I was able to attend the Hockenheim, Monza, and Spa rounds of F1 this last year. After Hockenheim I was able to meet some of the people that work in the race garage and got invited in to check out the cars and ended up helping the team pack up. This led to me being able to do the same after Monza and Spa.

there's about 75 pics to load up, so give it a little time. let me know if you've got questions.

enjoy...

Hockenheim

underside of Ferarri F1 car @ Bridgestone booth


veiw of diffuser on Ferrari F1 car


Button accelerating away from the hairpin



these next few were taken after the race from along the pit wall

RBR & FiA checking Coultard's car post-race


veiw of header on Coultard's RBR car


Japanese fans at Hockenheim waiting for Sato


the "T" car (backup car)






Jenson Button's race car being backed into the garage for post race checks


nose cone off of Button's car, Brembo brake fluid resevoirs exposed



some the only proof I have from being in the Hockenhiem garage:

cars packed up and almost finished with post race clean up. Taken from the back of the BAR-Honda garage


note the Renault truck in the pic as well. The skid plates from the bottom of the race cars are standing on end at the back of the truck.


anther shot taken in garage nearing completion of pack up.


a zoom in on the skid plates waiting to be loaded onto the truck.


titanium bracket I was given as a souvenir from the skid plate on Button's Hockenheim car. you can compare to the picture above to see what part of the skid plate it came from.



MONZA

Monza used to have a large banked track in addition to what is there now. here are some pictures of the banking still left over. Notice how steep it is!


banking above track just before entry to Curva Vialone


banking on the south end


Quali pics (there's more where these came from if anyone is interested):
Rubens Barrichello during qualifying, note telivison screen


Jenson Button during quali. around Lesmo 2. note the TV


Micheal Schumacher around Lesmo 2 during quali


old building on Monza grounds by Curva del Serraglio


Jenson Button after Lesmo2 esit early in race


Fernando Alonso after Lesmo2 exit mid-race


Rubens after Lesmo2 exit mid-race


Jenson Button after Lesmo2 exit, mid-race


JPM mid-race on way to winning


after-race fan track walk.At Curva del Serraglio looking to Variante Ascari


Ilove this shot...
Ciao Rubens & Welcome to BAR-Honda!


front of Monza Paddock Pass and race day ticket


backside of paddock pass and race day ticket


BAR-Honda and Ferrari's paddock hospitality setups


BAR-Honda and Ferrari's travel rigs backed up to their respective garages


poor Fernando Alonso! As he was exiting the Renault hospitaliy setup he was attacked by 4 girls in Renault garb that wanted to get a photo with him.


Jenson's and Taku's engine cover bodywork behind BAR-Honda garage, Monza


Jenson's #3 car at Monza post-race


the drive down to Monza required a blast through Switzerland. What a shame...





Spa

I took this on Friday on the walk down to the track to show the beautiful setting of the circuit and the fickle weather that hangs in the air.


Here is the notorious Eau Rouge and Radillion combination. What is SO HARD to show in pictures is just how steep and akward the climb is. You have to look for reference clues like trees to give you an idea of what this thing is really like. This is when it was dry before 2nd Friday practice session.


Here is Eau Rouge, wet for GP2 practice


GP2 cars in wet friday practice heading towards Eau Rouge




hopefully this shot give some perspective to the climb. Its a GP2 car during friday practice


BAR-Honda garages on wet friday, TV screen above


Spa Franchorchamps starting lights with BAR-Honda garages behind


Heres shot during Saturday morning practice. Here you can see Fernando accelerating towards Les Combes, while in the distance you can see other corners on the track, Fagnes and Blanchimont


Porche Cup car decends through Rivage


Porshe Cup car decends thru Pouhon. Is there enough run off now??


