The Singapore Grand Prix was a fantastic race to attend, both for the night race aspect and the amazing circuit surrounds. But for me, one of the best things about being there was meeting Alex Snell – without a doubt the world’s most dedicated Formula One fan.
Why? He’s travelling to every grand prix this year: 19 races, 18 countries, and a hell of a good story.
I’d run into Alex at the Melbourne Grand Prix during a PR event, assuming he was part of the F1 circus. Later, I cottoned on to his blog and twitter account about his travels. Singapore, more than half a season later, was my first chance to sit down and have a drink – both of us ticking off one of Singapore’s must-do’s; a Singapore Sling cocktail from Raffles.
Alex is an Englishman who decided with a few mates that watching F1 live could be more than just a dream: instead of going to a couple of the local European races each year, why not go to all the races in one year and live it up?
While his friends got bogged down in the realities of kids, work and mortgages, Alex saved every cent for five years, moving back in with his parents to cut costs. He also decided that while he could do it on the cheap and nasty, he’d have a tenth of the fun and spend far too much time in airports.
Five miserly years later, he is living the dream, having been to every race in 2010 from the opener in Bahrain to the spectacular – Spa, Canada and Australia this year, and as this article is published, is on his way to Suzuka in Japan.
Alex recommends Montreal as the best place to go to for the party atmosphere that completely takes over the city, while Shanghai is a city that barely acknowledges F1’s existence during the race. Spa and Australia are the best for getting up close and personal to the cars just about everywhere on track, while we both agreed Singapore has too many different sections blocked off for no apparent reason.
The other interesting aside Alex mentioned was that the F1 photographers are super competitive, almost to the point of being downright unpleasant towards each other.
Perhaps I was being naive, but the reality is just one killer shot can mean a boom or bust season for a snapper.
One freelancer doing it all off his own back for the first time last year lost close to $20,000 before finally being picked up by an agency, and reckons he might have just broke-even this year doing it by himself.
Speaking of photos, by being completely shameless, he has managed to get a photo with just about every driver on the grid, and has plenty of stories of F1 drivers acting a little different to the straight laced profiles we see on TV – such as a certain boring looking mid-pack driver partying it up with the best of them on more than a few occasions.
But possible the best story is how Virgin Racing have embraced and engaged fans, helping make a dream come true for Alex.
Via twitter, Virgin Racing got in touch and after a couple of false starts, handed out a VIP invite into the exclusive paddock. From there, Alex was converted into a Virgin Racing fan, becoming known within the team as ‘Superfan’ and part of the fun at Virgin: he’s currently the mystery man of a Virgin Racing competition – if you spot him at a grand prix, grab him and mention that he’s ‘Chalky White’ and claim a free Virgin Racing shirt.
The major worry for F1 is also a worry for Alex – the Korean GP. Similar to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games, if the circuit is finished in time it will have just scraped over the line as at this point in time, with the final asphalt has yet to be laid!
While the paddock worry that the circuit might not be ready for the cars, there is zero facilities for fans and all accommodation has been booked out. If you see a tent at Turn 2, it might well be an Englishman wearing a Virgin shirt, and living the F1 dream.
A real inspiration and a top bloke.
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