03/11/2011
My Race Weekend offers an insight into the daily working lives of the race team personnel who travel to each stop on the F1 calendar. We spoke to Account Manager Fleur Foster, who tells us what the weekend in India had in store for her…
I was prepared for the culture shock – but actually nothing could have prepared me enough!
India being a brand new Grand Prix and facilities, it was necessary to anticipate and prepare for all eventualities. Therefore I flew out a day earlier than I usually would. I arrived in New Dehli late on Tuesday night. The drive from the airport to the hotel was my first experience in India and the sights were fascinating and rather humbling.
First day at the track: Wednesday
Today was a late start as I arrived late the previous night. After a lot of talking and gestures, we managed to find our bus driver to take us to the track. Once he had taken us on a detour we managed to get to the track after some shocking sights on the road! As I only started this season, all the tracks are new to me, so I always need some time to get comfortable and I always take a walk around to suss out where everything is.
Thursday
Renault always do special paddock visits with local media and local Renault employees on Thursdays. They had a full day in the paddock with VIP treatment by the Renault Sport. They were taken to all the garages with cars powered by Renault and given a tour. I was responsible for the tour of the LRGP garage which tended to be more thorough, and I tried to get a driver to come and have a chat with the media/local Renault personnel and have a quick photo session. The group had lunch at our hospitality because Renault think our food is the best! In the afternoon they got to walk around the paddock, asked questions and soaked up the paddock atmosphere.
Friday
When I got to the track, I had my mandatory English breakfast (our caterers are that good that we get a full English whatever the country we visit). I was then ready to greet the 40 Renault guests I was expecting in paddock club. During the first practice session, I met up with my sponsors to plan the weekend ahead. We went over the various guests we were expecting and decided on a schedule for garage visits and driver meet and greets. At 12.30, the first driver appearance was in paddock club. I did a Q&A with Vitaly and got him to sign autographs for the guests. They were all very keen to get a photo with him and an autograph! As soon as that appearance was over, I headed to the garage where pit lane walk was taking place. During pit lane walk, I allowed guests in to our garage area and explained the runnings of the garage and answered their numerous questions.
Saturday
No time for breakfast today, as my guests in paddock club started arriving when it was served. I started the day by taking some Renault VIP guests to the garage for a tour. Then I went to pit lane walk where paddock club guests get the opportunity to walk along the pit lane and look into all the garages. I met some more Renault guests and explained the steering wheel to them, and also showed a keen Indian F1 fan around the garage. During the 3rd practice session, I took some guests into the garage to watch the mechanics hard at work. I also accompanied some guests into the garage viewing area during qualifying. This is a unique opportunity for our VIP guests who get very close to all the action. They absolutely loved it and didn’t want to leave! After qualifying, I interviewed Bruno Senna in paddock club. The guests were all very keen to get an autograph and a photo. Once all this was done, it was time for some lunch. Once paddock club closed, I went on my traditional Saturday evening track run with the mechanics. India was most definitely the hardest track I have ever run, and that was purely down to the air (or lack of!). Running in the smog was not a nice experience! I like to run the tracks as it gives me the chance to see close up what the track looks and feels like. Now when the engineers talk about a certain corner, I know just what they mean!
Sunday
Renault had some VIP’s in the paddock today. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan and Eric Besson, French minister of Industry were hosted by Renault Sport F1. I arranged for the VIP’s to be greeted by Eric Boullier, Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna. They were accompanied by a lot of media. They did a tour of the garage and took some photos in front of the car. This kind of meet and greet is very important for us to maintain strong relationships between us and our partner. Then I could go to paddock club, to round up another select group of guests to take them into the garage. Today’s driver appearance in paddock club was Vitaly, so I thought of some new questions to ask him. Again every guest wanted autographs and photos with him. Another pit lane walk took place before the race start. During the race I took a select few VIP’s into the garage to see the action for real. Guests love this unique opportunity.
Once the race was over, it was time to say good bye to all the guests. Everything in our office needed to be packed up and either sent back to the factory or forwarded on to the next race, in Abu Dhabi. The paddock soon became chaos with fork lift trucks rushing around moving freight boxes…
Credit: Lotus Renault GP (www.lotusrenaultgp.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment