The Formula One paddock is a busy place that hosts a lot of serious business over a race weekend, but this blog will aim to bring you some of the more colourful moments from the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.
New digs
As the first race after the flyaways, the Spanish Grand Prix is the opening race of the European season — as such, it’s the first time teams are able to transport their motorhomes to the F1 paddock.
There are some new ones on display in Barcelona this week. For the first time in 14 years, Red Bull has arrived without its famous Energy Station, having introduced a new complex known as the Holzhaus (or Wood House, as the interior is fashioned from 417m³ of sustainably-sourced Austrian timber).
It is based on an old MotoGP motorhome which was used during last year’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring — where Max Verstappen claimed the team’s first win at its home race. The new Holzhaus — standing at three floors and with 1,221 square metres of floor space — can be built in 32 hours and taken down in one day by a crew of 25.
It does without air conditioning — relying on a natural convection design within the walls of the building to keep its occupants cool — but has a grand total of 26 fridges stocking various varieties of Red Bull. Its kitchen will serve 100kg of pasta, 120kg of fish and 180kg of meat at every race.
Goin’ up on a Tuesday in a paddock near you 😎 Building the #F1 Holzhaus from the ground floor up 💪 #givesyouwings pic.twitter.com/63FvfWYpNu
— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) 8 May 2019
“If it sees half as much drama as the old Energy Station, it will be doing well!” team boss Christian Horner said.
Although Max Verstappen joked that nothing had changed for where the drivers spend their time, he admitted to already seeing the benefit of Daniel Ricciardo’s departure to Renault for this season.
“Everything is new except my room,” he said. “But I stole Daniel’s room because it was bigger.”
It’s next stop will be Monte Carlo, when it will be loaded onto a giant barge and floated into the harbour for the duration of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
Red Bull isn’t the only team showing off a new facility. Racing Point has arrived with a swanky new complex of its own to mark its new partnership with sports betting platform SportPesa. The team was renamed from Force India for 2019 following Lawrence Stroll’s takeover of the team last August — the Canadian billionaire has promised to invest heavily in the team.
A team spokesperson told me the new facility — standing a 800 square metres, but also spread across three floors — underlines Stroll’s commitment to improving the team on and off the track. It can serve 800 meals across a race weekend and, like the Holzhaus, can be constructed in less than two days. The team commissioned the design from the same company that built the motorhome for Racing Point’s engine supplier, reigning world champions Mercedes.
Notice anything a little… different? 👀
🙌 if you’re up for a tour of our new digs!#MakeItCount #F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/VFBe8z5AGR
— SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) May 9, 2019
Haas’ team members will have a bit more space for lunch this year, too, with the team unveiling an expanded motorhome for the 2019 season. The new complex is just an upgrade on what it has brought to European races since its arrival in F1 three years ago but signals another team trying to make a statement with a new title partner.
A few in the team joked to me that it was typical luck that it arrived with an expanded motorhome, only to find itself parked next to the giant Red Bull Holzhaus.
Take a step inside our new motorhome for the 2019 season!#HaasF1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/qIjWSQpV4Q
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) 9 May 2019
Favourite quote from Thursday’s media day so far: Kevin Magnussen on why Baku’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix failed to live up to expectations two weeks ago.
“I kind of had a feeling it would be like that. My initial thought was I need to stay conservative and just make sure I get through the first lap and then I’ll be on the podium, because everyone will crash! But then I thought, everyone else is going to think that, and I guess they did.”
Blog to be updated during the week…