United by a Common Goal

Going as a newbie into an F1 race must be the most bewildering experience that one could have.

I was fazed by the sight of several people dressed in their favourite team's T-shirt! Vodafone was bright, luminiscent orange. Ferarri was bright red with a logo in the middle. BMW-Sauber-PETRONAS was white with blue and black stripes in the middle. Those are the only few shirts which caught my attention. And the best part was, here, one feels so united in spirit and heart with the supporters of the same team! At one section, I saw a whole group of people in red-shirts, evidently supporters of the Shell-Ferarri team. At another section, I saw another group of people in White shirts with blue and black stripes in the middle! Wow! What unity!

Apart from that, I also saw many strong supporters holding flags! The way they held the flags showed how proud that their team was competing in the race! It seemed really heavy to me. The length of the flag pole was perhaps five times of their height. Yet, they held it stealthily in their hands. Without wavering! And they proudly waved it high among the crowd!

Another strong supporter!

Oh! Come to think of it, this is my first time I am holding a ticket in my hand to watch a competition of any kind. I have never in my life paid for a ticket to watch a badminton match, football match, basketball match or a taekwondo match. The only sports match that I have ever witnessed was the first time my younger brother took part in a basketball match in the district level and got 2nd place. I didn't understand the game as I never bothered about things that disinterests me. The only thing I remembered about the competition was the delicious apam balik with lots butter and peanuts and jagung that an old uncle for 50 cents a piece.

So, I was pretty taken aback when I saw 2 Korean ladies, dressed in their traditional Korean costume, wearing their Korean wooden clogs, walking down the stairs to hang the flags of their favourite driver's native country, walking up to sit for a while, changed their minds and immmediately came walking down the steps again, untied the strings to the flags, and shifted it to another more visible location. Will the drivers appreciate it, I wonder? So much exhiliration just over a race. This race must mean a lot to many people out there.

The flags which were hung and moved

On the day of the qualifying race, it was simply hot and humid! It was with great relief when we saw so many vendors selling ice cream every 10 metres! Look at these young and energetic youths selling ice creams under the hot sun! Hats up for them!

Relief in the form of Ice-Creams