2009, September 28). F1 Rocks Singapore with LG [Review concert] [Microfilm NL30165]. The Straits Times, p. C5.

Hamilton on pole [Microfilm NL30165]. (2009, September 27). The Sunday Times, pp. 1, 4 & 6.

Lin, X & Wong, J. (2009, September 27).  Singtel Singapore Grand Prix: F1 fan zooms to Singapore for race [Microfilm NL30165]. The Sunday Times, p. 6.

Singapore GP Pte Ltd. (2009). 2009 Formula 1: Singtel Singapore Grand Prix. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from http://www.singaporegp.sg/ 

Solomon, E. (c2008). Snakes & devils. Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions.
(Call no.: RSING 796.72095957 SOL)



The information in this article is valid as at 2010 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject.  Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.