Fuck the F1

So these last couple of days, downtown Singapore has reverberated with the incessant buzzing of Formula 1 cars speeding around its streets. Because we write in the area, I've had opportunity to peer through the fences while the drivers were practicing during the day, realizing that the cars are really smaller in real life than you'd think, and also that you can hardly make out anything besides the main color when one of them flashes by you.

Which leads me to think that the folks who paid upwards of several hundred dollars for a seat in the grandstand are really, really stupid.

No matter how good your seat is, you see each car as it goes by for a grand total of - let's be generous - two seconds. And if they're all in a pack, you can't really focus on anything. Each car is supposed to travel 61 laps around the circuit. So I suppose it would be generous to say that you will physically see the cars in action for all of ten minutes in the entire night, at most.

For the rest of the time, you're watching the TV monitors. Which you could very well do at home during the live telecast. And in the comfort of your living room (I doubt the grandstand has air-conditioning). For free. And without overpriced food and drink. And you don't even have to fight with the crowd to get home afterward. Come on, do you really want to spend hundreds of dollars, only to end up pressed against some idiot who doesn't know the meaning of deodorant on the MRT ride home?

Besides, don't you think the entire F1 is a colossal waste of money and resources? You have to fly everyone and their Aunt Petunia over here, you have to transport all the cars and equipment, you have to set up all the necessary facilities, you have to shut down the roads and piss everyone working in the vicinity off, and do you know how much fuel those monsters consume? Hey, dear Minister, can you honestly advocate a greener lifestyle while promoting this event? How hypocritical can you get? And how many taxpayer dollars are going towards this ostentatious display?

To me, it seems to be nothing more than ridiculous overcompensation. Kinda like the balding guy with a really small dick and erectile dysfunction who drives around in a Lamborghini. Yes, we're a small nation. Stop acting like we got something to prove. How pathetic do you want to look? Like the desperate middle-aged women who shriek their way through Mamma Mia! The Movie?

How do you justify inconveniencing everyone that works in the area? Or visits the place? Or ends up getting in jam-packed train carriages that were already crowded enough during rush hour, and now are worse than ever? Well, basically, someone who's really pissed off at the whole affair, like me?

Tourist dollars? Come on, how much are they going to spend, when all their needs are paid for? I honestly don't believe that many people fly all the way in just to watch this damn thing.

You don't know? You can't think of anything? I didn't think so.