Someone had an extra pass to the Paddock Club at the 2018 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix and gave me one. Whee!!
I admittedly haven’t been following Formula 1 much for this season and the last. I had cancelled my cable tv subscription so I don’t really have a source to watch Formula 1 anymore. So in recent years, I based my decision to buy tickets to the Singapore edition of the Formula 1 Grand Prix based on the entertainment headlining line up. Any Formula 1 fan would know that the best view of the race is via the TV. Being on the track is just to soak up the atmosphere and jostle with the sweaty crowd.
Once I arrived at the Paddock Club, I made a beeline for the pit exit. I only arrived at the circuit park towards the end of FP3 but fortunately, I arrived in time to do the pit lane walk.
Back in 2016, I did the pit lane experience by invitation from the Singapore GP team. However, with the pit lane walk on a Paddock Pass, you actually get to enter the garage area of the team that you are a guest of.
I apparently could walk into the garage but I saw that the engineers busy with the cars and I didn’t dare to walk in. What if I accidentally kick a screw or something and they are missing a part to reassemble the car?
It was also very tempting to touch the cars coz it’s so sexy but no, what if I left a thumbprint on the livery? And my thumbprint caused an additional drag on the car and reduced its aerodynamics? Then it would become my fault that Lance Stroll or Sergey Sirotkin didn’t make it past Q1. LOL. No. Too stressful.
I arrived at the circuit park with the intention to eat (for free) at Nobu but the queue was long and the pit lane walk was about to start. No way in hell I’d miss the pit lane walk. The plan was to arrive at the circuit park, eat dinner, watch a bit of FP3, do the pit lane walk and start walking towards the Esplanade to watch Sekai No Owari/Liam Gallagher and hang out at the Padang Stage to watch Qualis until it was time for The Killers to take the stage.
The plan totally didn’t happen. LOL. Check out the food that was served at the Paddock Club:
Was so trapped by the food I tell you. It was so yummy!! And did I mention that it was free flow of food and drinks? I ended up neither watching either Sekai No Owari nor Liam Gallagher. Since Qualifying was starting, I parked myself at the pit lane exit to watch the Formula 1 qualifying action.
It was a 30 ~ 45 minutes walk from Zone 1 to Zone 4 where the Padang stage was. So we were supposed to start walking after Q1 but no, I only left the Paddock Club just as Lewis Hamilton took the pole for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Thankfully, they opened the tracks for people to walk on portions of the track to get to the Padang area quicker. Unfortunately, it was still a good 30 minutes or so walk and by the time I reached Zone 4, The Killers has already started their set and the area was packed!! Security were stopping people from entering the concert area.
I couldn’t see shit from back where I was. LOL. I think we also missed the first 30 minutes or so of their performance as well. Fortunately, people left as the performance progressed and after about 30 minutes since I arrived, we managed to enter the concert area and I finally managed to see the stage!!
I didn’t hear We Were Young and Somebody Told Me. I assume that I missed those songs as I was walking over. Oh well. At least I managed to watch The Killers perform Human, All These Things I Have Done and Mr Brightside.
It was so much fun!!! And Brandon Flowers is a really very beautiful looking human being.
Can’t wait to find out who is in the line up in the 2019 edition of the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix!!