It’s Sunday evening as I type and I must confess I am elated. My man won, and spectacularly in my opinion. He drove magnificently; overtaking both Red Bulls, to well earned and thoroughly deserved victory. The crowd loved it and we screamed and whistled with the best of them.
I need to go back a few days though don’t I? We travelled to Heathrow Thursday morning in a quick and uneventful taxi journey. We dropped our bags at a line free T5 BA desk and made our way through security. We’d narrowly missed Jake and Eddie Jordan who also flew out of T5 that day. The airport was busy but manageable. Paul managed to get his new watchstrap adjusted (it looks really good, even if I do say so myself) and we browsed the designer stores. My only purchase was a charm from Links of London before we grabbed some breakfast. It was about 11:30 so a fry up was absolutely the order of the day. We didn’t actually go to the lounge as we spent our time in the shopping area. We eventually headed to our gate to and boarding was on time. The flight was full and as we’d hedged our bets by taking seats apart in the hope that someone would swap thus giving us our ideal combination Paul approached the guy next to him. He was a Brit, seemingly off to the F1, and swapped to the other window seat without question – we had our seats. The flight was smooth but we took a really high route over Greenland and down through the US to avoid a turbulent Atlantic. The flight was 10 hours so I amused myself with my iPad for most of it and Paul watched 3 movies. These were the Wedding Video, rubbish in his opinion, Batman, very good he says and Prometheus also rated very good by Paul “Barry Norman” Brennan. The food on the plane was mediocre. Paul had beef, which he describes as “OK” (I tried to get more out of him but no go). I had the cold chicken salad as the hot dishes really didn’t appeal. The chicken itself was nice but the salad was wilted and had odd components like grilled Mango!!! Afternoon tea was the usual on BA. 3 sarnies (prawn & mayo, cheese & tomato and chicken & rocket) and a hot scone with jam and cream. It was amusing watching the US patrons eat dry scone with no idea what the jam and cream were for.
We landed at 18:35, local time and got off the plane quick to get through immigration as we had a connecting flight. The immigration hall was just starting to fill and we got sent to the back of line 17. They were operating a system of lines at each desk and boy was 17 slow. I am not kidding, the guy took 5 to 10 minutes for each person. We saw those 20 to 30 people behind us in the main queue get though at other desks. The time was getting on and we started to worry about our next flight. Paul asked the queue attendant if we could move and she said we could join the back of any other queue. We then had the dilemma… see it through, with 3 people ahead or move to a queue of 5. We opted to move in the end and got through just before the guy who was in front of us in the previous queue. We hot footed to baggage control and got our cases then headed to the exit. Thankfully, the United check in desk was literally by the exit so we had plenty of time and checked in. We made our way through a very empty security and on to the gate for our internal flight; Houston to San Antonio. We had an hour to wait at the gate but boarding began on time and was very organised and swift. Paul had seat E21 and we had boarded at gate E21 which was printed in big letters on everyone’s boarding pass. You’ve guessed what happened next I’m sure…. Several passengers tried to huff him out of his seat insisting it was theirs; it said so on their boarding pass!! Paul politely pointed out that was the gate number and they each moved on somewhat embarrassed. We were also seated at an exit row and had to positively confirm to the flight attendant that we were willing and able to carry out the actions listed in the safety card in the event of an emergency. This didn’t quite work for the non-English speaking old lady next to me and she was promptly moved and swapped with someone more able!!
The flight was quick and we were on the ground by 9:50pm local time. Since Texas is 6 hours behind GMT we were definitely more than a little tired given we’d been up since 7am. We managed to get our bags quickly – mine was actually the first one off the plane which was a first in itself – and made our way to the Hertz shuttle bus. We narrowly missed one but another came along in 5 minutes and it only took about 5 minutes to get to the Hertz depot. As gold card holder our car was ready and waiting and our name was on a board to tell us which bay to go to. We got a silver Nissan (that’s Neesarn out here) Versa.
With trusty tom tom we got to our hotel (Hyatt Place) in about 20 minutes, after Paul munched his way through a Sonic burger and chips as he was hungry. It was 11:30 pm and we crashed out absolutely shattered.
We slept in on Friday until gone 10am as we needed to catch up on our sleep. We eventually headed out about midday and it was a sunny 68 degrees. We drove to downtown San Antonio to the river walk area. We walked along the river and to the Alamo. We got some pics although the cherry picker parked outside was a bit if a spoiler. We went into the main fort building, entry was free to this and the other buildings and grounds. I feel I should know more about the US historic place but Paul tells me Davy Crocket screamed like a girl when he was killed, what more do I need to know? ?
