By The Offsider
March 19 2009

Continuing with my report... So, where was I? Ah, yeah, right, getting into the pitlane. From the entrance I take the first thing you see is, well apart from the almost empty grandstand (no wonder why, Alonso is not on duty today), the Ferrari box.

 And it isn’t as if they were doing a big deal, as the car was on track, there aren’t many mechanics outside. Yes, the outside thing is quite literally, as they are putting those fences for “defending their castle” against unwilled views. Worst of all is that they aren’t the exception, as later on I’ll explain.

Then next is Mclaren. They first box I see has an older car, the MP4-22 if I’m not mistaken, and behind they have the front half of their 2005 contender, now transformed into a simulator.

At that very moment Piquet gets in. Time to start running to get some photos, although it’s too late really.

BMW seems to follow the same route as other teams, and uses fences plus some strategically placed mechanics to hide the car, though I still manage to get some decent pics of the working in the car, although not up to the standard I would have wished. Fortunately its soon time for Nick to go out and get some laps (so far he had done almost none). Damn, my suspicions are confirmed. He is not running any significant updates on the aero side. Though I spot something that catches my attention: in the other box of the team, some chairs, placed very much ala Swiss precision, are facing at the Team’s TV screens. On top of the chairs are some mechanics helmets, which indicates that there they will stay for some time, very much simulating a normal GP. I wasn’t wrong, as you’ll read soon, view this Pic

Then some cars (Williams, Toyota, and Red Bull) go in and out as I walk on the way to the other extreme of the paddock, where the new Brawn team is. But I cannot miss commenting how worried were Red Bull workers on hiding the rear wing and diffuser.

Once in Brawn box, finally I can see a “living” driver: Button, with an all-white racing overall. He seems happy and relaxed. Certainly getting to back the track after all the uncertainty he has suffered this winter contributes for his inner bliss!

He even seats on a wheel at the same time Ross Brawn takes a close look to the work in process on the new car, check this Photo

The activity in the box is frenetic, with more engineers and mechanics in there than on any other team. I’m waiting for Phil to take a look at who was and who was not there, to see how the buy-out/turbulent times have affected the team structure.

But no time to relax for me, as the vroom-vroom of the Mclaren is right behind me….wait Piquet is there too. Seems Kovalainen will have to show the way.

So I decide to move on to the fence that separates the track from the pits, just to take a couple of photos of the Newey design.

When I get back I notice the Red Bull mechanics have anxiety running through their veins at the moment, well not really, but they are alert ‘cause soon will be time for the RB5 to get into the pits.

Though later it’s proved that it’s not so soon, so I decide meanwhile to take more pics of other cars which are getting back to the pits, yet not losing the vision of the RBR mechanics, and having spotted a strategic position just in front of the car’s stopping point, though I’m kindly requested to move back 1 meter.

Finally Webber gets in, gets his wheel just over the markings, puts neutral, the engages first, and when its looks like he will exit like a rocket back to do another lap, he stops, switches off the engine and is pulled back to the pits (in fact this is the normal procedure all teams carry).

More interesting was BMW’s pit stop. They were simulating a race situation, so all the mechanics were seating in the “famous” chair arrangement and suddenly but progressively went off to do a proper (tyre change plus refuelling) stop practice.

Nick changes his slicks for a full wet tyres set, but then is taken into the pits. Though I manage to get a nice sequence of photos, as well as a nice view of the steering wheel, KERS button included.

Anyway, the rest of the things in the pitlane where more or less an iteration of what I’ve already mentioned, so I won’t bore you any longer with that stuff. Though I can’t forget mentioning I got some pretty decent photos of the Brawn’s front wing, and what’s more interesting, their front’s underbody.

After all my “pit-walk” I went back to the room to write a bit, and “kidnap” Stef to go back to the paddock. When getting to one end of it, in the Force India track, Stef met an old friend working in the team and we had a nice chat with that anonymous mechanic. Though he told us some interesting things, some of which I can tell here. Indeed it was nice to hear him, some of the stuff he talked about:

He was pretty firm on showing that FI is still an independent team, not a Mclaren B-team. He told us about the late power-train change and the consequences it had in the design process, on how the Mclaren-Mercedes cooperation worked (they do have a man of that camp in the team now, and apparently he is being very useful, and helping to get the right way forward, although the team still remains independent. Hadn’t he mentioned that already?). Ah, and that FI won’t use Mercedes’ KERS…as of now.

On the FOTA proposals, about cost-cutting, he disserted too. He was clear at making the valid point that all teams will have to become of FI’s size, so it won’t be a drama for FI, in fact a benefit for their team.

On the day’s program, he revealed that during the morning they had focused in quail runs, while the afternoon would be for race simulations.

Also on his personal situation, if I recall correctly, he would get a job-tasks change, now attending some of the races as well as some work at the factory, as effectively the test team won’t be necessary any longer in 2009.

All in all, a very productive time, and I’m sad I cannot remember all his words, nor I can share all the things said, with you, for obvious reasons.

There is still a third and final part of my report left, which I'll try to publish as soon as possible.