A wide-eyed Sergio Perez told of his heart-stopping near-miss with two marshals during the Monaco Grand Prix. Dieter Rencken brings the background stories from the F1 paddock.
Paddock Diary articles archive
RaceFans regular diaries from the Formula 1 paddock.
Paddock Diary: Monaco Grand Prix day three
2019 Monaco Grand Prix
Posted onFerrari faced the music in Monaco, holding a special press conference to explain Charles Leclerc’s shock elimination in qualifying.
Paddock Diary: Monaco Grand Prix day two
2019 Monaco Grand Prix
Posted onDespite disapproval from rival teams, Ferrari look likely to keep their power of veto over Formula 1’s rules after 2020, reports Dieter Rencken from the Monaco Grand Prix paddock.
Paddock Diary: Monaco Grand Prix day one
2019 Monaco Grand Prix
Posted onRaceFans’ special correspondent Dieter Rencken shares his memories of Niki Lauda as the F1 community remembered him on the first day of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
Paddock Diary: Spanish Grand Prix day four
2019 Spanish Grand Prix
Posted onMercedes team principal Toto Wolff paid tribute to outgoing company CEO Dieter Zetsche following another dominant display by the champions.
Paddock Diary: Spanish Grand Prix day three
2019 Spanish Grand Prix
Posted onIn the Formula 1 paddock at the Circuit de Catalunya Dieter Rencken makes a beeline for Toto Wolff’s media debriefing to get his reaction to our story about his future.
Paddock Diary: Spanish Grand Prix day two
2019 Spanish Grand Prix
Posted on“You don’t need to know this”: Not everyone appreciated the questions from RaceFans’ representative in the Formula 1 paddock at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Paddock Diary: Spanish Grand Prix day one
2019 Spanish Grand Prix
Posted onIn the F1 paddock at the Circuit de Catalunya, Dieter Rencken seeks the latest on Toto Wolff’s future and the current developments on the 2020 F1 calendar.
Paddock Diary special: FIA conference 2019 day one
Paddock Diary
Posted onOn day one at the FIA conference in South Africa Dieter Rencken has a one-to-one chat with FIA president Jean Todt and picks up a fascinating titbit about the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Paddock Diary: Azerbaijan Grand Prix day four
2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Posted onThe final Baku F1 Paddock Diary includes the latest rumours on the 2020 calendar, the 2021 rules – and the nail-biting conclusion to the saga of Dieter’s lost luggage.
Paddock Diary: Azerbaijan Grand Prix day three
2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Posted onThe Baku race promoters sent Williams a bunch of flowers to apologise for the drain which wrecked their car, but the team may face a seven-figure repair bill, reports Dieter Rencken from Azerbaijan.
Paddock Diary: Azerbaijan Grand Prix day two
2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Posted onWill Williams be able to claim compensation for the damage they suffered in Baku? Dieter Rencken follows up Friday’s big story in the paddock.
Paddock Diary: Azerbaijan Grand Prix day one
2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Posted onDieter Rencken begins day one of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by debunking a false rumour from the previous race and examining an startling £100 million loss at McLaren.
Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day four
2019 Chinese Grand Prix
Posted onDespite the ‘1,000th race’ celebrations, race day in Shanghai felt oddly subdued, Dieter Rencken reports from the Chinese Grand Prix paddock.
Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day three
2019 Chinese Grand Prix
Posted onWas Alexander Albon shaken by his heavy crash in practice? Not a bit of it – he told Dieter Rencken he’d had a bigger shunt in his very first race.
Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day two
2019 Chinese Grand Prix
Posted onIt’s day two of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend and Formula 1 seems in no danger of running out of ways to mark the 1,000th world championship race.
Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day one
2019 Chinese Grand Prix
Posted onWhy is getting a Chinese Grand Prix visa still so hard? Do brands get value from their F1 sponsorship? And why is there another pink car this weekend? Dieter is armed with questions in the Shanghai paddock.
Paddock Diary: Bahrain Grand Prix day four
2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted onCharles Leclerc showed his class with the way he handled the disappointment of losing his first grand prix victory due to a power unit fault, says Dieter Rencken.
Paddock Diary: Bahrain Grand Prix day three
2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted onOn day three in Bahrain Dieter Rencken asks Hermann Tilke whether F1’s new track in Vietnam will be ready on time and chats with legendary McLaren designer Gordon Murray.
Paddock Diary: Bahrain Grand Prix day two
2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted onOn Tuesday Liberty Media revealed its latest plans to overhaul Formula 1 in 2021 but the key players are keeping quiet about what’s in store – for now.