As our time in KL begins ticking down I find myself thinking about everything I've enjoyed and everything that I will most assuredly miss. For me, one of the highlights of living in Malaysia has been the ease with which we can attend F1 races. In the last two years we've been to three: the
Singapore night race in 2011,
last year's race here in KL and now the second race of the 2013 season. After the
issues we experienced out at the Sepang Circuit last year, we weren't planning on going again. The track is out by the airport (which is an hour's drive into the middle of nowhere) and the race wasn't very well organized, meaning that there was absolutely nothing to do during down time at the track. About two weeks ago we decided that we really should take advantage of living in a city that hosts an F1 race while we still can, bought tickets, and off we went.
Last year we sat in the K1 grandstand, which is situated on the first turn. This year we opted for the main grandstand so that we could see into the pits. If you want to really watch the race, K1 is the best place to do so. There is a giant screen just in front of the stands that allows you to watch the entirety of the race and when the cars come by they've slowed down to the point that you can really see what is happening. Both this year and last drivers went off the track there, making it an exciting place to be.
However, if you want to go to the race to experience the pomp and atmosphere surrounding F1, the main grandstand is a much better choice. That's where the majority of the crowd will be and the fact that the food options there are much better there than in K1 isn't a small thing either. I will say that it's not such a great place to be for watching the actual race. The cars come flying down the straight so fast that you can't see much of anything and there aren't enough screens to actually keep track of what is going on during the race. Where we sat there were no screens at all, and the official leader-board was broken so the only way we even knew who was leading most of the time was through the live text on the BBC's website.
Despite leaving us pretty much blind during the race, our seats were awesome. We sat just off the pole position and the start/finish line, which gave us a great view not only into the pits but also of all the pageantry leading up to and following the race. We were in the perfect spot for watching the driver's parade, the grid walk, and the awards ceremony. While I've seen F1 races before, I'd only ever seen these things on tv, so watching them live was fascinating.
I still can't believe how close we were to everything--the cars, the drivers, the celebrities on the grid--and all for roughly the same price as a walking ticket would cost you in Europe. Being in Asia really does have its benefits.
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| Dato Sri Najib Tun Razak, Malaysia's current prime minister, is the gentleman in a white shirt second from the left. |
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| The mad dash to get off the track after the start of the race |
There was plenty of drama surrounding this race. Sebastian Vettel ignored a team order to hold his place, instead choosing to fight his teammate for the lead and in doing so ran a serious risk of taking out both of Redbull's cars. Because of where we were sitting and dying phone batteries, we didn't know about any of this until long after the race was completed, but looking through the pictures you can tell that something was going on. I will say that as a Redbull supporter, Vettel has made it much easier for me not to miss him next year when he switches teams.
I am definitely going to miss this next year.