After the Alamo we needed to eat so headed into the shopping mall and to the food court. We opted for a philly cheese steak and curly fries – yum. We had a look around the shops (although can’t buy anything as we are at our 50lbs suitcase limit for our internal flight) before making our way around the corner to the Coyote Ugly bar (as in the movie). We sat outside and supped soft drinks. We were right on the river walk restaurant area and it was warm in the Texas sun.
We meandered back along the touristy river walk area towards where our car was parked. There were lots of young, formally dressed US Air Force men and women so we figured there must have been some sort of passing out parade.
We came back to our hotel and got changed for and early dinner. We’d spotted a Texas Roadhouse earlier so that was our selected destination. We got there just before the Friday night rush hour and managed to get a good booth table. Peanuts, sweet bread and obviously the perfect fillet steak – Texan beef is even more tender than Floridian I am sure. The meal was excellent and we came away very full. We headed back to the hotel for an early night as Saturday was our first GP day and we planned a very early start. We packed our things for the next morning and went to bed at 8pm!!!
The early night was the right thing to do as we got up at 6am really easily on Saturday. We managed to be on the road to Austin by 6:45 and with a really easy and traffic free journey got to the first COTA (Circuit of the Americas) signs in about 80 minutes. There was slight scary moment when we about 4 cars behind a coach as it turned onto the road down to the track. The coned off road was very narrow and the driver was clearly struggling. Despite taking it real slow he somehow managed to plough the back end of the coach into a traffic barrier. It ripped up the barrier and the back end of his vehicle. He stopped and that’s where we panicked. Being stuck whilst that was cleared would not be good. Whether the driver decided he didn’t care or whether his 50 odd F1 fan passengers applied some peer pressure I do not know but he suddenly decided to just carry on! The traffic management was certainly good around the track as we turned into the circuit, found car park F and parked, all within about 10 minutes. It was only about a 10 minute walk into the circuit so we were in by 8:15am.
Our first stop was the FanVison stand. Here we hired a TV type device that gives you commentary, TV footage, ride on board footage as well as all the relevant stats and figures. We took a quick look at the McLaren merchandise and then headed over to find our stand. We were at the far end of the turn 15 grandstand. We’d already seen plenty of places for ‘entrance only’ folk to get great vantage points with good views of the track so worth considering for the future. Our seats were row 13 so not too far back and row 1 really was trackside. The only downside was the fencing at trackside that was clearly going to impede photography. Our seats gave us a great view of the track from the end of the back straight (DRS zone) right through the chicane to turn 15. If it hadn’t been for the bridge to the right we’d have seen turn 3 and 4 as well.
We decided we’d watch free practice 3 and practice our photography. Sadly my camera is really not cut out for high speed sports but I still got a couple of shots none the less. Paul took a few shots but is yet to view them all. I’m sure he’ll have a couple to be proud of.
After practice we indulged in hot dogs and funnel cake and sat on a grass bank in the sun. After a brisk start at 8am it had become a nice day and being cloudless the sun was beating down.
We made our way back to our seats at midday for qualifying. Hamilton had put in some decent laps in practice and was at one point fastest but Vettel kept on pumping in even faster laps and was fastest in all 3 practices; by half a second on p3 which is colossal in F1 terms. It looked like pole was his for the taking and that this would be his race, the Circuit of the Americas would be his to dominate. Jenson lost power in Q2 and never made Q3 so it was all on Lewis – how close could he get to those Red Bulls? Quite close it transpires…two hundredths of a second behind Vettel and very nearly taking pole. He’d split the red bulls and yet again showed how mighty he is. Vettel fans watch out, it’s not over yet!
We’d seen on the COTA website that there were team signing sessions taking place in the afternoon with McLaren at 3:30. We figured there’d be a huge queue but thought we’d check it out anyway. There were loads of people already there and it was not even 2pm but there seemed to be no kind of queuing system. After wandering around and then finding a Marshall it transpired that you needed a wristband that were handed out that morning. We were gutted as we were probably there early enough to get one we just didn’t know that this was the system. With nothing else we wanted to do we left the circuit at about 2:30pm.
After a 90-minute journey back we chilled out in our room for an hour or so before going out for some dinner. We had spotted a Mexican just around the corner from our hotel all Pericos so decided to try that. I had fajita’s and Paul had enchiladas. It was ok but wouldn’t rush back to be honest.
We were planning another 6am start on Sunday so ate early and headed back to our hotel for another 8pm bedtime!
