Formula One grands prix are still worth catching on alternate weekends this summer, particularly after David Coulthard and McLaren's Melbourne triumph this month.
Tune in: Star TV is broadcasting today's Qualifying action at 2pm and tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix live at 3pm. RTHK Radio 3's Lunchbeat Formula One Focus is on the Friday before a grand prix.
Where to watch the action: The best grands prix viewing on Hong Kong Island is at The Dublin Jack (Cheung Hing Commercial Building, 37-43 Cochrane St, Central, tel: 2543 0081; open noon-late; happy hour noon-8pm). A motoring writers' hangout, it has a big screen, as does its sister pub, Delaney's, in Wan Chai, a Foot Down haunt. (18 Luard Rd, tel: 2804 2880, open noon-late; happy hour noon-8pm). Delaney's at 71-77 Peking Rd in Kowloon (tel: 2301 3980) has two screens that are so superb the cars seem to jump off the screen.
Sai Kung dwellers seem torn between Steamers (Chan Man St, tel: 2792 6991), which has a telly behind the bar, and the big screen at Cheers (28 Yi Chun St, tel: 2791 6789; happy hour 11.30am-9pm). The Dickens Bar in the basement of The Excelsior hotel (tel: 2837 6782; happy hour 5pm-8pm) in Causeway Bay always shows the races. Scottish pub Caledonia in Hutchison House, (10 Harcourt Rd, Central; tel: 2524 1314, open 8am-2pm; happy hour 5pm-9pm) has a flat screen TV in the bottom bar and a staunch McLaren following, while Kowloon side's best F1 venue is the Pit Stop bar (below, tel: 2996 8455, open noon-1am) at the Harbour Plaza hotel in Hunghom. It often displays a race car - frequently Alain Prost's Ferrari from the 1990s - for its petrolhead clientele with screens everywhere you look. The Foot Down team also speak highly of the restaurant's $70 pizza deal and found the hotel's parking is free for diners whose bill exceeds $300. This is the place to go if you want to talk cars, dine alfresco on the promenade and join a guess-the-winner lucky draw.
Trackwatching tips: As better in-car footage enhances the track action, notice how the drivers might tire towards the end of a 300km race in a cramped, hot cockpit, and make mistakes.
Watch the pit stops too, for these are the most significant part of any race and will be determined by the nature of the circuit, the ease of entering and exiting the pit lane, and the local weather conditions. Although the teams can change all the cars' tyres in about four seconds, the speed at which the fuel may be added to the car (12 litres per second) governs the extra time. About 6.8 seconds is extremely rapid for a stop, but it is possible to second-guess how many times a team is intending to use the pits by the amount of fuel added by a car's back-up.