This weekend, the Formula 1 circus came to Singapore for a night race. Who knew it’d be such a cyberpunk moment?
Before the weekend, many drivers raised concerns over the track. They weren’t happy about racing in floodlights, on a new circuit, with a high risk of tropical storms rolling in. As a Formula 1 fan, I was thrilled, but what was unexpected was the tantalizing build-up I got.
On Friday at 1pm I was going to watch the free practice on a clean feed (the upside of working for a tv channel). I had the tv tuned to the right channel and at 12.20 the feed came alive.
But… It was bright as day at the circuit. Where was the darkness everyone had been talking about?
Patience, my friend.
Over the coming 40 minutes, the sun set over Singapore’s massive skyline. On the feed, which of course had no commentary, you could see mechanics doing the last finetuning of aerodynamic gizmos.
To the ambient sound of Singapore City, stewards were sweeping the track. The safety car was taken for a spin. Someone climbed a ladder to do repairs on a floodlight. It felt like a scene from a cyberpunk novel, the sprawl coming to life as night closed in.
Dusk fell. The table was set. The pieces put in their places. At 1pm there was nothing but compact darkness and a brightly lit corridor of a racing track that looked like CGI when filmed from above.
Then silence was broken. With a roar of Formula 1 engines. Out of the garages came the cars, their polish glistening in the floodlights, and you could here the distant sound of cheering crowd.
That’s when I realized: Who really needs studios with talking heads and pre-recorded interviews? This intro had a ambient field-recording tone to it and was the best possible build-up to the the weekend.
When will this kind of clean feed be available as pay-per-view?
