F1 - Day 1

Formula 1

Day 1

The much awaited Formula 1 (Fone) weekend finally arrived last weekend.  Having purchased a full package gave me four days of racing to look forward to.  Unfortunately the event doesn’t occur on a long weekend so that in itself presented some issues as how to attend when I had work on two of the days.  So some scheming was called for.

                                                                                                                       

Thursday dawned bright and clear and hot.  The first event was the pit walk which was to take part at 2pm.  Gates opened at 12 noon with queuing for the walk starting at 1.30pm. 

At 10.45 am I left work, feeling unwell.  I raced home in a taxi, showered and changed into shorts and a very light cotton top.  Grabbing my cap, glasses and two large bottles of water I headed downstairs to meet a friend who had a rental car and had offered to drive me.  In exchange he got to experience the pit walk as the teenager was at school and it would be an even bigger hassle for him to attend.

We arrive at Yas Island, the venue for the event.  Large signs direct us to our assigned car parking area.  Or so we thought.  We drove, and drove, and drove.  As chief navigator, several times I thought we’d missed the turn off but blue W’s kept appearing.  Finally we are directed into our car park.  What a mission.  Much laughter occurs.  So much for being there early!

I have to say that they ‘do’ events well here.  After parking we walk a few metres to the waiting line of buses.  These are directed by Emirates and run on time.  The bus takes us a short route through a tunnel to the track, dropping us at the main gate.

Security is tight and we make our way through airport type scanners with guards everywhere.  Our bags, hats & glasses are put through the x-ray machine while we pass through the metal detector.  As you can imagine this is a slow process as men remove belts, shoes, etc and women take off jewellery.  As is normal for this country, women have their own line manned by Emirate women.

One aspect which I didn’t like was the confiscation of my water.  It was hot with the sun beating down on us.  However, as we entered the grounds we were given free water.  What a great touch. 

This day was a wonderful opportunity to view the attractions on show.  It reminded me of the first day of the air-show in Blenheim when the crowds were less so you had a good chance to look at things and try out the various displays.

My disaster was flying the Etihad plane.  ‘Don’t fly with me,’ should be my new slogan.  I crashed it dramatically.  Much to the amusement of the onlookers.  I can only say I’m glad it was the first day and not the next with a huge audience.

We made our way to the queue, which was already long, for the pit lane walk.  As we stood in the searing heat, more free water was handed out to those in line.  A little touch that went a long way to making the day more memorable.

At two precisely, the queue began moving as they opened the gates.  When my turn arrived I was overawed to be standing on the track between the two main grandstands.  As we slowly made our way along the pits we viewed drivers, crews and cars.  We had a first hand look at the instrument stations that the crews man during the race.  These sit alongside the track in front of the pits. 

As I wandered I snapped photographs of many famous names.  The heat down on the track was oppressive and I could feel the rivelets of sweat running down my back.

The walk didn’t take that long as you had to keep moving to a certain degree.  My friend had been out on a Tuesday night when the track is open for walking, running or biking around so I may do that at some stage. 

As there was still time to get the teenager from his school, which is reasonably close to the track, we headed over there and picked him and a friend up and headed back into town for a cold beer at Le Meridan.  My friend’s wife and son met us there then we went to a nearby Lebanese restaurant for a meal.