From curling to boxing and new things to try, Sky F1's Rachel Brookes has some behind-the-scenes stories from the Russian GP weekend.
Thursday 4 May 2017 12:19, UK
The week before the Russian Grand Prix I got an email to say I might need to fly early to Sochi as we had a shoot with Daniil Kvyat on the Wednesday. That meant I would need to catch the charter flight the day before instead of arriving on Wednesday night.
The charter flights to Russia go from Luton Airport so it was an early start on Tuesday morning around the M25 and up the M1. Luckily the flight wasn't full but everyone on it was from the F1 paddock.
I used the flight to write my questions for Daniil. Most people think they know him and his career but there is more to his story than perhaps has been discussed previously.
At 11 years of age, his father decided that if Daniil was to pursue a career in racing they would need to leave Russia and move to Italy. So the whole family upped sticks and relocated to Rome.
He came up through the junior ranks before arriving in Formula 3 and GP3 the same year, pretty much driving a different car every weekend. After a tough start in GP3, he went on to win the title and Helmut Marko picked him to partner Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso for 2014 season.
By the time the season reached Japan he had a phone call while eating his cornflakes to say he would be replacing Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull seat the next year.
Then in the 2015 season, a difficult one for Red Bull, he beat Daniel Ricciardo by three points in the Drivers' Championship. The same Daniel Ricciardo who had been so praised for beating Vettel the year before. In fact, in the first race of 2014 Daniil became the youngest points scorer in Formula 1, a record that would be taken away from him by Max Verstappen a year later.
After that success of 2015, he began 2016 with a DNS in Australia before finishing seventh in Bahrain. Then came China where he made a bold move at the start on Vettel that got the four-time world champion's attention.
In the cool-down room after the race words were exchanged but Daniil stood his ground. Seb accused him of coming at him like a torpedo. Then in Sochi he got Vettel's attention again, this time for twice hitting him inside the first three corners and ultimately ending the Ferrari driver's race. The footage showed Sebastian going to the Red Bull pit wall and speaking to Christian Horner and many assumed that conversation could have had influence on what followed next, when Daniil lost his seat at the senior team to Verstappen and was sent back to Toro Rosso.
But, speaking in Russia in our interview last week, Daniil told me that things were so bad at Red Bull at that time that something was going to change whether he had hit Seb or not and that he essentially made himself the target.
At the end of the interview Dani said he had something to show me. He got his phone out and showed me the helmet design he had for that weekend. On the back was a cartoon of him riding a torpedo! He has a great sense of humour and I wish it would come across on camera more.
The other part of the shoot was a curling challenge. I had never tried curling before but was under the expert tuition of the Russia Women's team. I was given a thin piece of plastic with an elastic strap to put over my left trainer which then made the ice incredibly slippery. It might sound obvious but actually the ice isn't smooth for curling. It has a bobbly effect on the surface which actually gives you grip in normal trainers but once you put the slide on the bumps disappear and it is lethal. Luckily you only wear the slider to release the stone. For the sweeping part you take it off but I still managed to fall over ungracefully at the end of one energetic sweep! "You look like a cow on ice," laughed Daniil. I had been hoping I had at least looked like Bambi!
That evening he invited Johnny and I to a book launch. One of the Russian journalists has written a book about Dani's journey to F1 and there was a function to launch it. Afterwards we all went for dinner with Dani and his girlfriend, his father and team principal Franz Tost. Dani and his father ordered for all of us and we enjoyed some really good local food.
I would love to tell you what it was but other than something similar to coronation chicken, I really couldn't tell you.
On Thursday morning we made our way to the track. We walk to the track in Sochi as everyone stays on the Olympic Park site. I watched the footage we had shot the day before and listened back to the interview to work out what should go into the finished piece. I spent the rest of the day in the paddock finding out what other news there was and seeing what the drivers had to say ahead of the weekend.
On Thursday evening almost all of us headed to some restaurant across the Olympic Park. It's the building where the drivers stay and has several restaurants in it. The service has improved a lot since we first came here in 2014 and our food almost all arrived at the same time. When we arrived we noticed Bernie Ecclestone having dinner with his wife Fabiana and Christian Horner. A short time later Chase Carey arrived and he and Bernie greeted each other and shook hands. Chase was having dinner with Sean Bratches and their communications director Norman Howell. Across on another table was Felipe Massa with his trainer and friends and elsewhere Claire Williams and her fiance. It happens a lot in Sochi with so few places to eat nearby.
Unfortunately on Friday we lost three of our crew to sickness. They had all eaten together the night before but it's as likely to have been a bug as it was food poisoning. Practice thew up some questions and when I spoke to Vettel afterwards I asked if he thought Mercedes were sandbagging and he said he thought they were.
