Melbourne - Formula 1 Grand Prix

Cheerio friends,
I couldn't sleep any longer as I was so excited about this day. I got up early and was at Gate 8 of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park at 9:30am. So one hour before the gates open and there were already long queues.

At 10am it got really full and they had to form three queues and they were about 4-5 times as long as you can see on the picture above.
Anyway, I was inside within 10 minutes and made my way to the customer service tents to get some free lanyards, earplugs and sunscreen (although the sky was very cloudy and some showers were forecasted). On the way to the turn 15 I passed a few more cars on display.

After a 20 minute walk I arrived at the Premium Zone of turn 15. I bought an upgrade to my general admission ticket to have a seat, a good view onto a big screen and an awesome position on the track.

Because from here I was able to see the turn 15 (second-to-last corner) and turn 16 (last corner before start-finish-line) and the entrance to the pit lane as well as the way out for the safety cars, fire brigades and trucks that get the breakdowns out of the track.

After some historic car demonstrations it was time for the MSS Supercar Challenge. One of the cars got of the track right in front of us. You cannot imagine how the people around me cheered!

At 1pm I met Elina and gave her my wristband for the Premium Zone so she could have a look as well and I went onto the other side to be closer to the track and the corner to take some pictures.

This sign I find especially nice. On the F1 TV coverage the well-being of Michael Schumacher was always a topic in every interview. Everyone here seems very concerned about him and only wished him and his family the very best. It was heart-touching how everyone reacted so sensible when it comes to Michael Schumacher.

I met another german girl Christine who I got to know on Friday.

One hour later Elina gave me the wristband back, we got some pictures of us. Elina wandered around the track while I went back into the Premium Zone. Oh, by the way I am wearing my brand-new Grand Prix shirt :-)

At 3pm some go-karts raced around the track. How cute is that!

For the driver's parade the fire brigade trucks on service lined up. 16 trucks in total! A guy standing next to me said: "If a fire breaks out here we are in the right spot!"

Here the group picture of all the F1 drivers, getting ready for the driver parade. Each got into their own open-top Porsche (I think) with their name on it and drove one round on the track. I tried to get a picture of each one but now I cannot completely tell who I got a picture of.

But this guy for sure is Daniel Ricciardo the Australian Red Bull driver colleague of Sebastian Vettel. Celebrated like a hero here in Australia!

The next 1.5 hours until the start went by slowely although there was a jetset display and other formations and lots of commentaries over the loudspeaker.

It was time for the National Anthem and the sky looked much nicer than before. It was very windy and actually really cold but at least it seemed to not rain or shower any more for the rest of the day.

Everyone watched the big screen for the start. Here Daniel Ricciardos car in position 2. Rosberg, the German Petronas team driver in position 3 and Hamilton in pole position. Vettel only got into position 12 due to some technical issues with his car in the qualifying the day before.

And then they took off! Well, most of them anyway. 2 cars did not start and got out of the race straight away. There were loads of discussions about the new rules which resulted in basically a complete new car. The front nose is lower, the front wing shorter, instead of 8 cylinders only 6 but the turbo is back, 30% less fuel is allowed to use and also less is allowed to carry in the car, the car have a higher minimum weight and other things. This also resulted in a completely different sound of the car and honestly, some of the cars sounded horrible! Not the F1-noise that you are used to and quite a few people told me that the cars are so quiet now they don't bother to put their earplugs in. I still thought they are very noisy and had my earplugs in but the Porsche who drove earlier for the Carrera Cup were louder...

As someone lost his tyre in an overtaking manouver in front of us another wave of cheers and we saw how the car made it into the pit lane and the yellow flags were hissed. Someone else also lost his tyre and some other car parts around the track so the safety car had to get out for nearly two laps. Rosberg who clearly had the lead from the beginning was followed (quite far behind) by Ricciardo and then Magnussen from Lotus (I think...).

It was an exciting race especially as Hamilton and Vettel got out of the race within the first 5 laps due to technical car issues. What a shame but surprisingly the Australians around me welcomed Vettels early out. A German couple who sat behind me and whom I talked to for a while told me that Australia is very Anti-Vettel because of some clash with his old team colleague Mark Webber who is Australian. Every time Vettel was on the screen people buuhed at him. That was very disturbing for me.
Anyway, after 57 laps the race ended, Rosberg first, Ricciardo second and Magnussen third and the track was opened to the public!

I got my rucksack and ran towards the winners podium. While I ran I also took a picture of myself :-) I didn't get the best place and due to the small zoom of the camera I cannot provide you with great pictures. On TV you get a better view anyway but I saw them receive their trophies and spray the champagne around. AWESOME! Especially when Ricciardo got his trophy it was a mega noise in the crowd.

The track was full with people taking pictures and making videos. Luckily I found Elina and we took some more pictures. It was a fantastic atmosphere.

Me at the start-finish-line! WOW! And past the pole position. It was especially crowded in this area. You literally had to fight your way through.

We left the track at 7:30pm through Gate 9 and got in a fully-packed tram. I said Good-Bye to Elina and then grabbed some dinner at Federation Square, also full with F1 fans before I got on the train back to Footscray. It was a fantastic but long day and I was exhausted and tired.
Just to let you know, Ricciardo got disqualified afterwards as he breached one of the new fuel consumption rules. So Rosberg still first, Magnussen second and Button third.
Yours F1-Australian-Grand-Prix-watching Stefanie