Sky F1's Rachel Brookes gives us some behind-the-scenes stories from the Chinese and Bahrain race weekends
Wednesday 26 April 2017 08:25, UK
I arrived late on Wednesday evening into Shanghai, others had been on an earlier flight and were ready to leave and go into the city so it was a quick turnaround and out into a cab.
One of the crew was getting married the weekend after China so it was a drink to see off his single life I guess. En route, the production coordinator and I tried to find a shop we wanted to go to but got lost and with neither of us speaking the language, we instead got a tour of the city.
It takes a good hour to get from our hotel to the city of Shanghai and, as a result, we tend to go straight to a restaurant and not move about much. So this time it was nice to see a bit more of the city before eventually catching up with the rest of the crew.
The smog, or fog or mist or whatever it is they call it, means that we don't get a clear view of any of the great sights but you get an idea of what is there on a clear day. I managed to last a few hours before I headed back to the hotel, jet lag kicking in along with the knowledge it will take at least an hour to get back.
One year a couple of our guys were in a cab that couldn't find the hotel and didn't know where to go. After four hours, the driver just stopped on a motorway and they tried to explain where they needed to be. Even with the hotel address, directions to the address that the hotel had kindly written out and GPS on my phone, our driver still took a wrong turn and ended up going in the wrong direction on the motorway. Its one of the quirks you just accept about China.
A couple of years ago, Damon, Johnny and I were in a taxi coming back from Shanghai to our hotel when the driver fell asleep at the wheel, on the motorway, in the fast lane. In Chinese taxis, the driver sits in a thick, perspex cocoon type thing so you have to speak quite loudly if you need to.
We were approaching a broken down car up ahead and the driver obviously couldn't see it with his eyes firmly shut, Johnny and Damon couldn't see it as they were sitting directly behind the driver and his cocoon, so it was left to me to raise the alarm.
I started shouting and eventually Damon and Johnny realised what was going on and we all banged on the perspex just in time for the driver to wake up and swerve around the stationary car. This year, understandably, was the first time I had got in a taxi in China since.
On Thursday, I sat down with Antonio Giovinazzi as he was deputising again for Pascal Wehrlein. We had set everything upon plenty of time and were just waiting for him. But when he arrived and sat down on the bench at the back of the team's hospitality unit, it started raining. It was too heavy to persevere so we moved back under cover and began again. I thought he came across well and after his performance in Australia was hoping he would have another good weekend but sadly it wasn't to be.
I wear a fitness band at the moment that I got given for Christmas and it measures sleep too. I checked it on Friday morning and it said I slept for 6 hours, but was restless for 5 of them! Not the confirmation I wanted to wake up to.
I then tried to doze on the bus journey to the track which can take anything between 30 minutes to an hour. However, that is easier said than done as being in a vehicle in China is scary.
As it was on Friday night after the F1 show, Simon, Johnny and I got the train back to our hotel. I think every Grand Prix circuit should be on a train line. It was so easy and so quick, which was a good job as I was feeling pretty rubbish by this point and went straight to bed when I got back to the hotel.
I don't know what it is about China but everyone gets ill. Lots gets blamed on the poor air quality and maybe it is as simple as that, but on Saturday morning I woke up and could barely speak it hurt so much. My tonsils were all swollen and a quick check in the mirror confirms what I thought. I send a message to one of the doctors in the paddock asking if I can see him when I get to the track.
He gives me antibiotics and painkillers and I promise my producer I can speak enough to present P3. I have had tonsillitis a lot so know it's not a really bad bout of it and that with a lot of liquids and well timed painkillers I can carry on until the antibiotics kick in!
On Saturday afternoon, Lewis took pole but Sebastian Vettel split the two Mercedes, just!
I get the mickey taken out of me by the boys for my collections of pens and notebooks that I use on race weekends. However this time, I felt vindicated. In my pencil case, yes I have one of those too, was a small ruler. Sebastian had beaten Valtteri Bottas by one thousandth of a second and Mercedes and calculated that to equate to 5.9 cm. So when Valtteri and Seb came into the pen I was able to show the, what one thousandth of a second looked like on the ruler. It's only a small thing, literally, but anything to add to the interviews and make them a bit different helps!
I had another very early night on Saturday and I woke up to a freezing cold Sunday morning for race day. It caught us all out! I didn't bring any work jumpers to China and scoured my case for anything that would help keep me warm.
In the end I wore my uniform, jeans and trainers, plus a waterproof coat, my uniform jacket, and as he wasn't at this race, Anthony Davidson's coat! Thanks Ant! It was still chilly so I was just hoping that we didn't lose anyone early on in the race so I could shelter somewhere warm to watch. No such luck.
Lance Stroll was out on the first lap and I headed to the interview pen. Having been in the paddock and pit lane for two hours already the cold was starting to bite and one of our riggers got the cameraman and I a cup of tea. After one sip, Lance arrived and I put the tea down, where it remained until after the race. I didn't get another chance to drink it as more drivers retired.
The result was a reverse of Australia where a timely strategy call helped Sebastian Vettel to the win and a different strategy call arguably cost Mercedes the top step. This time Lewis Hamilton got maximum points and you could tell what a relief it was.
The two drivers reactions to their wins shows you that this season is anything but a foregone conclusion. These wins are hard fought for and complacency cannot be allowed to creep in. I was gutted for Valtteri Bottas after the race, his spin undoubtedly cost him a podium place and caused many to question his position in the team.
