Fans out in force as S'pore F1 kicks off

The Marina Bay Street Circuit came alive on Friday night as the high-pitched howls of Formula One cars reverberated around the area again for the first time since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.

Racing on the 23-corner, 5.063km track following a near-three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Lance Stroll slammed his Aston Martin into the wall at Turn 5, while Carlos Sainz, George Russell and Sergio Perez all came close to crashing, as drivers from the 10 F1 teams took part in their first two practice sessions.

There will be a final practice session on Saturday ahead of the crucial qualifying session, where the driver who secures pole position will gain a big advantage in winning Sunday's race as overtaking is tough on the twisty circuit.

Fans also turned out in force on Friday, reinforcing earlier sentiments that attendance at this year's race could be the highest since the inaugural event in 2008.

Some fans even resorted to climbing the fence at Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall to watch the first practice session.

There were also many who flew in from the region. One of them was Filipino Julian Paterno, who had waited for nearly two years to watch a grand prix live.

Paterno will attend all three days of the grand prix with his fiancee Tracy Carreon, a development associate. Since arriving on Sept 23 on their first overseas trip since the pandemic, they have been spending time with family here, sightseeing and shopping.

Master's student Paterno, 31, said: "The Singapore Grand Prix is one of the cheaper races to go to and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity while it was still around.

"Singapore also lifted its Covid-19 restrictions, so it is easier to come now. We have seen reports that ticket prices might go up in the future, so it was a good opportunity to do it now."

The couple also visited the track earlier just to see the preparations up close, a move which made them even more excited.

The most difficult part of their preparation, though, was picking an outfit. They have amassed team jerseys from Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Haas, Racing Point (now Aston Martin) and Williams, and are hoping to add one or two more.

Carreon, 24, said: "We will switch based on who wins."

Malaysian Sarah Faizal, 20, knows what she will be wearing - a Ferrari shirt. The Scuderia were the last team to win the night race, when Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag in 2019.

The Singapore Grand Prix represents her last chance to see Vettel in action after the four-time world champion, who is now with Aston Martin, announced that he would retire at the end of the season.

The second-year undergraduate, who is studying manufacturing engineering, has made a sign which says "Danke Sebastian" (thank you in German). She is also looking forward to meeting foreign friends she made online through F1.

Briton Luke Moore, who is in the air force and has been a McLaren fan for over 30 years, will be attending his first race outside Europe with his partner, a Ferrari fan.

Despite having to wake up at 4am to purchase tickets, Moore said it was worth it.

The 39-year-old, who has been to Belgium's Spa and Italy's Monza racetracks, said: "It is our first street circuit and our first night race, and I am really excited."

Some fans were themselves a sight to behold, such as the Ferrari fan who wore a cap that had models of Ferrari cars on it. He and his companion also carried large posters with the faces of drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Beyond F1, Singaporean Austen Chua thinks the return of the night race also marks the return to normality after the pandemic.

The first-year Temasek Polytechnic student and Red Bull fan, who is hoping to see Max Verstappen retain his world title here, said: "The fans are very happy of course, but in terms of tourism and all, we will benefit from being noticed.

"F1 is a big sport, so it pulls in a lot of people from different places, which means more tourists.

"That is going to help us in terms of earning money we lost the past two years."

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