But I put that to Lewis Hamilton and he said they weren't, it's just a tricky weekend. As you know if you read these diaries regularly, I take a lot from body language and Lewis' was telling me he really was at a loss for why he couldn't get it together. Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand, said they were concentrating on race pace this weekend. You may have also noticed on Friday that my ruler, mentioned in my last diary, made another on-screen appearance. This time Ted borrowed it to help illustrate how the numbers on the cars will have to be bigger in future and how from Barcelona onwards the drivers' names will be on their cars.
I don't think he dare take the mickey out of my pencil case again!
On Saturday morning I woke to a power cut, just! My phone is my alarm and it was down to 10 per cent as it hadn't been charging overnight. So it was a shower in the dark as no natural light reached the bathroom and then I sent a few messages to see if everyone was without power, or it was just me. As I continued to get ready eventually the power came back on with about 10 minutes before I had to leave.
I presented Practice Three with Johnny and we discussed how Mercedes were actually concerned about Ferrari's pace, now no longer just over a race distance but single-lap pace too. By the end of the session it was not one but both Ferraris on top of the times with Bottas back in third and Hamilton fourth, over five tenths behind Vettel.
In fact that turned out to be the order after qualifying too. For the second week in a row Lewis had been beaten by his team-mate, and now Ferrari too were quicker with their first pole since 2015. The Mercedes just couldn't deal with the final sector, their weakness in medium and slow corners was exploited by Ferrari to great effect. Some were speculating as to whether it is the longer wheelbase Mercedes are running that is causing them the issues but, whatever it is, there was head scratching going on at Mercedes on Saturday night.
While they scratched their heads I was biting my nails. I had gone back to my room to pack and then gone down to the bar in the hotel to meet the others as the hotel had told us the Joshua-Klitschko fight would be on. The Russian TV channel had even been promoting the fight during the day, such was its worldwide appeal. We settled down to watch, two hours ahead of the UK, and well, you know the rest. It was interesting watching it with our colleagues from Germany and the Russian hotel staff!
Everyone was talking about the fight the next day, at breakfast and in the paddock. Even another power cut in my room when I woke up couldn't spoil my good mood. Although when it came back on, but only in the living room, I did have to laugh at blow drying my hair using my iPad camera as a mirror!
Sunday was busy for me with a couple of new things to try. One was standing at the end of the pit lane at the green light. I have said before it's my favourite part of the weekend, the half hour before the race.
The anticipation and excitement together with the nerves make it really special. I really enjoy walking up and down the pit lane looking into the garages to see who is relaxed and calm and who is still making tweaks. As Martin Brundle wasn't doing his grid walk at this race, Ted was on the grid and I was at the end of the pit lane.
When I used to do Sky Sports News at races I really enjoyed standing outside the FOM garage as all the drivers arrived and saying a line about each of them as they walked up. It was never scripted and I had no idea of what order they would come so it became a challenge to be able to just talk non-stop through those four or five minutes using information I had gleaned over the weekend or referring back to previous races or incidents.
I thought it would be the same for the cars arriving at the end of the pit lane on Sunday but what I hadn't accounted for is the fact that they arrive much faster and by the time I see them they have invariably gone past me. Also, all I can see is the car, no helmet and definitely no number on the front, so identifying which driver it is becomes a game of chance! I also had to pretty much eat the microphone to be heard as you are standing right next to the cars but it was a great experience and one I definitely hope I get to do again.
Just before the race start I saw Bob Fernley, Force India's deputy team principal. I had predicted in Bahrain that despite starting 18th, Sergio Perez would finish in the points. So this time I said confidently "Checo will finish sixth today," to which Bob replied "is that all?" and laughed.
The start of the race was busy with retirements but once I had done those interviews I found somewhere to sit and watch until the final few laps when I returned to the drivers' pen once more.
Watching Bottas hang on for those final few laps was nerve wracking. I always love it when a driver gets his first win, it is always the easiest interview you will have to do. But on this occasion I was over the moon for Valtteri. I remember first interviewing him as a reserve and test driver for Williams and he always had time to chat. That hasn't changed. He is one of the nicest guys in the paddock and his win was enjoyed by everyone who has worked with him or knows him. I was in the Williams hospitality when he took the lead at the start and the cheer from there would have had you believing he was still their driver, such is the mark he leaves on those who deal with him.
After the race it was a mad dash to the airport. As soon as we are off air it's a very brisk walk back to our hotel to collect our luggage, onto a bus and off to the airport.
When we arrived there was a huge queue. Williams, Force India and Haas among others have beaten us to it! Soon Carlos Sainz arrives and quietly takes his place at the back of the queue. Up ahead of me is Bob Fernley again.
"I told you," I smiled. "I remembered that when I was sat on the pit wall and he moved into sixth!" he laughed.
Until next time…
RB
Don't miss all the reaction from Sochi and tune in for the F1 Report: Russian GP Review on Sky Sports F1 on Wednesday at 8.30pm