Did his mistake mean he would now be seen as a number two and have to help his team-mate to the title and the team to the Constructors? Likewise with Kimi. If neither team-mate is performing at their best are they now destined to accept the role of the understudy?
We headed straight to he airport from the track in Shanghai, relieved to finally be in the warm, but it was anything but a warm welcome at the airport. At check-in in Shanghai your suitcase gets scanned for security reasons. This means if they see anything untoward they can address it immediately and you can resolve it and be assured your case will then get on the plane.
Every year, without fail, my suitcase fails the scan. The check-in staff have a scanner by them and your bag goes in while they print your boarding pass. The lady said to me that I had to take my bag to the bag check office at the end of the row of desks before I would be issued a boarding pass. I went to the office and went through the familiar procedure of identifying my bag and opening it up. The lady in there went through it and pointed to a clear plastic make up bag and asked "what's that?"
In it were several nail varnishes. "Not allowed" she said. I pointed to my nails and said "they are just nail varnish," she said again "not allowed, flammable". I was baffled. My 14ml bottles of nail varnish were a problem. I thought to myself, for those to be flammable, someone needs to either get into the hold, find my bag, get through the padlock, open it, take out a bottle of nail varnish and pour some out while holding a naked flame, for it to be flammable.
Let's not forget by the time they had done all that they would have quite possibly died from hypothermia. It didn't matter, she wasn't having any of it. I asked if I could put it in my handbag as carry on. "Not allowed from Shanghai," came her response.
I left my nail varnishes on the table and went back to check in to hand my suitcase over once more and collect my boarding pass. This time I got through. I made my way to security where there are always long queues. There across from me in the next queue was Chase Carey.
In five years I had never seen Bernie Ecclestone at an airport but here was the new boss of F1 standing in line with the rest of us. Once through the other side I passed duty free, and there on display at the front of the shop, a whole stand of expensive nail varnishes for passengers to buy. Of course they are!
We were enjoying the warmth of the Bahrain sunshine and some down time, by the pool but it is a rarity I promise, when an email landed. It was from McLaren and about a press conference that evening.
I went up to my room and got ready to go over to the hotel near the track where all the drivers stay. Before we got there the news broke that Fernando Alonso was doing the Indy 500.
You will seen all about it by now but it was big news and there was a good turnout for the press conference. In a difficult time for the time it was as positive story, that generated more positive news when it was announced Jenson would replace Fernando in Monaco, and provided the team with a bit of relief from the negative headlines.
On Thursday morning it was back to the same hotel to speak to Carlos Sainz about his decision to start in China on the slick tyres. He told me how he had had an intense conversation with the team on the grid about it but they had backed him in his choice.
The risk paid off for him, even if it didn't seem like it a few laps into the safety car when he lost it and hit a barrier. But fair play, he tried something different because of how far back he was starting and it worked out. Unfortunately for him his optimism when leaving the pits in the race in Bahrain ended his and Lance Stroll's Grand Prix and he carries a three grid place penalty with him to Russia.
On Friday evening after the F1 show, we went for dinner at another hotel and came across a car parked out front with a big F1 accreditation sticker on it. In the name section it simply said 'Mr E'. Bernie was back for the race weekend and we saw him in the paddock on Saturday and Sunday. It was strange to see him in the different hospitalities and not actually having anywhere to base himself. It must feel very strange after all these years but he still got a warm welcome from everyone there.
I have spoken to the new man, Chase Carey a few times now and I am impressed with how accessible he is. In fact he was walking through the paddock in Bahrain on his own at one point and I said hello and had a very brief chat with him about Liberty's plans. I mentioned some ideas for better access to drivers for fans and I came away feeling as though there really will be an improved experience for the fans going forward.
After qualifying on Saturday there was a real buzz in the paddock. Those who know Valtteri Bottas were willing him to have a good weekend after his disappointment in China and he gave the perfect response. Lewis may have had an issue with his DRS and made a mistake on the final corner of his lap, but mistakes are made when under pressure and Lewis admitted Valtteri's first lap had got his attention.
Before the race on Sunday all the attention was at the front of Valtteri's car. I watched him walk up to his mechanics and shake their hands before getting his balaclava and helmet on to go out to the grid. He seemed calm but starting on pole for the first time in his career, I can't imagine he was feeling as calm as he looked.
Due to technical issues, the radio I had on Sunday for the race was on the same frequency as the one Ted listens to. This meant I heard what he usually hears during a race. I normally have just commentary in my ears, with the opportunity for the producer or director to press a button and talk to me if they need to, but only when they need to.
It means I don't hear everything being said in the gallery during the race and get distracted by them when I only really need or hear our commentary. However, Ted has commentary and pit lane radio coming through to him. So for the duration of the race I heard every team radio message that was put out by FOM but not all are played out on TV. As a result, I didn't hear much commentary at all. It was so busy during the race I don't know how Ted copes!
I am used to having lots going on in my ears all the time but your brain works out what is important and filters out what is. But this was different. I had a new found respect for Ted after that race! I don't know how he keeps across all of it and talks to Crofty and Martin, and makes sense of what is going on. I was drained by the end of the race!
As we headed for the airport news was filtering through of Billy Monger's crash at Donnington. I have never had the pleasure of meeting him yet but my brother did at Oulton Park a couple of years ago. He told me what a lovely lad he is and how they discussed racing and coming from the same small village.
You will have seen all about his crash by now and may have already donated, the Motorsport family have come together as you always know they will, and I hope the support shown helps Billy and his family during the challenges ahead.
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