One of the talking points of the weekend has been what happens to the circuit and it’s wonderful air-conditioned facilities next week. And the week after that. And the months before we roll around again next year. The fear was all this would be mothballed until next November. It turns out this is not the case. One of our number spoke to the Paddock Manager here (he used to run logistics for the Red Bulletin when it was a F1 magazine) who said that they’ll be far from bored. There will be other series and formulae running and that this race is just the start rather than the finale. So not the white elephant some of the harsher critics would have us believe.

It is, however the finale of our season and with it comes the end of term parties and events. BMW held theirs to say Servus to the Paddock Let’s hope we see most, if not all, of them again in some capacity next year. It was held outside their hospitality villa on the edge of the harbour and very well attended. Although the gentleman trying to enjoy his relaxing hot tub on the yacht immediately beside didn’t look overly impressed that it was his berth that was adjacent to the party. But he was one serious dude. Not only did his yacht have a hot tub, it also had its own kestrel.    

Our team gathered on our roof terrace for our own private get-together. Hats off to Christian (not that one, the head of catering…) and our catering staff for decking the terrace out Arabic-style and the food and beverages they provided. Actually, hats off to them for the excellent work they’ve done all season for both the team and our guests, they do a top job.

The third night of live music at “Ferrari World” saw Kings Of Leon take to the stage, and very good they were too by all accounts. Tomorrow night fellow countrymen Aerosmith bring the musical entertainment to a close. While the concept of nightly concerts at races is a fine one, they do tend clash with the Paddock schedules. Still it was better than Singapore when ZZ Top had to compete with the noise and distraction of cars on track.

This isn’t (obviously) from the gig, but they did play it:

 

Tomorrow we fire up the RB5s for the final time in 2009. While there is an end of term air about the place in general, what is absent in our part of the Paddock is a lack of determination for tomorrow. We want both drivers to end on a high and on that podium.

Add a comment