Milan Day 2
Grand Prix Day 2 is the qualifying session. Remember I told you (unless you didn't read the Day 1 entry yet ;-))The fastest qualifying time on day 1 gets to go last on day 2. The slowest qualifying time on day 1 goes first on day 2. Going last is considered an advantage because the track has better grip and traction due to all the other cars that have already gone and left their rubber on the road. So - the faster you are on day 1, the later you get to go out on day 2.
The goal of day 2 is to determine who gets "pole position" for the race on Sunday, and in general in what order the cars line up in the grid on race day.
The Grid & Starting Formation on Race Day The starting grid is in a staggered 1 x 1 formation and the rows on the grid are separated by 16 metres. 30 minutes before the time of the start of the race, the cars leave the pits to cover a reconnaissance lap. At the end of this lap they will stop on the grid in starting order with their engines stopped. At the one minute signal, the engines are started and all team personnel must leave the grid by the time the 15 second signal is given. When the green lights at the start line are illuminated the cars begin their formation lap with the pole position driver leading. Formation within the formation lap is kept tight and no passing is permitted (unless it is to reestablish the original starting order). When the cars come back to the grid at the end of the formation lap they will stop on their respective grid positions, keeping their engines running. Once all the cars have come to a halt the 5 second light will appear, followed by the 4, 3, 2, and 1 second lights. At any time after the 1 second light appears, the race will be started by extinguishing all red lights. Those are just the basics. The rules are actually quite a bit more complex. If you're interested, check out the Official 2003 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations. There are 26 more pages of rules :-).
However Day 2 was also our "Pitwalk" day. As part of the F1Tours Gold package, we received Pitwalk passes for Saturday at 7:30am. Yes - I said 7:30am. And, if you've read my previous days web pages, you know that means getting up at around 5:00am, to be ready to leave no later than 6:00am so that we can get through the Milan traffic and arrive in time to attend the Pitwalk at 7:30am. We had to ask for a wakeup call :-)
Despite Steve's supreme organization and planning, Georgio failed to show up at 6:00am on Saturday morning. Getting 3 hours of sleep a night, and having a "main squeeze" can do that to you :-) But we weren't worried. Steve called for two cabs, and we made it to the track in record time (record time compared to our previous record from day one. However we could probably have walked to Monza and arrived in record time in that comparison :-)). It all went very smoothly.
Not all tracks offer the opportunity to walk the pits. I think there are only a few left who do this. I know that the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis does pit walks. But from what I can tell they're a mob scene. Ours wasn't like that. If you want to do the pitwalk you buy a reservation for a specific day and time. And the number of people on the pitwalk is quite manageable. There was no mob scene. (well - there was a mini mob scene around the ferrari pit when they were revving their engines, but still nothing on the order of Indianapolis
Check out the mob scene in the pitwalk at Inianapolis. Ours was nothing like this - we got some GREAT pictures!
I think for our pitwalk we were also able to get a lot closer to the cars. And having Steve with us was a total bonus. He's been doing this gig for 20 years now, and has made a lot of connections with driver and staff of various teams. So he was able to get us behind the ropes of one team to get our picture taken next to an actual car! Way cool :-) The entire experience was very cool. Again - below are just a few pictures. Tim has many many (many many) more at
The Gold package also includes a seated breakfast and lunch in the restaurant below our seats. So let me explain how this works. Breakfast is breakfast - nothing really major here - pastries and croissants, coffee of course, juice, etc. The normal continental type of spread. But Lunch. Sigh. Lunch. Here's how lunch went for both Day 2 and Day 3 of the Grand Prix.
You start with a glass of champagne. This is quickly accompanied by a selection of Anti Pasti (basically the appetizer course). Typically this included a selection of cheeses, meats (proscuitto most typically, often served with melon) and breads. Sometimes it was a salad of some sort (caprese, or other).
You munch and you eat, and you sip your champagne, you talk, you laugh, you sip more champagne (because if you finish your glass before the anti pasti course is over, they will refill you, of course).
Finally the 2nd course begins. This is the pasta course. You are served not one but TWO selections of pasta. Each of which, if you were eating normally, would probably serve on its own as an entire meal. Lucky for me, often times one of the two pasta selections was a seafood dish. Blech. (unless you like seafood. Which I do not). But if any of the wait staff realized that I declined the seafood portion of my pasta course, they would come by and scoop extra helpings of the non-seafood pasta selection onto my plate. But who's complaining? It was great. Sigh :-).
Oh - I need to also mention that with the serving of the pasta course, the flow of champagne ends, the champagne glasses are taken away, and the flow of white wine begins.
