"Through competition, we prepare boys to become men in the real sense, to enable them to become leaders who possess skills to survive, to have visions and able to execute these visions elegantly and artfully. I think it is important to get the audience to think and to feel deeper, to see what competition teaches us, and not only experience it as sport and entertainment." For something brighter and breezier, you need only go up three floors within the ION to the Opera Gallery, which is holding an exhibition of works by the famous Brazilian neo-pop artist Romero Britto. Some of Britto's works are directly related to the F1, for instance, he pas painted portraits of famous race drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in his signature style of black outlines and psychedelic colours. On the top of that, this week Britto, who's come to town, has a live painting session where he used large canvases which F1 greats Lewis Hamilton and David Coulthard had first driven over, leaving clear tyre marks. Britto, who owns a Ferrari, a Bentley, a Range Rover and a classics yellow Mustang, says that he loves to watch racing because of the vehicles ("mostly the definitions and colours", the speed and the competition.

Art and racing are similar as "they are both about passion", he says. "The difference is, in the arts you can give it your all, but not to the point of risking your life or someone else's. The drivers risk this because of their great passion." To those who would say that his canvasses of tyre tracks are a bit gimmicky, Britto has this to say: "People can say what they want; it's a;; about perception, how you want to see what you see. For one person in one corner of the world, racing is crazy – why are those guys going so fast? But for others, it's about bringing together cities around the world, in an amazing way to celebrate life through sports. In the end, it is about merging different worlds and stimulating our senses in a positive way."

Also on Orchard Road, and held outdoors, is a photography exhibition of the works of F1 photographer Paul-Henri Cahier. The exhibition, called The First Night Race – Photographs of the Singapore Grand Prix 2008, comprises 40 large-format works that capture exciting moments of last year's race, both on and off the track. You can see these images, which show how Cahier overcame the technical and artistic challenges of photo-taking a race at night, if you amble along the pavement in front of Wheelock Place, Liat Towers and Far East Shopping Centre.

Then – lucky you – it's off to the races.