Tuesday

Board United Airlines flight 857 to Shanghai – 12 hours. Glad I have my Autosport and F1 Racing magazines, and some other serious stuff too...

Wednesday

Arrive in Shanghai and breeze through immigration and customs. Can't believe that I (a running dog lackey of imperialism) am now in a communist country – cool!


BAR display at Shanghai International Airport

After a little hand waving and pulling out some reference documents, we get a cab to downtown – some 30 miles away. Welcome to Shanghai, where drivers play an elaborate game of chicken at 60 miles an hour. Any open space (i.e. a car length plus 12 inches) is fair game. Have to close our eyes and brace for impact too many times.


Up close with the virtual BAR

Driving into Shanghai is fantastic – it looks like New York only BIGGER! Many, many signs in English – the driver even speaks a little. Awful traffic to the hotel but that allows more time to point and gawk.

The Portman Ritz-Carlton is in a great location: on Nanjing Lu, the east-west road out of Shanghai, in the midst of a new, vibrant shopping district with many restaurants (new and old) and near the French Concession. And the hotel, which my wife found on the web at a great price, is everything one would expect from a Ritz.

In–room check-in, go eat at one of Shanghai's oldest restaurants, and crash.

Thursday

Go out to look for bus tickets to the race. No public vehicles without special passes are allowed within 6 kilometres of 3.5 miles of the track. We can find them but not for trips from location near the hotel. We decide to hire a car from the hotel to take us to the race – best decision we ever made. Meanwhile we snagged some wonderful fresh baked breakfast pastries for 2 bucks. Learn that red lights are irrelevant when one is driving in Shanghai.

Go out and explore the French Concession. It's the place where all those 1930-40's films took place. Wonderful scale to the architecture but too damn many counterfeit DVD and Rolex vendors. End the walk at a beautiful park – one that the French controlled – where dogs and Chinese were not allowed back in the day. My have things changed in the world!

Shower, go out and great more great Chinese food, crash.

Friday

The one morning we decide to have breakfast at the hotel and we have it with Olivier Panis. Well, he was at the next table. I'm usually pretty bold and strike up conversations with famous people but I think he was with his agent so I graciously left them alone. Turns out Toyota, Jordan and BMW Williams folks are staying at the hotel too.

Out to the track in our hired car – an Audi A4 – posh for China (though we did see two Ferrari dealerships in town). The driver spoke just enough English to permit effective conversation.

More horrible traffic until we hit the free zone – only special passes permitted – and we zoom toward the track that is now looming on the horizon.

We get dropped off and make our way to our seats. Wow! We've never seen anything like this place. Modern in every way including the all important "FACILITIES" – no holes in the floor here. But it is hot in the sun without our umbrellas deployed. The crowd is somewhat sparse. Off to our right is a group of locals. One guy moves over toward us and asks where we're from. He's very friendly – turns out he has an uncle in Baltimore. On top of that, his boss has given he and his colleagues the day off because they built the grandstands we are sitting in. He would have to work on Saturday and Sunday. Had to get his picture – he asks in imperfect English whether we need a ride after the sessions. My most lasting impression of China is how nice and friendly the people are.


New friends found at Shanghai.


Oh – the action on the track: the Ant is doing his thing and staying at or on top of the time charts. Jenson joins him but Taku blows up.

The sound of F1 engines in person: if they are all singing a high C, the Honda is singing a C sharp. With my eyes closed, I can pick out that distinctive shriek. According to Honda, an F1 engine can be heard 1-1/2 miles away – I believe it.

Back into the car, blissfully air-conditioned, and back to the hotel for a shower and then another great meal.

Saturday

Qualifying time – Jenson goes to P1 – can he stay there? Kimi and Rubens beat him but he can still get face time with Peter Windsor if Michael somehow doesn't squeeze in to 1, 2 or 3. I'm ready to concede but my wife says: "he could blow a tire". Not quite but a spin will do nicely, thank you. On to the interview room, JB.


BAR hits the track

Chatting with F1 veterans (did you know you have to reserve your hotel room in Montreal a year ahead) in the shade under the stands between sessions, we learn that 10,000 people were stranded by the public buses the day before. Glad we have our car!

Back into the car, again blissfully air-conditioned, and back to the hotel for a shower and then another great meal.

Sunday

Time to break out the official BAR-Honda cap and team shirt (to go with the kit bag) and go stylin’.

The excitement is palpable in the stands. 150,000 are on hand – fortunately not too many smokers near us.

Let's go already!

The race goes by almost too fast but seeing Jenson blow by Alonso on the back straight (Honda Power) is too good! (The hardest thing about watching a race live is divining and remembering who is on what strategy: is so-and-so on a two stopper or a three stopper and when should he have stopped).


Takuma on the move

And Taku is carving them up lap by lap. Jacques who? Jenson's in P2. Michael spins! Watching Jenson wind in Rubens while Kimi is winding both of them in is almost too much to take but then it is over.


A BAR sandwich underneath the Shanghai architecture.

Time to bolt because a lot of those 150,000 people came by bus or private car and they do not care where they walk – which is mostly on the roads leading to those parking areas 3 miles away.

We make our getaway having had a wonderful BAR-Honda day.

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