I was in the paddock at the Silverstone F1 test yesterday. Here are a few of my photographs including home drivers Lewis Hamilton and David Coulthard plus world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
For more keep an eye out for my exclusive article on Force India F1 Team on Autotrader.co.uk on Monday.
Click once to preview, click again for high-resolution version.
Even more F1 testing pictures can be found courtesy of Woodshed and Sidepodcast.
Journeyer
27th June 2008, 8:32
Hey Keith! I think Sidepodcast were also at the paddock yesterday? Did you run into them? :) They said the drivers weren’t as outgoing as usual. Did you feel the same way yesterday?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2008, 8:44
No I didn’t – I only arranged my visit at the last minute so I wasn’t able to fix anything up with them. I’m going to do a write-up of the day later.
cyanide
27th June 2008, 8:50
“I think I heard yelps of pain coming from inside here ”
Hahahaha!
AndyWolf
27th June 2008, 8:58
Tough life you’ve got, eh Keith? ;)
Sav722
27th June 2008, 9:26
I attended on Wednesday, sadly not with a paddock pass. Although it was immensely enjoyable seeing (and hearing!) the cars.
Great pictures Keith.
Sush
27th June 2008, 9:27
u didn’t take a pic of force india’s engine cover?
sorry about txt speak, broken hand.
and chedck out the new front wing on the mclaren, it looks so far ahead of the feild.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2008, 9:31
Sush – these are 15 of several hundred pics I took, more to come later.
Sush
27th June 2008, 9:40
oh ok, that is a bit stupid of me, thinking u’d only taken about 12 pics. Common sense doesn’t win this round.
sidepodcast
27th June 2008, 9:44
“Hey Keith! I think Sidepodcast were also at the paddock yesterday? Did you run into them?”
looking at the pics, i think we were in different places in the pitlane. good shots though.
“They said the drivers weren’t as outgoing as usual.”
no, no, they were just not as outgoing as the day before. wednesday evening there was plenty of hanging about and banter at the end of the day.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2008, 10:03
Sorry I missed you guys :-(
sidepodcast
27th June 2008, 10:22
“Sorry I missed you guys”
no sweat. it seems like quite a good place to meet up actually, not as easy to get lost like you can at the gp or at goodwood, and not as crowded either.
Journeyer
27th June 2008, 10:41
“no sweat. it seems like quite a good place to meet up actually, not as easy to get lost like you can at the gp or at goodwood, and not as crowded either.”
Sidey, you just might’ve made Keith a bit more guilty saying that. Hahaha! :)
sidepodcast
27th June 2008, 10:43
“Sidey, you just might’ve made Keith a bit more guilty saying that. Hahaha!”
damn, i meant we should keep it in mind for next year. doh!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2008, 11:02
Will do – until then there’s Goodwood. Got my tickets today, just opened a thread on the forum to find out who else is going:
Goodwood Festival of Speed – Who’s Going?
Milos
27th June 2008, 11:50
just a question – how difficult is it to get to the paddock and pitlane during the test ?
Becken
27th June 2008, 14:05
Keith,
Nice shots!
…But, be honest, please… Did you get YOUR Lewis autograph?
Rgds.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2008, 14:27
No, I don’t understand the whole autographs thing. I wrote about it last year actually: Debate – Do you collect autographs?
Becken
27th June 2008, 14:41
O loved the article and the comments. Thanks!
Another question (if you have some free time!): did you saw or heard any banner or any action disliking Fernando coming from English Lewis fans?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2008, 14:58
No nothing like that. I was in the paddock so I probably wouldn’t have, but I did take a walk out through some of the stadiums. Ticketing was limited but still it was an impressive sized crowd.
Kris
27th June 2008, 15:41
Anyone for a sweepstake on how long that last picture’s caption will be there before Keith receives a nasty letter?
Paul
27th June 2008, 15:49
Just a quick mention on the autograph thing. I don’t collect them per se, but I did get a rather special one from Giancarlo Fisichella in 1997 at the Hungaroring. I asked somebody I worked with who was working in the pits for that race to try and get his autograph for my girlfriend – he came back with Fisichella’s own FIA timing sheet provided by the FIA signed to Emma (now my wife). Even better is the fact that Hakkinen was on poll for that race and I was a huge Hakkinen fan. :-)
I don’t really understand the fascination with them unless you can get something worthwhile signed.
Wish I could have got into the pits on Wednesday you lucky git ;-) Great day though. I left just as things got red flagged due to something happening with Piquet at Stowe (about 3:30ish I think) can anyone tell me what happened?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2008, 15:51
Kris – Sniff Petrol did a better job – have a look at this
Adam
27th June 2008, 15:51
Great pcitures Keith. Took a few of my own here (one of two sets): http://www.flickr.com/photos
/adamatbeautifulrevolution/sets/72157605833728367/
sidepodcast
27th June 2008, 16:02
“Will do – until then there’s Goodwood.”
yeah, that didn’t work out so well last year if i recall. 6 phonecalls and we were no closer to meeting ya, but we bumped into ollie on the hill!
this year we have a new plan. we’re just asking everyone to look out for christine and just to stop us and say “hi”. it worked a treat this week when steve recognised us in the pitlane from overhearing our voices.
verasaki
28th June 2008, 0:30
keith, everyone knows the only reason to collect autographs is to sell them and fund the next gp trip. you lucky dog.
Gman
28th June 2008, 2:12
Nice photog work Keith- great comment on the FIA truck! How did you get the paddock pass- media creds, or are they for sale to the general public?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
28th June 2008, 9:47
Gman – I got in on a media pass, writing a feature for Auto Trader, which will be published on Monday.
sidepodcast
28th June 2008, 10:25
anyone can get paddock passes gman
just pay for a silverstone hospitality package. it’s a hundred bucks, but you get to view the whole of the luffield complex from brooklands, eat nice food and stay warm and dry when it rains.
you get to wander around the paddock / infield as you wish and then it’s just a case of talking nice to the teams to get pit-side.
Gman
29th June 2008, 0:54
That’s a great deal guys- when I get over to the UK for a visit someday, I’ll need to try and book that in there.
Snoopy
29th June 2008, 15:31
That is strange sidepodcast because in most of Grand prix you can not buy paddock pass. We have to be invite by FIA or team or autosport organization or have press pass. Or can you buy that pass for practise only or for race as well?
Alianora La Canta
29th June 2008, 18:05
Test tickets are sorted out by the respective circuit owners. They don’t have to consult with the FIA/FOM over the rules like they do during Grand Prix weekend. My guess is that the BRDC decided they could handle having hospitality people in the paddock during testing, so acted with the discretion they do not have during races.
sidepodcast
30th June 2008, 19:10
“That is strange sidepodcast because in most of Grand prix you can not buy paddock pass.”
pretty much exactly as alianora says snoopy. silverstone makes a packet on the hospitality boxes, so they encourage more people to go that route. cynics might suggest that limiting the number of GA tickets helps too.
it’s only for the test though. getting into the paddock during a race weekend is a bit trickier.
Aaron
11th February 2010, 12:36
http://www.silverstone.co.uk/corporate/race-day-hospitality/F1BritishGrandPrix/
Race day hospitality is a little more expencive that you advised!!!