JESUS LOVES PEBBLES: First ever night race for Formula One

Formula One (commonly known as "F1") is the highest class of open wheeled auto racing defined by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform. The F1 world championship season consists of a series of races, known as "Grands Prix", held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets, the most famous of which is the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.

The cars race at high speeds, up to 360 km/h (225 mph), and are capable of pulling up to 5 g-force in some corners. The performance of the cars is highly dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. The formula has seen many evolutions and changes through the history of the sport.

The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, the first Formula One event under floodlights, was a huge success and produced one of the most fascinating races of the season. It was held on Sunday, 28 September 2008.

Before the race started, there was a running joke that last night, Lewis Hamilton did the "rain dance" in order to ensure downpour during the race. It is believed that Hamilton's strongest competitor, Felipe Massa (who finished first during the qualifying race on 27 September 2008) does not perform well in wet weather.

The visibility concerns proved unfounded, the predicted thunderstorms never came, and the drivers quickly discovered they could overtake.

What I enjoyed about watching the F1 race on television is the aerial view of the city skyline of Singapore at night. Such a beautiful view! It is similar to standing at the top of King's Park in Perth and overlook the city skyline of Perth at night. It just takes your breath away.

There was a safety car on standby during the race. I did not expect the safety car to be in use during the race. However, alas! There were several mishaps during the race. According to Da, it is not uncommon that little mishaps occur during a F1 race.

Initially, Massa was leading the race with Hamilton in a close second. However, when Massa made a pit-stop, due to technical error (or perhaps human error?), he drove off with the petrol nozzle still stuck to his car. We were stunned when the car sped off and one of the technicians was thrown aside. Fortunately, the experienced driver quickly brought the car to a stop and the technicians rushed forward to take out the nozzle. Unfortunately, this cost the team valuable points and Massa lost quite a bit of time.

Nelson Piquet Jr's car crashed against the barrier. Unfortunately, his car ended up on the side of the route where there was no exit, so he had to run across the road to the other side. We watched with bated breath as he made a quick dash across the road.

There were other mishaps as well. Some cars had engine trouble and the driver had to drop out of the race. Kimi Raikkonen's car also crashed into the barrier towards the end of the race. Such a pity for the defending champion!

Finally, the grand moment. It was down to the last lap. Fernando Alonso won! The Spaniard had an aggressive first stint, pitted as early as the 12th lap, and was thus perfectly placed when the safety car came out. He built up a huge lead, lost it when the second safety car deployment came on the 51st lap, then calmly opened it up again.

The happy driver drove one more round along the route (I was told by Da that it was the Champion's drive, similar to the winner's walk in a beauty pageant?). During the drive, he kept raising his fist in victory. When the car came to a final stop, he got up and received the standing ovation that he deserved. He was very consistent in his driving during the race and his experienced showed.

Alonso praised his car’s performance but the success owed as much to the man behind the wheel.

Nico Rosberg came in 2nd while Lewis Hamilton came in 3rd. Hamilton was unfortunate in this race in that the safety car and first pit stops worked the way they did and that he got trapped behind David Coulthard for so long. But on a day when neither Ferrari finished, six points for third place were very welcome, especially as he extended his title points lead to seven over Massa.

For the Ferrari team, they looked good in the early going with Massa leading and Raikkonen closing on Hamilton in second place. Then came Massa’s disastrous pit stop in which the onboard monitoring system told him it was safe to leave when the fuel hose was still attached, and another unsafe release in the path of Sutil earned him a drive-through penalty. Later he spun, finishing 13th as Hamilton opened his points lead over him from one to seven. Raikkonen was delayed in that first pit stop, but was fighting back strongly for fourth with Glock until he crashed on the 58th lap. Worse still, the red cars set the two fastest laps, but the team lost their lead in the Constructors’ world championship to McLaren.

I was not much of a F1 fan prior to this. However, I am so proud that Singapore has managed to successfully host the 1st ever night race in the history of F1 and look forward to next year's night race in Singapore again.