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Paddock Club Diaries - Belgian GP 2015 - Day 2

Saturday is a very important day on an F1 Weekend.  Teams run Qualifying Simulations and ready themselves for Qualifying for the race on Sunday.

The Day starts early with team pitstop practice and I wanted to be there.


Enroute to the Circuit :


Some Exotic Cars enroute :


Shots from the Saturday Morning Pit Lane Walk :


Shots of the Podium with the GoPro Hero4 Black :


Shots of the Scuderia Ferrari Garage :


Selfie Time in the Garage :


The Pit Lane walk got over and I met Mr. Mattia Binotto, Power Unit Director of Scuderia Ferrari.


The Paddock on Saturday Morning :


View from the Suite :


The GP3 session underway :


Once GP3 got over it was time for the Free Practice 3 session. Red Bull Pit Ball full with personnel :


Shot from FP3 :


Scuderia Ferrari F1 in FP3 :


Lewis Hamilton came to the fore and set the fastest time of the session from team-mate Nico Rosberg & Sebastian Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen was 4th fastest and everything looked perfect going into Qualifying.


Post FP3, it was time for some lunch :


Before the Final Pit Lane walk of the day, the Paddock Club is visited by many drivers. I had the rare privilege of meeting Felipe Massa!!


Shots from the Pit Lane Walk :


GoPro Photos :


Qualifying got underway and as always the slowest 6 cars are eliminated in Q1.

Shots from Q1 :


Scuderia Ferrari F1 in Q1 :


Chequered Flag for Q1 :


Lewis Hamilton was the quickest in Q1. Vettel and Raikkonen were P6 & P7 respectively.



Q2 began and Raikkonen suffered gearbox trouble which brought an end to his qualifying. I was so shattered! A promising weekend down the drain again! As Kimi headed back to the pits, I was invited by Ferrari to be in the garage and watch the rest of the Qualifying.

A Few shots from Q2 :


I returned only after Qualifying got over. Lewis Hamilton was on pole from Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas. A mistake by Vettel dropped him down to 9th. It had been a very poor qualifying session for Ferrari.


Post the session we were joined by Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari F1 Club :


Video Link :


It was also time for the start of the GP2 Feature Race.

The grid being readied :

Shot from the GoPro :


Cars rolling out for the Formation Lap :


Video Link to the Formation Lap Start :

Driving to the Bus Stop Chicane on the Formation Lap :


Lights out and the GP2 Feature Race is a go :


Video Link :


Lap 1 of the GP2 Feature Race ( Video Link ) :



Daniel De Jong suffered a heavy crash in his accident with Pierre Gasly through Blanchimont. The Race ran under the Safety Car for a lengthy period.


Safety Car Periods ( Video Link ) :


The Race underway again :


Video Link :


Shots from the Furthest part of the track :


The GP2 Feature Race was soon followed by the GP3 race. However I didn't stick around for the same.

Returning to my Hotel in Masstricht :


It was a bad Saturday for Scuderia Ferrari as a whole. The poor Qualifying Positions meant a long race on Sunday. But Sunday is what mattered! We were still optimistic. We had to be!

Once again, a Big Thank you to Edge Global Events for ensuring a hassle free process for the weekend.

A Big Thank you to Scuderia Ferrari, The Ferrari F1 Club and its Hosts for the kindness and graciousness shown to me on Saturday specially with the time in the Garage during Qualifying!

A Special Mention of praise about the abilities of the GoPro Hero4 Black with the LCD BacPac & Wifi Remote.

Highly Recommended!

The Sony HX 400V Cybershot Camera was instrumental in helping me get brilliant shots of the cars!

The Sunday Diary coming up..soon!