It’s hard to describe a day so completely satisfying, exhausting, and fun. But, we’ll try.
We set out to get to the track well ahead of the noon start time. We were shooting to get off the metro at 10 am and beat that by half an hour. It’s a good half hour or so walk from the metro stop to our grandstand. We got there and camped out by our favorite shady tree. Since it was a sunny day we figured we should manage our sun exposure as much as the drivers would have to manage their tires. So we bopped up to the stands to watch the drivers parade and then bounced back for another 25 minutes of shade before the pit lane opened at 11:30. It was a nice touch having the drivers ride on the decks of vintage Austin Healys and the like, rather than the flatbed truck we’ve seen in pictures from some races.
When the pit lanes opened the cars were quickly fired up and taken to the grid. Mechanics had lots of gear on the starting grid. It seems even busier than when you see it on TV since on TV you typically see a car or two at a time, but we could see the packed field of 24 cars and all their attendants.
Just as the teams and drivers were doing their final prep, the crowd was too. Potty runs, hydration, camera checks: the crowd was happy and excited and the whine of the engines revved us up, too.
The first ten laps of the race were a wonderful collaborative chaos as we all tried to sort out the position changes, staring at the big TV, waiting to see who was in front as they came back around and watching the challenges on turn one. We called out questions and status changes and clapped for each pass, no matter who was doing the overtaking, though Webber, Alonso and Schumacher seemed to be crowd favorites.
Other memories: Hamilton and Alonso drag racing out of the pits right in front of us, Richard Branson enjoying a pit walk, Massa’s Ferrari chasing two Force India cars to no avail, Michael being Michael and pressing Massa into the wall, McLaren running to the wall to great Lewis, the podium, the champagne spray, the drop, and the Polish fans outside the Renault pit chanting for “Robert,Robert” long after the race was over.
You must go to an F1 race.
This post was written by
Jim – who has written 327 posts on UniBrain Trust.
Jim is the curator of UniBrain Motorsports, our resident photographer and the only one in the family to shoot a perfect 25. He enjoys eating Nadya's cooking and tries his best to stay out of her way while in the kitchen.
Sounds like a wonderful day and in the final pic you look like two VERY happy people.
This is so cool. I’m so jealous. Thanks for sharing. Did I say that I was so jealous?
OK, I am so jealous also. I can just about hear how happy you both are.