Arriving about half way through FP1, the field we were sent to park in meant our nearest entrance to the circuit was at Woodcote. The F1 cars about as loud as I was expecting, but that's not a problem for me. The GP2, GP3 and Porsches were definitely louder, but whereas the GP2's V8 screams and wails at the top of their lungs, the V6 Turbo whooshes, I've always liked the sound of the this new era of Formula 1 and I have to say, they sound even better in the flesh, except the Honda which sounds broken; irreparably broken.
Heading clockwise, we set off walking around the circuit, meaning the first time I saw an F1 car on track was at Copse. A mightily impressive corner at the best of times and I cannot express enough how unbelievably fast the F1 guys take that corner. Even the Manor Marussia looked ridiculously fast through it. The speed is immense and the TV cameras don't do justice to the ability these cars have.
Next up came one of the greatest combination of corners on the planet, Maggots, Becketts and Chapel. It takes an F1 car a matter of seconds to get from Copse to Maggots, but on foot, it's a few minutes. The entry into Maggots is mind-boggling, the sparks flying, the throttle hard down before a little lift to get the car prepared for Becketts, all the while planning the good exit out of Chapel onto the Hangar straight, the cars looked amazing through there and took my breath away as they flew past me at a couple hundred miles an hour.
The Hangar straight is a long one, really long. Like 30 minutes walk long. All the while hearing the whooshes and the whistles zooming past was really nice, very surreal almost.
We headed for Stowe, our destination for the weekend. What a view that is, you can see from Becketts all the way around to Club, it's brilliant and again, the speed through there is jaw-dropping.
Fast forward to Sunday, a packed grandstand was a given but the different type of people there was inspiring. Young, old, men, women from all across the country. There were an old-couple sat in front of us, head to toe in Ferrari gear, and quite obviously Italian. Travelling over the continent to support a team? That is commitment.
I actually quite liked them being there, their red gear was so bright the bugs were attracted to them more.
As for the race, well what a race!
We had it all, the Merc's getting jumped at the start, some silly accidents, some overtaking and some mixed weather.
I won't go into the race too much, just because what I've written is too long as it is and I'm bored of writing now.
Cheerio,
Stevie.
