ELTIPS AV R T

The driver’s team summed up the practice session near miss: “Face to face with Godzilla then, mate.”

A bit of an exaggeration but if anywhere is capable of bringing l i fe to a fictional monster then innovative Singapore is the place.

This clean and super-efficient Far Eastern city state is a dynamic blend of contrasts. Daring skyscrapers next to lush forest and parks, luxurious shopping malls beside ethnic stores, and chic restaurants round the corner from food stalls.

Throw in beaches, museums and galleries and you have an amazing destination – especially when Formula One is in town.

For four days this island, twice the size of the Isle of Wight and aroundound 90 miles from the equator, is a petrolhead’s paradise as hordes es of F1 fans fly in for one of the chamhampionship’s toughest races.

Pit lane walks followed by practice and qualifyingg culminate in the arduous, twisting night race around a three-mile Marina Bay city circuitcuit illuminated by 1,600 lights.

The track and tropical heat takeake a toll on drivers, who change gearear nearly 5,000 times in the 190 mile race. And on their tyres – some cars got through four sets. Yet each h was changed in under three seconds.ds.

The first three on the gridrid – Rosberg, Ricciardo and Hamiltonmilton TAKE many shirts. It is always baking hot and humid and you will perspire. TRY the Red House for exceptional seafood, Pollen and the Corner House for delicate and exquisite cuisine. The hawker stalls in Little India and Chinatown have dishes for about £1.60. One, Liao Fan, in Chinatown has a Michelin star but now has two-hour queues for food. FOR a drink, hit McGettigan’s in Clarke Quay and Berlin club in Chijmes, a converted convent.