By Jill Alphonso

IF ANY big names like David Beckham or Tom Cruise were in town for the first Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, they were being very secretive.

Though there were whispers of Beckham being around the Paddock Club in the F1 compound on Saturday night, he was never seen again. Nor did he turn up at any of the parties happening on Sunday night.

But drivers were out in full force. Williams' Nico Rosberg, who took second place in the races, made an appearance at Amber Lounge. There, he smiled and waved for the media.

Red Bull's David Coulthard and Mark Webber checked into the lounge as well, though Webber clearly did not want to be bothered, keeping his head low and sneaking in through the entrance before anyone could get a snapshot of him.

Regional celebrities like Taiwanese TV host Dee Hsu (with husband Mike in tow) and Bollywood actress Mahima Choudhry turned up, as did this year's Miss Universe, Venezuelan Dayana Mendoza.

Over at Prive's invitation-only event, there was no sign of Michelle Yeoh or companion Jean Todt of Ferrari, though they had RSVPed for the party.

But Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr, who had bottomed out early on in the final race - he crashed his R28 at Turn 17 - made an appearance.

The 23-year-old Brazilian was camera- and press-shy, to the point of being hostile.Whenever a flash went off in his direction, he would turn and glare at the offending photographer if he knew he was representing the media.

And when an editor of an online magazine approached him to say hello, he shot her an icy smile, exchanging a few short words before turning his back on her (ouch).

Still, he was one of the last to leave the venue at 4.30am. He chatted and drank champagne with British TV presenter Charlotte "Charlie" Webster before leaving with friends.

There may have been no actors, singers or even A-list socialites in sight, but at least Piquet gave an interesting performance - both on and off the track. And with the success of this year's race, perhaps next year's event will draw more A-grade names.

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