‘If it wasn’t for the Singapore Grand Prix, I would not be where I am today’

For a country of 4.5 million people in 2007, it was big news when F1 announced it was coming to town for 2008.

“For someone like me, a young girl from Singapore, it was crazy to think one of the world’s biggest sports was coming here. It really hit different,” recalls Kassandra.

“As an F1 fan, nothing beats the feeling of them announcing a Grand Prix in your country.

“Singapore is such a small country, I remember in my head thinking ‘how can such a massive sport like F1 even consider us?

Excitement levels were going up, but the clock was ticking down. There was a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it.

Races can take years to come to life after agreeing to join F1’s world tour, but try telling that to those who helped Singapore’s dream become a reality nearly two decades ago.

“That’s one thing about Singapore,” says Kassandra. “It’s such an efficient country, the infrastructure was built up so quickly. It was so lovely seeing it all come together.

“Now every time you walk into the city around August, you see them putting up all the lights and the barricades – the circuit takes up half the city!

“Everything was brand new, including the pit area. Whenever I go back, I think of 2007 and remember the first time they were building it all.

The mercury was high, and the hottest ticket in town had been secured. Just two years after getting into the sport, Kassandra would be attending her first F1 Grand Prix, on her own doorstep.

It would be a family occasion, too.

“My friends didn’t share my enthusiasm for the sport back then, but my Dad did,” she says. He is my number one supporter, he’s always been there allowing me to chase me dream.

“We shared that excitement together. He used to watch motorsport, and he and my Grandad would occasionally race bikes.”

Trackside that weekend in 2008, Kassandra’s curiosity took over, and her eagerness to enquire about engineering meant her Dad endured an earful.

“I kept asking, Why is it so fast? Why is it so loud? How do they do that? How do they brake into the corners?

“My Dad got so annoyed that at the end of race he told me to go off and study the answer to all those questions. That’s why the race is so special to me, because I did just that!

“I didn’t want to put my earplugs in, so I could listen to the sound of the V8 engines. My Dad did the same, even if he thought I was crazy at first!

“If it wasn’t for the Singapore Grand Prix, I would not be where I am today.”

And so began Kassandra’ journey to Formula 1 and our team on Lauda Drive.

While university courses and degrees were still out of reach, her enthusiasm for the Grand Prix weekend never dwindled, and she returned to the Marina Bay grandstands in 2009.

A year later, Kassandra took her attendance at the event to another level, working in the paddock as part of the Grand Prix’s hospitality experience.

“It had got to that stage where if I couldn’t attend, I would work. Motorsport still wasn’t the focus in Singapore, so it was the closest I could get without studying it.”

When the opportunity to study did arise, Kassandra headed to England, and set about mastering an undergraduate degree in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes.

A Masters in Advanced Motorsport Engineering at Cranfield University would follow, and soon came her very first job in F1, with our team.

From Marina Bay to Brackley in 13 years.

“Having the Grand Prix arrive in my country definitely inspired me, because if an F1 race can come to a small country like Singapore, why can’t a Singaporean like me work in F1?” says Kassandra.

Why not indeed.

Since first appearing on the F1 calendar as the original night race, many venues have tried to replicate the sensation of a spectacle under the stars. But there’s still nowhere quite like Singapore.

“It’s brutal, and it’s a challenge. When drivers talk about being ready for an F1 season they are talking about Singapore,” she says.

“If they are ready for that, they are ready for anything. It is not an easy, boring race.

“I am a big supporter of EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), and for one weekend all eyes are on Singapore and the world is watching.

“It means so much to everyone here that everyone is tuning in and gets to share in what Singapore has to offer F1.”

Back in Brackley, Kassandra is happy to embellish that support on a personal level on behalf of her homeland.

“Although I have never been trackside, I am like the local guide. Before the Grand Prix, everyone in the factory will ask me where to go to eat and what to see,” she explains.

“Then they will send me pictures of themselves there. I love being able to see people enjoying what I call home.

“I want them to have the best time.”