It’s that time of the year again. The track is set, the lights are up and the countdown is on. The air is filled with the anticipation of thousands and the smell of burnt rubber, which means it is the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
For me, this race is not just another event. It is the date I circled on my calendar months ago, the moment I have looked forward to the most for the past one year.
Whenever someone asks me, “What sparked your interest in Formula 1?”, I often find myself at a loss for words. One would assume that this was an easy question to answer.
I could give many different responses, but the truth is, it all began with my older brother.
Growing up, he loved watching and talking about cars to the point of obsession. It made perfect sense that he would gravitate towards the spectator motorsport that is Formula 1.
However, neither of us had much in common. Our hobbies, interests, and even our personalities rarely overlapped.
Then came 2021, the year that saw one of the fiercest F1 Driver Championship battles between Red Bulls’ Max Verstappen and then-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
My brother, a loyal fan of Verstappen, was glued to every race.
I remembered him nudging me to watch the race, insisting that the 2021 season was the most thrilling, and that I would be instantly hooked if I watched it.
My thoughts didn’t agree: “Why would a young woman like me watch F1?”
What I did not realise at the time was that my brother’s invitation was an offer of something more: a chance for us to bond as siblings.
The following year, my curiosity finally got the better of me and I decided to watch one of the races at random.
At first, I was completely lost. It felt chaotic as there was an overwhelming number of terms and rules being flashed up on all four corners of the television screen, and to me, all the cars looked the same so I had no clue as to which driver was leading the race.
But eventually, it all clicked.
I began to see what my brother saw: the tense moments when a car dares to overtake another in the final laps, the teams’ strategic brilliance and precise pitstops, and the heartbreak when a driver makes a spilt-second mistake while at lightning speed.
Along the way, my passion for the sport grew, and with it, admiration for my favourite driver, Lewis Hamilton. The eight-time World Champion from Great Britain, currently races for F1 legacy team, Ferrari.
To me, he is a motorsport legend who fights for diversity and rises above adversity. Witnessing his drive and activism for social causes outside of the sport motivates me to be a better person.
Over the years, Formula 1 has shown me that, while it is a male-dominated sport, it has never belonged exclusively to men.
This motorsport is meant for everyone, and women should be allowed to embrace their passion for the sport freely, without judgments or genedered stereotypes.
Encouragingly, more women are getting the opportunities to be part of the sport, especially with the F1 Academy, a female-only single-seater driving championship series.
Formula 1 is more than just a sport for me. It has become part of my identity and the thread that ties me closer to my brother. Most of our coversations these days start out about F1 and on some occasions, even turn into drawn-out debates about the sport.
The Singapore Grand Prix weekend was abuzzed with fans proudly draped in their respective team’s merchandise and soaking in the high-energy atmosphere.
While I was not able to secure any tickets for the Singapore Grand Prix race this year, I am far from disheartened. If anything, it only fuels my excitement, as my time to experience the race live may come sooner than I hope.
And when the time does come, I will be there in the grandstands, surrounded by the bright lights of the lion city, cheering on as the cars fly past me, content as I finally got to live my dream that all began with a nudge from my brother.
(Durgashini Loganathan is former tabla! intern and is a Business Management with Communications major at the University of Birmingham in Singapore.)
