RACE DAY

• 27/03/2011

  INTERVIEW WITH JAMES...

• 26/03/2011

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• 25/03/2011

  AND SO IT...

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Sunday morning – slow pace
This was my first race day working for the team. The day started much as it had done the previous mornings. Apart from the Australian sun making a reappearance for the first time since Tuesday, Race Day morning felt very much like the last few days, with the teams beginning their day's preparations and the fans trickling in, in steady fashion eagerly anticipating the 5pm start of the race. With the Australian GP being one of the latest starts throughout the season, race day here in Melbourne is slower to get going than at many of the Grand Prix. Whilst our team was working tenaciously behind the scenes in the garage, the paddock was full of laid back Aussie attitude, with everyone seemingly relaxed and in good spirits.

Time for lunch
Or not, as the case may be, because things got a bit busier in the early afternoon with the paddock seeing a flurry of new activity – team guests and camera crews alike began crowding along the pathway between the teams' garages. Outside, fans filtered through the gates and began crowding behind the advertising boards close to the paddock entrance to catch just a glimpse of one of their heroes. In the garages themselves, the tempo had increased a notch with every single team member well underway with their various race preparations, as the clock ticked closer to race time.

Pre-race
It is only now, two hours before race time that you really begin to feel that the moment is upon you – the first Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season was only two hours away. All the preparation, car development and alterations, endless hours of team meetings and the final tweaks in the lead-up to the race were behind us as we now began thinking how well our team's two drivers would fare in the increasingly hot track conditions we were faced with. As I stepped out for the official drivers' photo on the grid, which was followed swiftly by the drivers' parade (around the track in classic cars), it is easy to taste the excitement. The grandstand at full capacity, fans waving their flags at every opportunity, photographers and camera crews milling around looking for that pre-race interview with one of the big names. Everyone wants a piece on the Formula 1 pie. There is definitely a nervous type of excitement around. Only twenty minutes before the race, and the grid is swarming with all the drivers, their girlfriends, agents and the teams. It's difficult to see any tarmac at all. It is quite simply, buzzing! The team garage is a very different feeling – very quiet, the tyres loaded up in piles but with no-one in there, almost everyone out on the track. It was almost a little eerie, a bit surreal to think that only twenty yards away was mayhem, and here the garage – the usual hub of activity – was almost empty. That, of course, changes in the last ten minutes before the race. As the warm-up lap begins the whole team returns, and those not needed during the race sit down to watch the action on the screens. What's most noticeable at this stage is the absolute deafening roar of the cars doing the warm-up lap. There is nothing quite like hearing it at a Grand Prix – the television, radio or any other medium just doesn't do that noise justice. The other thing is the smell. The number of cars, burning rubber-to-track creates a smell that is hard to describe unless you are there. Perhaps it is just the smell of race time.

The race itself
With the drivers completing their warm-up lap and back in their positions on the grid, all the teams head back to the garages to take their positions. As the red lights turned green, Vitaly moved up from sixth to fourth position with an excellent overtaking manœuvre at the first corner. What followed was a round of applause by everyone in our garage;that in itself put everyone in high spirits. There was a feeling from there on that perhaps, just perhaps, we might compete at the top end in this race. That feeling only grew as Vitaly held his position and moved ahead of home favourite Mark Webber to get into third place and stave off the threat of Fernando Alonso who, getting closer and closer, ensured a tense finish for us. Nick had got a good start, moving from 18^th in the grid to 12^th but fell back down the order after a collision in the first lap. With the Sauber cars both being disqualified, Nick finished in 12^th position.

Post-race
The emotion at securing a place on the podium in the first race was evident all around. The word 'team' is used a lot in Formula 1, but it is used for good reason. There is such an emphasis on team, that when a top three place does happen, there is a real release all around. Jubilation that all the hard work has reaped a reward. And the confidence that follows from a strong opening result cannot be underestimated. There were handshakes all around. "Well done, congratulations", team members said to each other. Everyone played their part in the successful first result. Champagne corks popped in the hospitality area. Whilst we do not, of course, get carried away by a third place finish, we do know a good result when we see one. And this was not just a good result, it has set a standard for the rest of the season. Vitaly had held off both Ferraris and beaten a Red Bull car fair and square. There was a lot to take from this result. Then, amid all the celebrations and congratulations, all the garages were dismantled, all the kit packed-up and ready to be taken to Kuala Lumpur – the second stop in this year's F1 calendar. All of a sudden, the paddock was looking quite empty. Was there really a Grand Prix here a few hours ago, you wonder as you leave the circuit? With eighteen, or possibly nineteen more chances this season to experience how we felt today, further places on the podium will be very, very welcome.

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