Monaco is not only the most unique race on the calendar because of the location — through the streets of this extraordinary ancient city — it is also the only race of the season where nothing happens on Friday. First practice sessions are on Thursday, Friday is a down day, and we swing back into action on Saturday.
I have always come to the circuit to work anyway on Friday, often to interview drivers or other team members who happen to be around, as it can be one of the most productive days for a journalist. Usually, however, there’s a feeling of emptiness, a distinctive lack of buzz compared to the usual atmosphere, as if time suddenly comes to a halt over a Grand Prix weekend. You have to constantly shake yourself to realize that it is not a Saturday (after the practice of the previous day).
It is not only the denizens of the paddock who are conspicuously absent on Fridays, but also the public. There is a little track action — a GP2 race today, for instance, won by Romain Grosjean — but the public seems to consider the day better spent at the beach.
Today, however, the public has turned up in droves. Outside the fence on the harbor that separates the paddock from the docks was lined with fans wanting to catch a glimpse of F1 people who showed up today. I wondered if this was a consequence of the economic downturn and people looking for a different, perhaps cheaper, way to get a taste of the F1 atmosphere at this most luxurious of races.
The Red Bull Energy Station is the only F1 “motor home” located outside that fence — it is too big to fit in the paddock — and the 20-second walk from the paddock door to the Energy Station took several minutes in mid-afternoon because the crowd was so thick. (In the Energy Station earlier, I saw Sebastien Buemi watching the GP2 race.) Fans were taking photos of Sebastian Vettel and Bernie Ecclestone, when they had a word together.
Comente