Button thru Pouhon on quali lap


Fernando thru Pouhon on quali lap. note the TV showing him


JPM thru Pouhon on quali lap, note TV showing coverage of his lap


looking towards La Source hairpin from the stands, Sat after quali and practice


on track Saturday evening looking down from La Source


also Saturday, on track lookin up towards La Source hairpin


(I didn't really get any during race shots)

BAR-Honda & Renault waiting to cheer their cars across the line


BAR-Honda cheer at the pit wall


podium finishers' cars parked at scrutineering post race


Running Taku's enginge after the race.Notice people plugging their ears, and engineers hunched over a computer in the back


I'm the goof in in this picture. I'm posing with the hydraulic system that ran on Button's car for the race. the clutch actuator can be seen clearly as well as the fluid cooler at the top of the sys.


removing Taku's fuel cell from bottom of car


Spa post-race. Jenson's and Fernando's engine covers catching some drizzle


stacked body work waiting to be loaded onto the truck


Taku's kevlar fuel cell removed, the monocoque in the background. pretty cool, huh?

Taku's stripped down tub/monocoque


Taku's tub in the foreground, the "T-car" in the middle, Jenson's tub flipped to pull fuel cell in the background


pulling Jenson's fuel cell


you can see from an above shot how the fuel cell is shaped, here you can see the size of the hole they have to retrieve it from. the kevlar cell is the tan-ish stuff you can see through the rectangular hole they have their hands resting around


Jenson and Taku's tubs stripped down


front of paddock pass and ticket


back of paddock pass and ticket

 

Holy smokes! Awesome pics

Is the fuelcell just a bladder or something? So it can be scunched up and pulled through the hole?

 

Nice pics...lucky to get to be in the paddock and garages

 

I like the little traveling noselette that that poked on the T car when it was being transported. Very tidy.

The shots of Monza brought back memories of a great day i spent at an F3000 race back in 1987. Best food that I may have ever had was at the track. Not best TRACK food - best food, period. We went to the first chicane to spectate and had to scramble over the old bank - with the help of a long line of other spectators - to use the shortcut to get their.

My dad slipped and slid down the muddy bank and, when a couple of guys in the stands laughed, he stood up and gave them the double bird: They went NUTS, laughing hysterically, clapping, and giving him the thumbs-up. Instant buddies!

The best part was being in the stands. At the start, my brother and I heard cars coming and started to stand up so we could see. A little old lady, all in black and about 5' tall, poked my brother, wagged her finger at him, and gestured that he should SIT. Wow - very classy race crowd where everyone stays seated so they can eat their lunches and drink their wine on their laps like grown-ups, and still see the action.

There was a huge tangle under braking, and several cars got munched. Fabrizio Barbazza slid by in front of us through the chicane, riding along in an essentially naked tub, with all four corners knocked off, like a bobsled. He jumped out, bowed the crowd, and made his way behind the armco to watch the rest of the race with a snack from someone in the stands.

Even funnier than that were the Carabinieri - the federal cops with HK SMGs and Alsatians on short leashes - watching the race from the OTHER side of the barriers. About 10 minutes into the race, they were joined by a couple of cute females, who were politely escorted through gaps in the debris fence, over the armco, and past the dogs. They all stood there smoking in the grass, watching the cars go by.

The race was won by Roberto Moreno, with Johnny Herbert in second. They were VISIBLY faster on the track - way nearer maximum grip under acceleration and WAY later on the brakes than anyone else out there. I gained a real respect for the difference between guys like them and the rest of us that day.

Traffic out of Monza that evening was so thick, I folded up a mirror on the rental car - on someone else's mirror - threading a gap to change lanes. The other guy smiled and waved...

K

 

There are no words for how much I hate you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There are no words for how much I hate you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ditto..

 

Awsome pics, you are a lucky man

 

seeing those pix just inspired me to work smarter so someday soon I'll have something remotely like this to share.....

 

Lucky bastich!

 

that would be a dream come true! thanks for posting!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There are no words for how much I hate you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ditto x2!

 

awesome post... thanks for sharing your experience from the year

 

I hate you you lucky SOB!!!

Thanks for the pictures.

 

Nice pics!

This is our fuel cell for our NSX

 

Awesome post.

 

Great pics! Are you from Europe?

 

WOW!

 

^^^

great coverage with them pics. but i know there`s nothing like attending the real thing, esp at one of them european GPs

 

SO awesome! Id kill to be able to do what you did! The tracks out there and countryside are so beautiful and scenic (way nicer than Indy!). Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

Awesome. Just awesome.

 

Wow! thanks for sharing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nino &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Awesome. Just awesome. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

great pics......

 

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thanks for sharing

those are amazing pics.