Over the course of three days at the street circuit, I was simultaneously reminded of how multi-national F1 is in its appeal, how its fanbase has changed in recent years and what a small place the world can be.
For an illustration of multi-national spread, the grandstand seats around ours were variously occupied by Singapore locals and visiting fans from the Philippines, Canada, Brazil, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Plus a few Australians, and a couple of fellow Kiwis.
There was plenty of tribalism on show in the race wear, (McLaren and Ferrari to the fore) flags and banners, but all of it good-hearted, which made for a fun time.
The changing F1 fanbase was evidenced by the number women and younger folk. Turn back the clock a decade or so and an F1 crowd would be at least 75% men aged between 20 and 70.
At Singapore, I estimated that 40% of those spectating in our area were female, with plenty of people under 20 along too; the Drive to Survive television series can take a lot of credit for that.
It felt like a small world because among the many tens of thousands of racegoers, I met up (by prior arrangement) with a fellow Otago person I know, promptly ran into two more and later a couple more New Zealand motorsport acquaintances from elsewhere in the country.
The largest New Zealand contingent was the enthusiastic bunch on a Highlands Motorsport Park tour; they occupied a prominent position in one of the main grandstands, capturing plenty of attention with their brandishing of super-sized cutout images of Liam Lawson.
Sadly, Singapore was a disappointing race for Lawson.
I’d only just left the area where he first crashed a few minutes earlier, having already witnessed George Russell come to grief in that practice session.
The difference, of course, was that Russell regathered himself in the next practice session, went on to secure pole position, and then win the race in imperious fashion.
Lawson, instead, crashed again in practice and so was well underdone when it came to qualifying and the race.
All things considered, I thought he did very well to make it through to the second stage of qualifying.
The disappointing race result was not so much a consequence of his driving, but of the gamble Racing Bulls took in keeping him out for an extended spell as others around him pitted.
Had the team not made that call — in hope of a safety car intervention that never eventuated — then Lawson might have nudged a point-scoring result and would certainly have finished ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
While much of the media attention here has been on Lawson’s Singapore challenges, it’s worth noting that Tsunoda did not show strongly either, qualifying poorly, starting badly, and finishing outside the points. Even Isak Hadjar, the golden boy of the three, faded after qualifying well.
The biff-and-bash between the pair was trivial when compared to the antics of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost when they were McLaren team-mates fighting for the F1 title in the late 1980s, but one can sense a similar frustration beginning to build within the McLaren camp.
Keeping this tension in check will be a big focus for team management over the final six rounds of the championship.
With Singapore done and dusted and the F1 circus off to the Americas for the next four races, circuit-racing attention in this part of the world shifts to Bathurst, for this weekend’s staging of Australia’s great race.
As best I can figure it, there are five New Zealanders taking part this year, all with Australian driving partners.
They comprise: Ryan Wood (paired with Jayden Ojeda) and Fabian Coulthard (with Chaz Mostert) in Walkinshaw-Andretti run Ford Mustangs; Andre Heimgartner (with Declan Fraser) and Jaxon Evans (with Jack Smith) in Brad Jones Racing Camaros; Matthew Payne (with Garth Tander) in a Grove Racing Team Mustang; and Richie Stanaway (with Nash Morris) in the PremiAir Racing Camaro.
There’s some good 2025 form and decent Bathurst pedigree among them.
Payne is second in the Australian Supercars championship and has a peerless running mate in five-times Bathurst winner Tander.
Stanaway won at Bathurst with van Gisbergen in 2023.
Coulthard’s had two previous Bathurst podiums, and of course he’s teamed up with a former double Bathurst winner in Mostert.
Heimgartner and Wood, meanwhile are eighth and ninth in the 2025 Australian Supercars series and so fully capable of featuring in the leading bunch come race time on Sunday. Evans will be making his fourth Bathurst 1000 start.
This weekend also sees the Bay of Plenty host the penultimate round of the NZ Rally Championship.
David Thomson
Editor, Drivesouth
