Get a peek into all the adrenaline-charged festivities with tidbits from our Singapore F1 news and highlights.
Another race weekend has come and gone. It’s hard to believe that just last week, we were all dressed up in the grandstands cheering our lungs out for our favourite teams. Not to mention partying it up with all the fringe events and concerts galore. For anyone who couldn’t make it to the high-octane festivities, we’ve got your back. Here’s our roundup of this year’s Singapore F1 news and highlights.
Singapore F1 news: What went down on the tracks
1. Historic moments for the Marina Bay Street Circuit
We’re gonna start this Singapore F1 highlights list with some great news for our beautiful street circuit. Our track is notorious for its extra tight turns and torturous conditions – so much so that it’s become a norm for cars to go crashing through the barricades and at least one safety car deployment during a race. We’re left surprised this year though! For the first time in its 15-season history, no crashes were seen at all during the 2024 race. We’re just glad the drivers all came out unscathed – although they likely walked away more than a little dehydrated.
2. Another impressive rookie performance
Last year, our rookie-to-watch was Liam Lawson who currently sits pretty in his reserve spot for Red Bull Racing and RB. This year, we’ve got our eyes on yet another newbie who’s proving to be quite the talent. Having debuted in the Italian Grand Prix, Williams driver Franco Colapinto impressed during his performance in the incredibly gruelling Singapore circuit. With the Singapore Grand Prix marking his third drive of the season, Franco definitely deserves the spotlight for a stunning race.
3. A private party with Kylie Minogue
While you might’ve been out and about on the street circuit on Friday night, something was heating up at Mandala Club for those cool enough to score the invite. The singer hosted the first ever listening party for her upcoming album Tension II! The album boasts a collection of 13 new songs that’ll be released in October – including nine new studio tracks and her latest hit Edge of Saturday Night. Can you spot our very enthusiastic writer, Sufyan in the background of her Instagram reel?
4. Squall catches F1 goers off guard
The Sumatran squalls truly took no prisoners over the weekend. As F1-goers were vibing out during Friday night’s concerts, showers poured and everyone was forced to either seek shelter or brave the rain through the street circuit. Social media went abuzz as people documented how drenched they were as they made their way to the train stations. If you ended up getting muddy during the fun, be sure to send your prized possessions over to a shoe spa to get ’em cleaned up.
5. Another one of Godzilla’s children appears
Everyone knows that monitor lizards are a common sight in Singapore, and they love making guest appearances during the night race. During practice three, the drivers were treated to a familiar occurrence – yet another scaley friend had found its way onto the track and stirred up a kerfuffle as a red flag was called to safely remove it. We can’t be the only ones who laughed as marshals attempted to grab the monitor lizard with a plastic bag. Thankfully, it was safely escorted off the track and practice three continued without a hitch.
6. A unique look at Lando Norris
A one-of-a-kind 3D perception sculpture of Mclaren F1 driver Lando Norris created by renowned artist Michael Murphy was unveiled over the weekend. And guess who made an appearance! Lucky figures from motorsport, art, and business gathered for a cosy fireside chat with Lando just before the race weekend started to discuss how tech, art, and storytelling come together. The result? A show of the power of a shifted perspective in driving progress.
7. Huge turnout for the Alpine team
If you were diligently keeping up with our list of F1 events happening over the weekend, you would’ve known that the Alpine team were making an appearance at Velocity on Wednesday. What might surprise you? The face that appeared alongside Esteban Ocon. Fledgling driver Kabir Anurag is the first ever Singaporean to be recruited in the Alpine F1 team’s driver development program. During his appearance at Velocity, he talked about how just a few months of training has helped improve his driving by leaps and bounds. With dreams of clinching an F1 seat by 21 years old, we wish Kabir all the best in his upcoming race in the Italian Formula 4 Championship.
8. News on the F1 Academy front
This weekend’s race marks the fifth round for the F1 Academy drivers and it was a bit of a doozy. With only 12 laps in the race (in comparison to the main Formula 1 race’s 62 laps), you’d be surprised at how tense things can get. Especially when the race lasts only 30 minutes. Bad luck seems to follow Bianca Bustamante as snafus took her to the back of the pack in both Saturday and Sunday’s races. But it wasn’t as devastating as Tina Hausmann’s 10-second penalty for causing a collision. Ultimately, Abbi Pulling of Rodin Motorsport takes the double victory in Singapore, marking her seventh victory in 10 races.
9. Daniel Ricciardo departs in style
After whispers started up that this would potentially be Daniel Ricciardo’s last race with RB, all eyes were on the veteran who put up (what we’d consider) a less than stellar performance. However, that didn’t stop Daniel from showcasing his tenacity nor did it stop fans from showing their love. Ending on a high, the Australian managed to clock in the fastest lap of the race and score driver of the day at the Singapore Grand Prix.
10. A poor call in strategy from Mercedes
Here’s a recap of what went down, for those that missed it. With Lewis Hamilton on soft tyres and George Russell on medium tyres, the race starts with a plan for Lewis to overtake Max Verstappen quickly. Spoiler alert: plan failed. Lewis is then called to pit at lap 18 (super early, for the record), in order to change his tyres. However, with the lack of a gap between drivers, he failed to gain a lead and struggled at the tail end to maintain tyres well past their lap age. In a post-race Instagram post, Mercedes admits to poor strategy and choices. Unfortunately, this was met with a barrage of angry comments from Lewis fans, who called the move sabotage. No hiding how Mercedes fans are feeling right now.
11. Esteban Ocon celebrates his 28th!
Is there any better way to celebrate your birthday than with a donut at Universal Studios Singapore (arguably one of the happiest places on earth)? We don’t think so, and Esteban Ocon seems to agree. The Alpine driver spent a balmy afternoon gallivanting through the theme park to commemorate his 28th birthday. He’s even hosting a birthday giveaway where one lucky winner could score themselves a full sized replica of his helmet.
12. Crowd numbers continue to climb
Everyone knows that the Singapore race is one of the races to be at. We see thousands of tourists land in our little island to soak in all the revelry the night race has to offer. This year was no different – in fact, it was bigger than ever! 2024’s events drew over 269,000 fans in for the race weekend, even more than last year’s 264,108.
13. Does Max Verstappen need to sit in a corner?
Frustrations seem to have mounted throughout the week for the three-time world champion. After swearing during an official FIA press conference on Thursday, the Dutch driver was penalised with Formula 1’s version of community service to atone. Something he considered “ridiculous”. So, in a form of protest, during a post-qualifying press conference, he kept his answers curt, opting to speak to journalists outside the press conference room instead. His reason? That full answers might get him another fine or penalty. Yikes.
14. A millennial’s (musical) wet dream come true
This year’s entertainment lineup was stacked with acts millennials grew up listening to, like The Corrs and Kelis. But it was Kylie Minogue who stole the spotlight, turning up the heat and drawing in massive crowds. Eight years since her last appearance at F1 Singapore’s Grand Prix, the pop royalty proved fans still can’t get her out of their heads, effortlessly owning the stage and making the atmosphere electric. Attendees were treated to familiar hits, costume changes, lots of roses and confetti! It felt like a regular Kylie Minogue concert, tbh.
That said, the other performers were no slouches, either. OneRepublic had the audience singing along (even throughout the sudden downpour), Thirty Seconds to Mars brought their high-energy performance (and fans) to the stage, Disclosure’s set kept everyone on their feet, and Lenny Kravitz closed the festival with his signature sound.
And that marks the end of yet another race weekend. See you next year for more Singapore F1 news and highlights!
