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In less than a week, Singapore will host the first night race in the history of Formula One racing and local auto racing fans, together with an estimated global TV audience of 350 million, will get to see 20 super fast cars battling it out on a street circuit of public roads around the Marina area.

While the hype to the 2008 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix gets build to a crescendo, it’s time for those among the clueless to get clued in on the sport. Here are some trivial of the pinnacle of motor sport, which will help you get up to speed and enable you to mix it up with the most ardent fans of Formula One in no time.

• An F1 car is made up of 80000 components. Even if assembled 99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong.

• An F1 car weighs about 550kgs, less than half the weight of a Mini Cooper.

• An F1 car can go from zero to 160kmh and back in 4 seconds.

• The fit in the cockpit is so tight that the steering wheel must be removed for the driver to get in or out. That is why drivers cannot be too tall, they average about 1.75m in height and 68kgs in weight.

• The cockpit temperature averages 50 deg C.

• On average, an F1 driver sheds 4kgs in weight per GP due to the extreme temperatures.

• Below the racing overalls, drivers wear undershirts, underwear and socks made of a fire-resistant material called Nomex. It must protect a driver from fire of 700 deg C for up to 12 seconds.

• F1 drivers are subjected to 5G of G-force in extreme braking, 2G while accelerating and up to 6G while cornering.

• Once an F1 car is traveling over 160kmh, it generates enough downforce to equal its own weight and can actually drive upside down from the top of a tunnel.

• In street racing, the downforce provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the GP, all the manhole covers along the circuit are welded down.