Singapore Grand Prix 2008 (26/Sep/08 ~ 28/Sep/08)

Yes!! It's finally here!!! After waiting for more than 6 months...

The day has arrived!! Never been more excited...

I have been following F1 before Michael Schumacher's retirement and

when Kimi was still with McLaren.

This is all thanks to my now 10 years old nephew who

has unknowingly introduced our family to the world of F1 and converted all of us to F1 fans.

Even though the result is not what I wanted it to be,

I'm still very very happy to be part of Singapore's history,

the experience is totally exhilarating.

What can I say, it's just bad luck for Ferrari with Masa's pit stop mishap and

Kimi's crash during the last few laps.

Masa was actually leading the pack and Kimi was just closing in his gap with Hamilton.

Then there was N. Piquet's (Renault) crash and the appearance of the safety car which

really mixed up all the positions.

And before Kimi's crash, he was actually coming in from behind to 5th position,

which he might be able to get a few points.

And Kimi was actually having the fastest lap timing.

Hope they will be better for the last 3 races of 2008 and win the constructor's title.

Kimi's hope of being the defending world champion is impossible now,

but there is still next year.

I'm definitely buying the tickets for next year's Singapore Grand Prix.

Gave my tickets to 2nd sis and nephew, so I only went on 27/Sep/08 (Sat) for the qualifying and 28/Sep/08 (Sun) for the finals.

27/Sep/08 (Sat) ~ Qualifying:

The day of qualifying. The 1st practice starts at 7pm and the qualifying session starts at 10pm.

But before the F1 races, there were the Aston Martin Asia Cup qualifying, Formula BMW Pacific Race and Porche Carrera Cup Asia qualifying in the afternoon.

Our F1 Survival Kit which is $2 each and consist of a poncho and ear plugs.

We entered the F1 compound which is huge.

Ferrari merchandise store

We bought the walkabout tickets, which of course means we don't having fix sitting arrangement. After walking around the place for quite some time, we conclude that

the best place to see all the action is near "Turn 13" which is in front of Fullerton Hotel,

and as the expert says, it's the "hairpin" where overtaking is possible and cars will slow

down abit for the sharp turn.

I've got to say, we might got the best place in the circuit!!

It's so near to the cars and lots of "actions" took place here..

For a start, we saw Alonso's Renault skidded and turn 180 degrees in front of us!!

And he did another 180 degrees turn to continue racing!!

The results of the qualifying was something that I'm happy of,

Masa taking pole position and Kimi came in a close 3rd position:

Kimi during the press conference after the qualifying race.

And we managed to sneak into the track after the event:

28/Sep/08 (Sun) ~ RACE DAY:

We were all decked out in Ferrari Red tshirts in support of our favourite team and drivers:

My sis prefers to remain anonymous, so that explains the "smiley face"

We "Tabao" our dinner from the Hawker Village (operated by Food Republic) since

no "outside" food and drinks are allowed in the compound:

These are the hawker stalls and also the compound for diners

We ordered the chicken rice which cost a hefty $10!!

on our way to "Turn 13", we saw Kimi's flag!! (Ferrari flag and the flag of Finland)

Walking towards our favourite spot, "Turn 13"

We were just in time for the Porche Carrera Asia Cup

The winner was someone from Hong Kong (didn't really catch his name)

1st highlight of the day: we saw the bumper of one of the porche came off!!

and it was right in front of us.

Couldn't catch the "action in time",

but managed to catch the technicians "collecting" the debris

me at my favourite spot at the platform where I can see all the actions

The formula one drivers paraded in Vintage Lamborginis,

only managed to take a few:

Masa and Kimi

Jenson Button and David Coultard (who is retiring soon after 2008)

Ruben Barrichello

And the race begins:

The cars were really fast and the noise is really deafening.

Out comes the safety car after N. Piquet's crash

Something also happened to Barrichello's car:

That's highlight no 2 of the day, it happened very near us!!

and we've got to see them pushing his car out of the track!!

Barrichello throwing his gloves at us!!! and also his wreaked car...

The Merlion at the esplanade...Cute right?

There is a set of wheels and checked flag at base

The results for the Grand Prix:

1) Fernando Alonso (Renault)

2) Nico Rosberg (Willams-Toyota)

3) Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)

Driver's standing:

1) Lewis Hamilton ~ 88 points

2) Felipe Masa ~ 77 points

3) Robert Kubica ~ 64 points

4) Kimi Raikkonen ~ 57 points

Construction standing:

1) McLaren-Mercedes ~ 135 points

2) Ferrari ~ 134 points

3) BMW Sauber ~ 120 points

* I've actually took alot of videos and photos of the race.

But most of the cars turn out to be blur as they were going at very fast speed (about 300km/h) and my camera is just a normal digital camera.

And not to bore those who are not F1 fans, just a few photos will do. Hehe!