Our reporter Reem Abulleil takes us to the centre of the action at Yas Marina, where the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is nearing its thrilling conclusion.
– LIVE: Follow the action from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
– Hamilton v Rosberg: F1’s greatest final day showdowns
– F1 showdown: Five things to watch out for
– VIDEO: F1 journalists discuss Hamilton and Rosberg face-off
Red Bull inspired by Baywatch
I had the chance to take a tour of the Red Bull garage and it was everything you’d imagine a Red Bull work place to be like. Blasting music, a cool vibe and tens of mechanics busy working on the RB10.
My first thought was ‘who gets to pick the music?’.
According to the Red Bull employee, who was showing me around, it’s the mechanics who have the final say on which tunes get played and it’s pretty much the first thing taken care of when they start setting up the garage, which begins a week prior to the grand prix.
Red Bull host about 350 VIP guests on each day of the grand prix weekend and apparently Pamela Anderson was one of their invitees at the race in Austin last month. As she walked through their garage, one of the mechanics somehow managed to put on the theme music to Baywatch.
How cool would it be if Sylvester Stallone showed up today? There’s no music that can get a team pumped up like a Rocky soundtrack, right?
As the mechanics worked on the two Red Bulls between FP1 and FP2 I was shown a replica of the steering wheel which has no less than five knobs and 12 buttons, including one that says “drink”. One push on that button powers a pump that transfers water or whatever liquid is in a fluid bag to a tube attached to the driver’s helmet.
That’s how the drivers maintain their fluid levels throughout the race.
Signed, sealed and delivered
#FerrariABUGP @alo_oficial pic.twitter.com/S9t7uNLFbV
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) November 21, 2014
Speaking of helmets, Fernando Alonso is wearing a special one this weekend, which will be his last outing in a Ferrari after five years in the red car.
The Spaniard asked every single person on the team to sign his helmet so they can share the experience of his final race before he moves to McLaren.
“I’m wearing a helmet with a picture of a pit stop this year on one side, the Italian flag in the middle and the signatures of everybody in the team on the other side,” explained Alonso.
“I just told them this morning that it’s the last time that I will jump in a Ferrari, so I want to bring all of them with me because they were a part of this fantastic experience and I want to do my last race with them on the track.
“To be honest, it’s been a little bit tricky because at Sochi, I took all the signatures from everybody but when I arrive here, we were missing 20 or 25 so now the helmet is not as perfect as it should be because now we have all the 25 signatures everywhere. But I’m happy and proud of them and happy to wear them on my helmet.”
Definitely a classy touch from Alonso. Don’t ever say F1 drivers aren’t sentimental!
