SINGAPORE, Sept 23: Singapore will make history this week by staging glamour-fuelled Formula One’s first ever night race, with safety worries taking a back seat to anticipation of a landmark event.

The tiny but affluent city-state won the right to host the event for five years, with an option to extend to 2017, after agreeing to hold it under lights in a move designed to boost global television ratings.

Sunday’s showpiece will also be the first time F1 has raced around the streets of an Asian city, with the circuit hugging some of Singapore’s best known colonial-era landmarks like St Andrews Cathedral and The Padang.

With just four Grand Prix left this season, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton goes into the race with a slender one point lead over Ferrari’s Felipe Massa in the driver standings, setting the scene for a bumper showdown.

Hamilton, whose lead could increase if he wins his appeal Tuesday against a 25-second penalty imposed on him at the Belgium Grand Prix this month, is looking forward to the novelty factor.

“Singapore is a night time circuit, which none of us have experienced before, but we’ll be OK,” said the Briton.

Concerns though remain among other drivers about racing under spotlights at the tail end of the monsoon season, with torrential rain a possibility and potentially a dangerous hazard.

The race will start at 8:00 pm with final qualifying at 10:00 pm on Saturday, a scenario no Formula One driver has experienced before.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli said many drivers were apprehensive, particularly since they only take to the track on Friday.

“Singapore is a new challenge for everyone because it is the first time we will race there and the first time to race at night.

“We don’t know exactly how the track will be or how challenging the conditions could be, so it will be very interesting.”

Organisers say 1,500 lighting projectors — powered by 12 pairs of diesel generators — will illuminate the 5.067km long Marina Bay track, each one four times brighter than those routinely used at football stadiums.

Leong Yue Kheong, director of F1 projects at the Singapore Tourism Board, insisted everything had been done to ensure safety, including minimising glare from the lights.

“The way the light projectors are constructed is to make sure that they minimise glare,” he said.—AFP