My F1 Travels took me to the "Home of the Tifosi". Nestled in a town to the north of Milan the Iconic track of Monza hosted the Italian Grand Prix from 6th September to 8th September 2013.
The Lotus F1 Team had their Private Suite ( for Hospitality ) to entertain guests and sponsors and what would ensue would be 3 hectic days!!
The Atmosphere was amazing as the Ferrari Faithfuls unfurled huge flags of the Prancing Horse and sang chants in Italian.
The Lotus F1 Hospitality area too was abuzz with activity on all 3 days.
As always, this post is a continuation of the Series : "A Gallery of Memories" Let us relive those moments!!
Friday is the day of Mr. Davide Valsecchi! As always his friendly demeanour is endearing! He loved being at his Home Race!
Friday is usually a less crowded day in the Paddock and one always gets the chance to get some nice clicks!
Mark Slade is one guy who keeps a low profile but does his job efficiently. It is no surprise that Mark was Kimi Raikkonen's Race Engineer at McLaren and returned to partner him at Lotus F1 after their partnership was temporarily broken during the Finn's Time at Ferrari. He is one guy that Kimi seems to be comfortable conversing with over a race weekend.
A Moment with the Busy Mark :
I have some great friends in the Team and they are as important as the Pilots :
Thank you Francois Puentes and Oliver Anderson!
I missed Team Pit-Stop Practice on Saturday Morning in Germany ( thanks to traffic ) but this time I had no intentions of not making it in time. Saturday Morning gave me a rare opportunity though, A Photo Op with Alan Permane ( Lotus F1 Trackside Operations Director ), Ciaron Pilbeam ( Lotus F1 Chief Race Engineer ), Paul Seaby ( Lotus F1 Team Manager ) & Ayao Komatsu ( Romain Grosjean's Race Engineer ).
Ciaron was fantastic and very welcoming. He was loving the challenge of pushing Lotus up the Grid, just like his stint at Red Bull Racing until last season.
No Private Suite Hospitality is complete without the appearance of a certain Sir Jackie Stewart!! Entertaining as ever, Sir Jackie took us through a time machine talking about F1 in his time and what it is now. He also stressed the need for Sponsorships for the team to pump in the necessary finances to move up the grid!
Sharing Screen-space with the Maestro :
During the Pit-Lane Walk I got the time to roam around in the Paddock. Bumped into loads of people but could get a moment only with Anthony Davidson who was busy setting up the Sky-Pad!
The Guests soon welcomed Romain Grosjean! The Smiling Frenchman talked about his season so far and his chances for this weekend.
Romain was surprised to see the scroll on which I asked his autograph. What did it contain? I shall reveal soon!!
Loved his look though!
Sunday saw the arrival of the Man, the Iceman Kimi Raikkonen! The Line for autographs was huge and my chance never came. However I shall have more opportunities this season, so chin up!
The Final Pit Lane Walk allowed me to grab an autograph of another sportsman who plies his trade on two wheels - Dani Pedrosa. Have been a big fan of the Honda Repsol Team since the Mick Doohan days so meeting one of their top riders was a pleasant surprise. The Moto GP race was held the following week in Misano ( wish I had known )
I could also get a couple of photos with the Replica Helmet of Kimi Raikkonen :
The Race didn't get us a great result but it was a great day nevertheless! I made new friends and had a fantastic weekend!!
The Lotus F1 Team Personnel who welcomed, hosted and entertained us ( some are missing though )
A Big Thank you to Anne-Charlotte Remy and Oliver Anderson for all the help with the Italian GP arrangements!
A Special Thank you to Oliver Anderson, Anita Nyers, Fleur Foster, Anne-Charlotte Remy, Luca Mazzocco, Francois Puentes, Frederic Garcia & Veronica Sassella for welcoming me and being so hospitable!!
More, Coming Soon!!