Greener Formula 1 travel diary 2010
11.12.2010
N after the summer break, the home race in Hockenheim is first. Before I book an overpriced hotel somewhere in the less glamorous Rhine-Neckar region, I decide to just spend the night at home. The 45 minute drive from Stuttgart via the autobahn is a stone's throw away from the traffic chaos races in Sao Paulo or Istanbul.
Umbrella becomes a constant companion
When Fortunately, if you work for auto motor und sport, you don't have to worry about a wheelchair. My Opel Insignia station wagon with 160 diesel hp, all-wheel drive and full equipment is the perfect vehicle for the short sprint to the racetrack. In the press car park on Thursday morning, however, the terrain characteristics are first asked. Continuous rain has turned the meadow into a field of mud.
Armed with an umbrella, we enter the press tent, where the next surprise is already waiting. My internet doesn't work. Somehow the WiFi network does not want to connect to my notebook. Even hastily summoned Chinese experts who speak no German but all computer languages cannot solve the problem. At least I can switch to one of the few seats with cable internet.
Almost all Germans at one go
The work is a little easier on Thursday than usual. As you may have already noticed, we offer the voices of all German Formula 1 drivers on every Grand Prix day. The big race will be canceled for the Hockenheim start. The FIA has invited Timo Glock, Michael Schumacher, Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel to the official press conference. The two missing Nico Hülkenberg and Nico Rosberg are on Friday.
However, I have another appointment on Friday. McLaren kindly invited me to watch free practice from the garage. Just in time for the Hockenheim race, the racing team is offering a new service for German fans, which I am supposed to present on our website. As PR man Steve Cooper explains to me, users can follow live telemetry data from the two cars on mclaren.com. In addition, parts of the radio traffic are now also translated into German.
Visit to McLaren
As a reminder of the visit, the photographer also takes a few pictures. Unfortunately, I don't notice that I am not putting my umbrella in very elegantlystuffed my pocket. Unfortunately, you can't do without rain protection even on Friday. Short showers keep the track conditions slippery. In the afternoon, Lewis Hamilton also falls victim to a lathe operator who promotes him to the gang. Stupid that I was a guest at McLaren in the first and not in the second training.
Vettel on pole
Saturday will be the big Vettel show. As I drive to the track, I notice that the former Schumi-Rotkäppchen have largely switched to the new Formula 1 generation. The colors of Red Bull dominate. When the future world champion just managed to take pole position, the joy was great.
My good mood suddenly died down when I wanted to drive home again in the evening. The non-working door opener is already making me suspicious. Just like in what felt like a stone age car, I have to unlock the car door with the key again. When trying to start the Rüsselsheim station wagon, the vehicle doesn't make a sound either. My horrified look falls on the light switch. It had switched it from 'automatic' to 'permanently on' in the morning, where it remained until this point. I hereby officially blame Opel for the misery, as the light did not come on in the morning despite the thick cloud cover. The vehicle did not emit a reminder tone when getting out of the car.
Fire brigade comes to the rescue
Of course, there is no jump starter cable in the car. In addition, most of the journalists in the parking lot who could bridge me are long gone. And who will help you in such an emergency? The fire department, of course. Fortunately, the station is just around the corner. A friendly rescuer was quickly found who got my damaged vehicle back on the road in just a few simple steps. With the promise to publish a picture of the hero of the day here, I say goodbye.
Unfortunately, my bad luck continued on Sunday. Who could have counted on the fact that a mega-jam had already formed in front of Hockenheim at 9:30 in the morning. It takes me an hour and a half from the motorway exit to the parking lot. Strangely enough, there was nothing going on on the three days before.
Ferrari mocks the spectators
The departure after the race is also delayed, but this is Ferrari's fault. Felipe Massa had given his team-mate Fernando Alonso the victory voluntarily. In such a way that the FIA commissioners also noticed. It was after midnight by the time the penalty was pronounced and all important information on the subject was obtained.
Colleague Michael Schmidt and I used the late drive home for a small comparison test of my insignia with his Citroen C5. The result: Both diesel station wagons are pretty much the same speed. At a late hour we need for them75 kilometers only 35 minutes.
