F1 supremo Bernie Whatshisnamestone said that Singapore might withdraw from the F1 circuit because we treated the F1 like a used tissue paper or something to that effect.
He was telling the truth, you know.
F1 is nothing but a glamour sport. In its heyday back in the 70’s, everyone was enthralled by the playboy lifestyle of the F1 drivers and the decadence and excesses of the spectators. It was a sport for the rich and famous and poor plebs like me could only sniff at the images of racing cars on the pages of soiled magazines on the library stands. Don’t judge me.
But not anymore. The current champion, Lewis Hamilton is more pristine than a Greek virgin……oil. The cars they drive are so computerised that they are better off driving on the arcade machines and we are better off watching that.
Even when Singapore first mooted the idea of hosting the F1, the excitement of the race was already on the wane. But we decided to proceed because we had a point to make. We wanted Singapore to be known as a global city to attract real foreign talents to work and live here and F1 could provide that pull. And consequently by successfully organising what was and still is a complex night race in the middle of a city, Singapore has shown to the world our innovation, creativity and never-say-die attitude.
And so having achieved all that and our money-shot (see pic above), it is now about dollars and cents. If we are not making money out of F1, we should just stop hosting it.
Uncle Bernie should understand all about money. He single-handedly polished a turd to sell it as a multi-billion dollar diamond.
Seriously. Who would sit in the heat, breathing in the toxic exhaust fumes just to watch a bunch of racing cars zooming past in split-seconds forty-nine4 times? Unless it was all about hype.
But the hype is gone now.
So we should just say thank you to Uncle Bernie. All good things will come to an end. And the era of F1 in Singapore is truly over.
Source: https://thesingaporebeacon.com
