I registered for the event quite randomly after seeing
promotion on the web and I was thrilled to receive an email a few days later
confirming my attendance. It clearly was
an event in demand!
After a thoroughly miserable drive up in the classic British
summer weather (heavy rain), I arrived early at the gates to the Grove
facility. After parking, a small group
of ‘early adopters’ and I waited patiently until a delivery van had disappeared
(welcome to the secret world of F1!) before we entered the Conference Centre. You’re greeted by a display of F1 cars in the
foyer and you instantly get a feeling of the prestigious history associated
with the Williams team…even their most recent trophy from Pastor Maldonado’s
win in Spain 2012 was on open display!
We were all privalaged to be allowed to tour the museum of
Williams cars, set in a fantastic low-light setting that gave off a real atmosphere.
Then it was up the stairs into an area
that explained about the more technical aspects of F1, from wind tunnel
importance to the design of the tubs. Next to this was an engaging room
featuring ex-Williams driver’s helmets and a huge variety of Constructor
winning trophies from down the years. It
was in this room we were offered refreshments and I must say a huge thanks for
the fantastic effort put on by the staff at Williams as it made for a
fantastic, memorable experience.
Lee McKenzie, the BBC F1 reporter/presenter, hosted the
guests and it was a real pleasure to see Sir Frank Williams take to the stage
and say a few words. The applause
surrounding this moment really gave you a sense of how respected this truly remarkable
man is, by both industry insiders and fans alike.
Current Williams driver Pastor Maldonado was then introduced
after signing hundreds of autographs in the Champions Gallery earlier,
answering questions on his recent crash in Valencia with Lewis Hamilton, the
impact he has experienced in Venezuela after becoming the country’s biggest sporting
icon, and his amazing win at the 2012 Spanish GP.
As Pastor rushed off for more PR engagements, Ross Brawn (AMG
Mercedes), Martin Whitmarsh (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) and Bob Fernley (Force
India) took to the stage and immediately took questions from the fans.
(L to R) Lee McKenzie, Bob Fernley, Martin Whitmarsh and Ross Brawn on stage
The focus for many of the questions were on tyres and
DRS. MW stated that the current tyres used
in F1 are “massively exciting for fans”, due to the amazing change in grip
levels that can suddenly occur. I
certainly agree with this…it’s made F1 very exciting. Interestingly, when Ross Brawn was quizzed about
DRS, he suggested that it is by no means a perfected system, saying that “the
fans need to tell us if DRS is working”.
This underlines the spirit of the FOTA Forum to be honest…F1 clearly
wants to get fans (old and new) more involved in the future of the sport which
will benefit everyone in the long run.
There were two other questions that really took my interest. The first asked why there is such a tight gap
between the majority of cars during qualifying, which MW felt was mainly down
to a lack of significant rule changes this season, which has allowed more teams
to refine the development of their cars and close the gap to the bigger teams. The second question I enjoyed was to do with
new technology and the fact that with sportscars allowing more freedom for new
ideas (the DeltaWing seen at Le Mans this year springs to mind), is F1 still
the pinnacle of motor racing? MW felt
that F1 has to remain at the top in
the tech stakes and that the sportscar model isn’t necessarily a good one,
relying too much on a handful of manufacturers (Audi and Toyota) which could
affect its own future, certainly in the LMP1 class.
After well over an hour of questioning, the three men left
the stage and went straight into media interviews. It was time for the ‘legends’ to make their
appearance…former F1 drivers Derek Warwick and John Watson, together with
former Williams heavy weight Patrick Head.
The whole Q&A was extremely engaging, with them
discussing everything from their experience with turbo cars, current F1
drivers, the pressure put on them by the media and their thoughts on driver
stewards.
I was lucky enough to be picked by Lee to ask a particularly
emotive question which I really had just thought of moments earlier after DW
had answered a question on safety. I asked
Derek what it was like physiologically getting into the Lotus F1 car at Jerez in
1990 after his team mate Martin Donnelly had a serious, career-ending crash in
the same design of car that same weekend.
Derek unfortunately had witnessed a lot of tragedy during his career and
it was touching to hear him explain how it was.
As a racing driver of that era, it came down to two things…you have to
create an emotional detachment and, at the end of the day, it’s your job, so
you carry on. These sentiments were
echoed by John Watson, with both also discussing the fatal Gilles Villeneuve
accident back in 1982. I will always be
grateful to the panel for addressing this difficult question and I know that
the audience were very engaged. I just underlines
the fact that the drivers of F1 cars are driven by passion more than anything
else and they know the risks.
As the three legends left the stage, Lee closed the Forum
and everyone left the hall gradually (via the shop in my case!), bringing to a
close what had been a fantastic event. I
will hold it long in my memory. Thanks
FOTA!
