Ski season... in Milton Keynes! Behind the scenes as Red Bull hit the slopes

It was the first of many pre-6am alarm calls I will have this year, but I had to allow extra time to get ready this morning as I layered up in preparation for a day in the snow.

Previously Ferrari held a January media ski trip to the Dolomites to a beautiful resort in Madonna Di Campiglio, but now this is as close as I get to the slopes in winter – an indoor ski slope in Milton Keynes! It was the Red Bull 'Meet the Drivers' day, with team principal Christian Horner also in attendance.

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First up it was time to change into my ski gear – always a worry after Christmas, but giving up sugar for January has helped! Mind you, I have never quite mastered walking in ski boots. Some carry it off with style and look like they were born on the slopes – I kind of hobble along, occasionally losing balance and grabbing the nearest person or object to steady me. A word of warning – tripods in the snow, not a great stabiliser!

I interviewed Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo and Christian for the first time in 2015. Daniel says he is confident Red Bull can close the gap to Mercedes and is backing himself for the title. Daniil was quieter and just wants to focus on the job, while Christian told me they were having a ‘meet the drivers’ day instead of a big launch this year. He did also admit that the car isn’t ready right now but it will be ready for Sunday, it's just going to be a bit tight.

With the interviews done, it was time to film my piece to camera and I had an idea…

"I know, I’ll do it while I ski down,” I suggested. “Are you sure about that?” my cameraman Spiney replied. However, luckily those previous Ferrari ski trips stood me in good stead and the wonderful Pino skied and filmed as I made my descent while delivering my line to camera. At the bottom I gave my sign off to Spiney's camera and the day’s filming was done.

Paddock Uncut: First Winter Test Jerez Day One

No one believes it was one take but I have my witnesses!

We were finally able to leave the -6C temperature on the slope and relocate to the car park to send in our footage. I sat in my car and wrote the script to the report that would appear on Sky Sports News HQ later. This gets recorded directly into the camera and sent back to our offices in London where it is put together with the pictures we had shot – thanks to a fairly long-winded email of instructions from me (stickler for detail!) and then it gets to air where you can watch it on Sky Sports News HQ

A quick trip to the office to return some equipment and make some final tweaks and the finished article is broadcast around 5pm.

My day is done and I head out of the door at 6.30pm. Job done, onto tomorrow’s shoot…

RB

The Sky Sports F1 Online team will be providing live commentary of all three winter tests, starting in Jerez on February 1, with live updates from trackside also on Sky Sports News HQ.