If you think the job of the girls in Red Bull Austria's La Formula Una (Formula One) programme is just to look pretty at the race tracks, you'd be right. But it takes spunk and verve to make it as an F1 girl too. For every Grand Prix (GP), 10 glamorous F1 female fans, dubbed Unas for short, are chosen by 'mystery judges' to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to catch the race VIP-style. Of each bevy of 10, one winner gets to visit Brazil for the F1 season finale in Sao Paolo.

Applications for the Formula Una hunt at the Singapore Grand Prix in September is open till late August. Download the application form at www.redbullformulauna.com

Urban went along for the ride when the special 10 revved up the party at last week's Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. Here's a first-hand look at what it takes to be a Formula Una girl.

DAY 1: Champagne, followed by hair and make-up by professionals.

DAY ONE, MARCH 20

9.30am: On the coach ride to Kuala Lumpur, the girls, aged 18 to 28, start making friends. There are students, models and four suitcase girls from Channel 5's Deal Or No Deal game show among them. There are also a 26-year-old pharmaceuatical sales executive and a 28-year-old Chinese-American here on a working stint in the health-care industry.

It's a four-day trip, but their large trolley suitcases probably has clothes to last them two weeks.

Student Nora Shereen, 21, winner of the Ford Supermodel Search Singapore contest in 2003, reveals she has packed a 'good 15 outfits'.

It's great to know that these girls take fashion seriously, although spunk counts more than looks for this contest.

Singapore's Next Top Model, anyone?

3.30pm: From girls next door to VIPs - that's what the Unas become the second they step foot into the Pacific Regency Hotel, where they're staying for the next three nights.

Champagne and a specially designed Tiffany & Co. pendant await each of them at the hotel's rooftop bar, Luna.

Then it's time to get dolled up by professional hair and make-up artists for a photo shoot for Red Bulletin, Red Bull's F1 publication.

8pm: Is bull-strength alcohol tolerance a prerequisite for an Una?

Going by the list of thirst-quenchers for the night, it sure seems like it: wine at posh restaurant Marketplace for dinner, champagne on the restaurant's rooftop and then free-flow vodka and peach liqueur with - what else - Red Bull back at Luna at the hotel.

By 2am, the girls - most of whom are still sober - are ready to hit the sack. I hear the organisers are surprised at how disciplined the girls are. I am, too.

DAY 2: The girls are on time - for once - for their shopping trip.

DAY TWO, MARCH 21

11am: Save for a few complaints about the scorching sun, the Unas are raring to start their all-terrain-vehicle adventure that Red Bull has organised for them at Kampung Kemensah, a village outside KL.

Deal Or No Deal girls Lutfiah Abdul Jabbar, 25, and Danielle Menon, 18, earn special mention for rescuing fellow contestants Yu Wen Chih, 28, and Sheralyn Jega, 19, from almost swerving off into a ravine.

It's like a scene straight out of Indiana Jones when the duo leap off their vehicle to grab hold of the back of the other car as it veers too close to the edge.

Catfight? These girls are more like your friendly Duracell bunnies.

6pm: For the first time on the trip, the girls are all on time.

The event? A shopping spree at new shopping mall Pavilion in the Bukit Bintang shopping belt.

If the Top Shopper title was at stake, this would be a tough fight as all emerged with good buys within 90 minutes.

Their spoils for the evening: cosmetics from The Make-Up Store, shoes and accessories from local brands such as Vincci and a pit stop at the uber-cool Juicy Couture boutique.

11pm: It's probably the biggest test the girls have faced so far - rubbing shoulders with managers from Red Bull Racing, one of the two F1 teams that Red Bull Austria owns, at chi chi bar Heritage Mansion.

After all, the girls have been told that they are being appraised by 'mystery judges' throughout the trip. The hunt for a winner among them to attend the November F1 grand finals in Brazil is in full swing.

They are more preoccupied with snapping Kodak moments and guzzling Red Bull vodka at first.

But the competitive streak soon kicks in as they start schmoozing - you never know who's waiting to be impressed.

DAY 3: The F1 girls are impressed by the fast cars at the garage.

DAY THREE, MARCH 22

10.30am: It's their first time at the Sepang International Circuit, but the girls slip into their roles with surprising ease.

They strike a pose whenever film crew and cameramen approach as they tour the massive stadium. Jega, who took part in The New Paper's New Face search last year, looks particulaly chic in a brown playsuit and black stilettoes.

Visiting the Red Bull garage - a privilege usually reserved for government officials and bona fide celebs - is a big deal, and the girls know it. Their cries of 'oh my goodness' and 'wow' pepper the entire 15-minute visit.

4pm: Tasked with interviewing Red Bull drivers David Coulthard and Mark Webber for the Red Bull Racing website, the girls come up with fun, interesting questions and conduct the interviews like pros.

My favourite poser: Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?

While Webber remains stone-faced during his session, Coulthard warms up to the girls and chats heartily with them.

11.45pm: The long day at the tracks doesn't seem to have sapped their energy as the Unas go wild at KL Zouk to the sounds of American indie deejay Steve Aoki.

Forget the race to be F1 queen. For tonight, the Unas just want to be dancing queens.

DAY 4: It's race day and the excitement is palpable.

DAY FOUR, MARCH 23

11.45am: D-Day dawns. Considering how well the girls have clicked in the last three days, one would expect more cheers when Lutfiah is named the winner. But a few fallen faces show that some had their heart set on the crown.

Cheer up, girls. Your Red Bull experience in KL has been prize enough, no?

3pm: The F1 race proper begins with Felipe Massa from Ferrari in the lead. The Unas, perched on their grandstand seats, fiddle with their phones and chat among themselves occasionally. But braving the 40 deg C heat to watch cars whizz by is no easy feat.

Meanwhile, Lutfiah and 18-year-old student Jamie Frankland, who won a photography contest held during the trip, get to watch the race from the garage decked out in special La Formula Una race suits - a first in La Formula Una Sepang history.

5pm: Nothing much seems to have changed as the girls chat like schoolgirls on a field trip on the coach ride back to Singapore. Time to return to reality. What a ride.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times on Mar 27, 2008.