Behind the scenes at a grand prix – Pistunzen gives us the lowdown
They brought me to Monza on Friday, a day that have been long and boring.
So I set myself the task of finding fun stuff: first off I went for a nose around the team hospitality areas. I felt like I was walking into some kind of fine food fair rather than a car racing track: the place was coming down with delicious things to eat even though there wasn’t a drop of wine anywhere. For obvious reasons!
The really funny thing was that the more important the team, the more sumptuous the hospitality area. The first one I saw when I arrived was the Hispanica team which always starts from the back of the grid. They had a very elegant motorhome but much smaller than the set-up the likes of Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and, of course, Ferrari line out. We have two articulated trucks and basically build a small three-storey building that even has its own bathrooms. I also discovered that Alonso and Massa have their own little room on the second floor, a place they can go to get away from the media and relax a little before the rac. Facing it are the offices where the engineers and drivers get together for their famous strategy meetings. That’s a long way from the campsites my friends frequent in the summer, I can tell you. When I tried to get inside though, they slammed the door in my fact. That’s a pity because I could have given them some sound advice…Of course, I can’t blame them either. Strategies have to be secret and I am a bit of a gossip.
I also had great fun wandering around the stalls selling team gadgets. It felt like I was on chic Via Montenapoleone in the middle of Milan. The Ferrari one is all-red, naturally. A bit of yellow would go nicely there too if they were selling me as good luck charms. Over at the Pirelli stall, they were letting people try their hand at tyre changes. The poor fools’ efforts were laughable – it was rather too like what happens if my Panda gets a puncture at night and it takes me forever to change the wheel!
But there was a very enthusiastic air to it all and I had a great time. Just one thing annoyed me a bit: I put my sunglasses on and no one recognised me, so I didn’t get to sign as much as a single autograph. Next year I’ll be better prepared.
PUBLISHED IN Pistunzen's blog BY Pistunzen ON 09.17.2011
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
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