After epic F1 weekend, Singapore shows the world it is firmly back in business

IT is 11 minutes past 11 pm on a rain-soaked Sunday night, and the Marina Bay skyline is awash with colour and lights as fireworks soar into the air. 

It was a celebration for Sergio Perez, the 32-year-old Red Bull race driver from Mexico who, just seconds earlier, zoomed past the chequered flag to win the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix in style.

It’s a grand celebration for Singapore too, with this marquee international event - the first race of a landmark seven-year renewal deal - making a chest-thumping return to these shores.

The F1 Grand Prix has been a mainstay on the Lion City’s sports and entertainment calendar for the past 13 years, but there was definitely something markedly different about this year’s edition.

Maybe it was the fact that, after the night race was scrapped in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, it was a case of taking the event for granted. As one colleague quipped at the end of the practice session last Friday, “absence really does make the heart grow fonder”.

There were other friends and acquaintances I met in the last few days - many of whom are not even F1 fans and usually stay clear of the Marina Bay street circuit and its surrounding areas for the usual reasons - who also admitted there was an “unmistakable buzz” in the air this time, even in the days leading up to the actual race.

The attendance figures released by the organisers on Sunday were staggering. A record crowd of 302,000 people turned up over the three days, squashing the previous high of 300,000 set at the inaugural race in 2008.

The latest number is impressive, given how the event was only confirmed at the end of January this year - when Singapore was still deep in battle with the pandemic and had numerous Covid-19 restrictions in place - and tickets only went on sale in the middle of April.

It speaks volumes of the immense global allure of Singapore’s F1 night race that about half of the attendees this year came from overseas, including Australia, Indonesia, the UK and the US.

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The actual number of people who experienced the F1 fever is actually much higher, given how over two dozen Mice events - the Forbes Global CEO conference and the Milken Institute Asia Summit, to name a couple - were deliberately held in the same week as the race. 

Many of those delegates stayed on to catch some or all of the high-octane action - be it from the stands, inside one of the hospitality suites and lounges around the 5.063 km circuit, or at the various “trackside” hotels and restaurants that held some pretty lavish F1 viewing parties.

The cash registers were certainly being worked to the bone from day to night, as F1-related spending went into overdrive. 

One news report that went viral was about an American entrepreneur who splashed out in excess of US$30,000 for a week-long stay in Singapore, which included a three-day pass to the Paddock Club that itself cost an eye-popping S$10,000.

Many other hospitality venues were also packed to capacity. Over at Twenty3, a 3,000 square-metre facility with unobstructed views of the 23rd and final turn of the circuit, partygoers who forked out as much as S$7,009 for a three-day ticket sipped on limited-edition whisky and feasted on lobster and lamb as they watched the cars zip by.

And over at the Amber Lounge - billed as the most exclusive F1 after-party and held at the Fullerton Bay Hotel’s Clifford Pier this year - its most expensive suite that can fit 15 to 20 guests was priced at S$100,000.

Companies and sponsors, too, took full advantage of the race to organise their own events for their clients and partners, both before and during the race weekend.

Mobil 1, the official lubricant partner of Red Bull Racing, organised a private event last Thursday with Perez - the soon-to-be crowned Singapore Grand Prix champion - meeting primary school students and beneficiaries of the ExxonMobil-South West CDC transport bursary.

That same day at the Pan Pacific Singapore hotel, German software and technology firm TeamViewer - which has a five-year sponsorship deal with the Mercedes-AMG F1 team and the Mercedes-EQ Formula E team - hosted a session to demonstrate its products and solutions, with seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton sending pulses racing when he turned up for a meet-and-greet towards the end.

The buzz and adrenaline may be over for now, but the F1 will be back for the next six years, and hopefully longer. What’s clear is that Singapore has sent the strongest of signals to the world that it has emerged from the pandemic and is firmly back in business.