6am was relatively easy on Sunday too. I think the UK body clock is helping somewhat. We were out again by 6:45 and the journey was just as easy. We parked in almost the same spot as Saturday (freaky) and again were in the track by 8:15am. We decided that we’d take a wander around to the start finish straight. We walked past the expensive grandstands and at the end managed to get a good view of the grid. There were already ‘entrance only’ folk that had staked their claim to their spot. They’d obviously got in early but were rewarded as a result with a great view. We saw the VIP Paddock club seats and got some shots of the lights and the steep hill up to turn 1. I bought a Hamilton helmet key ring from a McLaren store on the way and proudly clipped it to my bag.
We meandered back to the central area and sat down on the grass. We had a good couple of hours before the drivers’ parade at 11:30 so sun bathed! It had once again become a really nice sunny day, so nice in fact that I am now sporting a red nose and Paul has a burnt neck! Paul tucked into a half-pound hot dog and I got my face painted with the F1 logo.
At about 11:15 we took our seats once more. The drivers’ parade was great with each drive being sat on the back of a classic convertible. Schumacher had a slight issue with his vintage Mustang so had to jump in with Kimi! We got some pics of the drivers and screamed and waved at Lewis and Jenson. There was lots of support for Sergio Perez with apparently almost a quarter of the fans said to be Mexicans. Apparently, the fan numbers were better than expected too. 65,000 on Friday, 85,000 on Saturday and today set to tip the 100,000 level.
After the drivers parade we saw a parachutist fly in with a huge American flag followed by a fly past consisting of an F16 and 3 other propeller aircraft that we couldn’t quite work out! There was also a Texas marching band and the obligatory national anthem before the race start.
The race got underway after the usual formation lap bang on time and being on the dirty side of the track Lewis lost a place to Webber. Ferrari had given Massa a tactical gear box change to force a 5 grid penalty and move Alonso up to 7th and the clean side of the track. It certainly worked as after a great start Alonso made it to 4th after turn 1. Jenson had a dreadful start, losing places to end up P16. We listened to the Sky commentary both days so enjoyed the familiar dulcet tones of Brundle and Crofty to guide us. Lewis certainly had the pace of the Red Bulls and we saw his overtake of Webber. The crowd were on their feet and he certainly had a lot of fans. The race unfolded with a fair amount of overtakes and battles, not least of all Lewis and Vettel. We thought he’d do it, then we figured 2nd was all he’d get. Then, on lap 42 he did it. We were on our feet again screaming – it was awesome. Vettel seemed a sore loser complaining about the overtake… but to everyone else it was an awesome move, outstanding driving and classic Lewis. Despite never getting more that 1.3 seconds ahead Lewis maintained his lead to a brilliant victory. An outstanding drive from a great world champion.
We watched the podium on the screen opposite us and revelled in the British National anthem. Martin Whitmarsh went up to get the constructor’s trophy; trophy’s incidentally designed and created by a Brit despite being designed to be recognisably American. We thought the Pirelli winners’ cowboy hats were a cool touch too.
We exited the stadium and made our way trough the crowds to return our FanVison set. There was a queue but we got though it in about 5 minutes. Pretty much everyone was leaving so we figured we would have to queue to exit. We got to the car and joined a line to get out. We moved nowhere for about 10 minutes and figured this could take some time. We saw a few vehicles, mainly 4 x4’s, taking a short cut through a ditch and to an alternative exit. After seeing one car make it Paul decided our Versa could do it. We picked our way through rows of queuing vehicles and headed for the ditch. A rear wheel drive truck ahead of us had already struggled and wheel spun so I was nervous but Paul held back then took a run up and floored it. We were through in seconds, no problem and thanked the Versa! We managed to then get out of that car park in about 10 minutes. There was a queue down to the circuit exit but it was moving and we eventually made it onto the highway at about 3:45pm.
The journey back was busy, traffic wise, but moving at a good pace. We made it back to within 3 miles of the San Antonio exits but then hit traffic. It was still moving and we got back to our hotel for 5pm. I washed my now smudged F1 logo off my face and we went straight out for dinner. We fancied Jack Daniels chicken so Paul found a TGI’s on t’internet and tom tom took us there (what did folks do before this technology?). The food was good and long awaited and was washed down with root beer, which we have drunk at every meal incidentally. I do wish they’d sell it back home.
We came back to our room about 7:30 and I’ve spent the last 2 hours typing this. I now need to pack ahead of tomorrow’s check out and flight to Orlando so I’ll save this for Paul to check over and post. Hope y’all enjoy now!