Sky Sports’ Rachel Brookes reflects on a testing two weeks in Barcelona and explains why pre-season can often be the hardest time of the year for the F1 fraternity…
Tuesday 28 April 2015 11:53, UK
I had watched the cars in Jerez from the office and so it wasn't until I boarded the plane to Barcelona that I really felt the 2015 season was underway.
The first challenge, however, of any trip is to fit all the kit into the hire car. A Ford C-Max. I decided to leave it to Ted and my cameraman "Foggy" and sure enough, as the pictures show, they managed it. I couldn't see out of any of the windows around me in the back but Ted was driving so I am pretty sure that was a blessing!
Our hotel is about 30 minutes from the track plus traffic which meant a 5.30am alarm call on the first day, 4.30am UK time. The first early alarm is always the worst!
The journey to the track involves checking the internet for any overnight news and liaising with the office about any pictures I might want to talk over during my first live update. As this is Day One and the cars haven't gone out yet we don't use any pictures. If we had caught one of the drivers walking from their hospitality to their garage we would have shown that. It's like a game of cat and mouse trying to catch a driver walking in the paddock. Sometimes, you get lucky: I remember Monaco last year when it seemed like every time I was live on Sky Sports a driver would walk past. Or in Nico Hulkenberg's case walk up behind me and video bomb. I still need to get him back for that…
The week continues in much the same vein; sometimes we are live from the pitlane, sometimes the paddock and sometimes out by the track. On Sunday we decided to go out by Turn Three and I did my live update into Sky Sports News HQ at around 11.25am local time. We then filmed some more cars there before catching a shuttle bus back to the paddock. When we were there it was pretty windy. We had to tuck our passes into our media bibs to stop them hitting us in the face and I remember it being uncomfortable to stand around in. That was an hour before Fernando Alonso's accident.
At first it appeared as a red flag on the monitors in the media room but word soon filtered through that it was an accident and not just a stoppage on track. I went to the medical centre and my cameraman, who had gone to film the car coming back in, was in the pitlane. Then I saw the ambulance arrive. I called my cameraman back to join me and prepared for a live. We had already heard that Fernando was ok and talking but we didn't know any more than that. Once inside the medical centre, I hadn't heard the helicopter start up so was hopeful he was just being checked over. But then there was movement and a pilot jumped into the air ambulance. Shortly afterwards the medical centre doors opened and about a dozen staff came out, some holding up sheets to shield Alonso from all of us, and others wheeling the stretcher to the helicopter.
Not being able to see that the driver is awake and talking, or smiling or giving a thumbs-up to cameras, is always a big concern. These are people we see pretty much every day at work, talk to maybe four or five times over a race weekend. We want to see they are ok as much as everyone else, if not more. We have had too many accidents in the last three years and too many days outside hospitals hoping for good news. That was how Monday evolved. We were sent to do updates from the hospital in Barcelona. We had heard he was ‘ok’ on Sunday but it seemed like an eternity before we saw confirmation. It was around 4.30pm local time when Alonso's manager finally tweeted a photo of Fernando sat up in bed giving a thumbs-up. He stayed in hospital for another two days after that and we were back there when he was discharged as he thanked the medical staff for their care and left to go to his home in Oviedo to rest.
The final four days passes relatively uneventfully. There were still problems for McLaren on track but the drivers reported that the car essentially felt good when it was running. Mercedes tried changes to the set-up - some worked, some didn't - but they clearly had a good car that will start the season ahead of the pack. Considering they didn't even use the supersoft tyres, yet still topped the timesheets, it's a safe bet they will lead the field – but behind them it's very tight.
Williams are there, but so are Ferrari. The Scuderia seem to have made a big step forward and the atmosphere around the team is certainly upbeat. Let's face it, if even Kimi is smiling, well you know they must have a decent car. Add to that the fact they have two world champions driving for them and surely that adds a tenth? I have always studied drivers’ body language at testing almost as much as studying the cars. There are some things you just can't hide.
Red Bull are a bit of an unknown. They still want more from the Renault power unit, but they said that last year and were the only team to take race wins off Mercedes, and they still finished second in the constructors’. They will have more competition for that second place this year, but can they take advantage of any Mercedes slip-ups. Is that their only realistic hope?
Testing is usually the hardest work those in F1 do all year. No one really likes it, but what it does do is set us up perfectly for the new season - and I for one can't wait! Bring on Australia!
Sky Sports F1 will be broadcasting every race in 2015, starting with live and exclusive coverage of the Australian GP on March 15. The race starts at 5am UK Time on Sunday.
