Hey Hive!
Sorry for the hiatus, but we had a very exciting and busy streamathon over 2 weeks ago and it was also for charity! Now that it's over, we should be back to our regularly scheduled posts.
Last week was also the annual F1 night race here in Singapore! My cousin is a big fan of F1 and now that we've watched the Netflix series, Drive to Survive, we're more familiar with the sport and racers as well. It was a bit more exciting but we still rather watch the series or the highlights than the actual race since it takes too long.
Source: singaporegp
There's usually a lot of other pop-ups and exhibitions here around F1 period and last year when my cousin came to visit, we went to explore the different installations!
13 Sep 2024. Friday.
I went to meet my cousin in town at this mall called Wisma Atria, and they apparently had a huge LEGO version of the Mercedes F1 car on display.
This was the mini version which I thought you could buy but maybe it's only for display. I feel like this would sell quite well though but then again it'd probably be very expensive since it's LEGO and Mercedes.
Here was the actual life-sized replica of the F1 car in LEGO.
It looked pretty cool, but maybe a little smaller in person than I expected? The drivers recently did an actual race with LEGO cars in the Miami GP earlier this year and those cars definitely look bigger than this. Then again, those had actual engines and electronics.
Beside the LEGO replica there was also a pop-up experience where there were different F1-related activities you could do.
There was a pit crew training activity you could do where you press the lighted buttons in record time.
Of course you could play the F1 game on a PS5 they had on display and you could win some prizes if you won I suppose.
We didn't get a chance to play though since these people were hogging the console. I'm not sure how long the race actually takes but we hung around some time and there were still people playing so we gave up.
There was also a photo wall you could take photos with to get some LEGO passport or something. I'm not sure what it was for but my cousin didn't seem interested so we didn't do it. Maybe if I was with Sean I would've done it for the free stuff.
Of course since it was LEGO, they also had the LEGO sets on sale as well. I guess you could really buy the car that was on display. They also had special Singapore-themed LEGO sets like our famous Marina Bay Sands resort hotel.
Anyway, my cousin and I were more interested in taking a look at one of the F1 exhibitions, which was located at this place called Dempsey Hill.
They had a gallery space there where I imagine they have rotating exhibitions, and around September it's always dedicated to F1.
But before we got there, we came across this adorable stray cat outside!
After admiring the cat for a bit, we headed inside and it was quite nice and pleasantly empty.
Here, they had a Ferrari F1 car on display, and I think it was the actual F1 car that the drivers drove in back in 2017 or so.
They also had a continuous video showing clips from the different races here in Singapore over the years.
The gallery itself has two floors, and most of the exhibition is upstairs so after we got checked in and got a wristband, we headed up to go check it out.
The exhibition was mostly just about the different Singapore Grand Prix over the years, and how it has changed both the F1 scene and Singapore as a country.
They even had some old F1 memorabilia on display from back in the 1960s and 70s! I didn't even know the Singapore GP has been going on for that long! I also really liked the retro design of the books.
The posters looked really cool too, and this design is quite timeless. Now that retro/Y2K stle is back in fashion I think a lot of people would go for this kind of merchandise if they did it today.
On the screens in front of the wall they had footage from the old F1 GPs in Singapore. The old cars look so goofy to me.
They also showcased some old F1 racers from here in Singapore! I didn't even know we had racers way back then. In recent years, there's hardly any Asian representation in F1 except Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu, let alone Singaporean, so this was a surprise.
They also had some more modern race suits to contrast with the older photos and footage. This race suit was actually worn and signed by Zhou Guanyu in 2022!
The next section of the exhibition was about how Singapore adapted to become a night race, and how the city had to transform to accommodate the demands of F1.
It also touched on the technology we used like the material of the actual track, and how they prepare our roads for the circuit.
It was actually pretty interesting stuff, and if you're an F1 enthusiast I think you'd enjoy this exhibition a lot.
At the end of the aisle was a photo spot with the actual photo of the Singapore F1 track in the back, so we took a photo together.
There was a huge mural of a checkered flag with various statistics on the squares. I wondered why they didn't fill in all the squares but I guess the text would've been too warped and too high to read anyway.
There was also a very nice collage of photos from old Singapore GP.
There was also a segment of a broken barrier they had on display. I think this was from the 2023 GP when Lance Stroll collided with the barrier in the qualifying session. This was to show just how sturdy the barrier was since it absorbed most of the impact so the driver and car would be mostly fine without separating the barrier too much.
This next section was about the F1 paddock and all the entertainment acts that have performed here during F1.
Another reason F1 is so popular is because of the concerts that are held after the races. People who are not F1 fans would still find entertainment during this period since they would get star-studded acts to come perform. This year, we had Elton John, G-Dragon and Lewis Capaldi, among many others.
This last section was mostly statistics, like the fastest lap in Singapore, longest pit lane and how many staff were involved in F1.
They also had some autographed cards from older F1 GPs. I didn't really recognised most of these names since I wasn't into F1 way back then. Michael Schumacher is a classic though.
They also had some old autographed caps on display. I feel like these were donated by fans, which is probably why they're so old.
There were also some F1 model cars on display. These were not made of LEGO though, so they looked very accurate.
I can see some avid F1 fans displaying these scale model cars in their homes.
They looked so cute, and if you could actually race them like remote control cars it would be so cool!
We took some time to admire the cars, but that was pretty much it for the exhibition.
After that we headed back downstairs to admire the actual life-size F1 car. This was probably the closest I'll ever come to an actual F1 racecar.
There was a very nice cafe/mart right next to the gallery so we went to sit down and relax for a bit before heading off for dinner.
We were meeting my brother for dinner in town, and on the F1 theme we went to this restaurant that was also a car brand, called BYD.
Just beside the showroom was actually a restaurant and they had a really affordable set meal so I figured why not.
It's mostly Western food and you have to be a member but it's free to become a member and you can just cancel after that.
The food is actually pretty delicious as well. The portions may be a little small but you can't really complain with these prices.
We had a very nice meal to end off the day.
All in all, we had a very lovely time! Truly a great way to get into the F1 spirit while avoiding the crowds and exorbitant prices. The F1 gallery is totally free and open to the public so I'd highly recommend it if you're interested in a chill day out while enjoying some F1 fun.
Thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!