To the slight irritation of my wife, I have been a fan of F1 since doing my tour of duty in Iraq with the Royal Navy in 2008. I used to find the sport (controversial to say that I know) extremely tedious and boring, the droning sound of the cars going round and round, I mean what is appealing about that? I became acquainted with the sport out of boredom and a desire to share some social time with my shorebased shipmates. My sympathies were almost immediately with Lewis Hamilton, then driving for McLaren and my dislike of his evil Machiavellian teammate, Fernando Alonso. I found his somewhat naive honesty and behaviour. Anyway, after many seasons watching Hamilton and his ups and downs, I have been a follower since.
Hamilton has matured and is much like the other drivers in terms of ambition and drive but I still believe that he is a fair player at heart and that is why I am a supporter. An decided to get me a ticket to my first Grand Prix, I cannot remember if I used any persuasion or not. This is my blog of the weekend and experiences of the event.
Friday 25th August - First and Second Practice
Prior to the event I did my research, booked my parking space and decided to take a packed lunch and my camera. I was in the main stand opposite the pit lane at the La Source hairpin end of the track. I had no idea what to expect, just that the traffic would be busy and it would be noisy and full of fumes.
The first thing to point out is that although I booked my parking, I ended up in three different car parks some distance apart on the weekend. No one scanned the ticket, as warned on the printout, so presumably anyone could turn up with something that looked like a parking ticket and then get themselves parked.
I set out around 07.25 from Leuven and got to Spa around 09.30. I rather annoyingly drove past the queue of traffic on the slip road and snuck in towards the end. Junction 10 was the exit and there were a large number of marshals and police officers directing traffic, in what was clearly a well drilled routine, to the relevant areas. It was not too much of a hassle to get in, which was deceptive as both Saturday and Sunday were considerably busier than Friday.
At this stage the other thing to highlight is that, understandably, the majority of visitors are complete and utter petrol heads. The range of international vehicle registrations along with the ratio of twin and quadruple exhausts provided enough evidence of the character of their drivers. This was to provide some frustration on the last day when trying to leave the farmers field (car park) with any kind of order and respect.
So upon arrival in the car park I grabbed my bags and started to follow the crowd through the woods and down towards the loud growing sounds of engines. You could not see the track at that point and it was a lovely walk in the woods, save for the out of place engine noise. I arrived and began queuing at the Steyr Gate, this is the main gate that leads to the F1 Village and associated food, merchandising and fleecing area. Your ticket is scanned and your bags are searched, the first of many searches and checks. It is worth saying that it can be easy to lose your ticket if you have not got a special holder or keep it safely secured in a pocket. I picked one up for a lady who had not noticed that she had dropped it. Imagine if you are drinking as well.
On the subject of drinking, I was alone and therefore I did not drink alcohol at all. The choice, from what I could see, is pretty poor. Heineken and Johnny Walker, two sponsors of the event. For a county that has a reputation for quality beers, it is a bit of a let down to find such poor beer on sale. However, everything is overpriced as you would expect and the sponsors get to dominate and pay their respective fees to the FIA. I succumbed to the merchandising and bought a golfing umbrella and Hamilton t-shirt. I also took a ride in a F1 simulator which cost an extortionate 15 euros for 2 minutes of a simulated lap of Silverstone (with others in the module).
What I did not appreciate is the amount of walking that I would be doing both to and from the car parks and around the trackside. Friday was relatively boring so I used that day to explore the F1 Village and to watch the practice sessions. The practice sessions, for me, are much of a muchness. I left before the end of second practice and headed home, beating the exit from the car parks. There is a full programme with the Formula 2 and Porches, so for those enthusiasts it is worth staying.
It seemed surreal that I was there, so often having seen things on the TV. I spotted TV personalities and I could see the better end of the pit lane with the Ferraris, Red Bulls and Mercedes teams. You did not get to see the team principals or drivers (save for their helmet covered heads). I took the opportunity to get some photos in and get a feel for what I could or could not reach with my camera.
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