Formula One’s first night race was held in 2008, at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The inaugural Singapore Formula One race took place on 28 September 2008 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. It was staged at 8 p.m. local time under a powerful floodlighting system, allowing the event to run at a television-friendly hour for European audiences while remaining a night-time spectacle in Singapore.
The race was also significant because it was Singapore’s first Formula One event and the 800th World Championship race overall. Fernando Alonso won for Renault after starting 15th, while Nico Rosberg finished second and Lewis Hamilton third. Felipe Massa had started from pole but dropped out of contention after a pit-stop problem.
The race later became infamous as the centre of the Crashgate scandal, when an investigation found that Renault had ordered Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash deliberately to trigger a safety car. That controversy does not change the race’s historical status: Singapore remains the first official night race in Formula One.