Robert Kubica came out of his pitbox and rev his Williams Mercedes up to 12000 RPM, that is a 1.6 litre V6 engine producing near about 900 BHP! My heart melted, it is a moment I waited for 13 years to watch a Formula 1 race from the grandstand. It was also a very special race as it was the 1000th Formula 1 race.

I have been watching Formula 1 since 2000 and never missed any race since 2003, such were my madness that I gave up many things in life just to sit in front of TV to see 20 odd cars going wheel to wheel.

It all started when a fellow F1 fan and a close bro of mine asked me to join him for the Chinese GP back in February 2019. We booked our air ticket, hotel & even my grandstand ticket was paid for but I didn’t knew that it is near about impossible to get Chinese Visa on fresh passport (as I never went outside BD in 31 years of my life).

But lucked favoured me and I was able to get Visa just on 8th April given my plane was on 12th April. So I boarded the Airbus A330-300 from China Southern and then took another Airbus A321 transit and landed direct to Shanghai.

It was an experience which I can never describe in words, neither on a video but aside from watching Formula 1 I got the chance to see many Porches including 918 Spyder, Aston Martin DB11, Ferrari F12 & 488, Alfa Romeo & many more which I can’t put in this list. Not to mention Airbus A380 & Boeing 777 & yes just had a glimpse of Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas.

Anyone who wants to visit a F1 race in the near future do the followings :

• Get your Visa done 2 months prior to the race weekend.
• Get you grandstand ticket done after your visa is completed as the sooner you buy the better.
• Book your air ticket & hotel from Bangladesh and try to stay in a hotel close to the race track.
• If hotel close to race track is hard to find and sometimes very expensive do know the train or bus route from your hotel to the race track.
• Always look upwards for direction as most countries have them written in ENGLISH.
• Don’t forget to buy some merchandise, those are very expensive but it’s worth it.
• If you are a petrol head do try to roam around as you will see some exclusive and classic cars for display
• Do take plenty of water as the heat and excitement will make you tired.
• Try to go in small group of 4-6 people as it help to keep the cost down & will give you good company