It is here I must digress from the menu description because I need to offer a helpful tip to all you other north americans who have difficulty, when faced with a formal table set with 3 glasses, which glass is used for what beverage. The champagne glass is easy - you shouldn't ever have a problem picking that one out. It's the tall skinny flute. What you gotta watch out for is the wine vs the water glass. Both are shaped like your typical wine glass (and it is also interesting to note the same glass is used for both red and white wine in many establishments). One is slightly larger than the other. So here's how it works. For all you people out there who would reason that the larger glass must be the wine glass because you'd rather drink wine than water - YOU'D BE WRONG. The larger glass is the water glass. The smaller glass is the wine glass. Let me tell you how this relates to our story.
There are 4 of us - all of us are americans (I've lived in the US enough that I've granted myself unofficial dual-citizen status) - who have purchased the gold package. We go in to have lunch (which is served between the practice session and the qualifying session), locate our reserved table, and sit down. We drink our champagne, enjoy our anti pasti, and as the bottle of white wine and the bottle of water are placed simultanously on our table, we realize we're faced with a rather large and daunting decision. Which glass does the water go in, and which glass does the wine go in? None of us know for sure. We glance around at the other tables, but no one near us has been seated yet and the rest haven't poured their beverages either. Maybe they have the same question? Doubtful. They're all Italian. Well - being rather thirsty we decide that we'll all choose the same size glass for our water and that way if we're wrong, we'll all be wrong (there is comfort in numbers. Especially in a foreign country when you're about to commit a potential dining faux pas.). So we conduct a vote, and the large glass wins as the glass for wine, and the smaller one for water.
Right after we poured both the wine and the water, I glanced over at the table next to us and learned that we had, in fact, chosen wrong. However at this point in time we chose to blame the wait staff since in all reality they should have poured our beverages for us :-) At any rate, the wine and water didn't taste any different for being in the wrong glasses, and we figured being wrong was somewhat expected of us given that we're from the US, so we sat back, relaxed, ate our pasta and drank our wine figuring no one would notice anyway.
Now - the wait staff had in fact noticed. I am betting they were probably secretly quite appalled at what we had done. We were probably the butt of many wine/glass jokes in the kitchen. But they were very professional and kept their thoughts to themselves and continued to serve us as they would everyone else. And while they did so, they formulated a plan. A grand scheme to subtley get this table of uncouth americans to switch their wine and water around without even noticing.
Oh, they were good. They were very very good. I was extremely impressed with the subtle and masterful way in which they carried out this plan. None of the other tables noticed, and I for one was quite grateful to have been brought back into the land of civilized formal dining etiquette. Here's how they did it.
I was their first "conversion". At the point at which during our pasta course I had drained the last drops of wine from my glass, I moved on to my on my water. While I was sipping my water from what was supposed to have been my wine glass, a waiter stealthily moved in and poured water into my wine glass. NOTE - the wait staff was not pouring anyone's water. Water was something you poured yourself. He also knew I had water. It was phase 1 of their plot. I finished the water that was in my wine glass, and as soon as I did so the waiter returned and filled the glass with wine. Presto! I had been converted. I was now operating within the normal parameters of dining etiquette. The plan was a success. We all noticed, but no one else had. The same exercise was repeated for Tim, Judith, and Bob (our companions) as they finished their beverages. Now we knew, and now we could relax. We had been corrected :-)
OK - back to the menu description. Anti pasti and white wine was followed quite leisurely by the meat course and red wine (dining is a very leisurely experience. More on that later in the web site). The meat course consisted of one, sometimes two, selections of either a beef or a fish. I of course would decline the fish, and being wise now to their tactics, would also quickly cover my plate before they could slide a 2nd beef selection onto it (to make up for the lack of fish). I had to. It was the only way I was going to survive the entire trip without having to purchase a whole new wardrobe!
Meat and wine proceeded at the same leisurely pace. When it was all over the table was cleared, and we were offered dessert. Dessert was often a concoction of gelato and berries, or it was some kind of cake. Whatever it was, it was always heavenly. Sigh.
Finally, with dessert all done, coffee was served. Espresso of course.
So at this point on Day 2 of the grand prix, after getting up at 5am, walking the pits for an hour, and consuming 4 courses of absolutely delectable food and wine, I was ready for a hard earned nap. That was not to be - because we had to get back up to our seats in time for the start of the qualifying sessions!
The qualifying sessions are sometimes even more exciting than the race. This is where lap records are made as the drivers compete for the most coveted starting position on the grid - pole position. I think there's also a lot of strategy and some psyschology involved as well. You want to do as well as you need to in order to get pole position but you don't want to give all your secrets and tactics away. However you also want to show the other drivers what you're capable of and intimidate them a bit; make them think twice about tomorrow regardless of what their starting position is. Cause you're a threat and a force to be reckoned with. I dunno :-).
There is definitely a lot of strategy involved though. There are a lot of rules governing the qualifying sessions. For example:
- the driver who drives in the qualifying session is the driver who must drive in the race
- the car that is driven in the qualifying session is the car that must be driven in the race
- the car must be equipped with the same tires and the same amount of fuel for the qualifying session that it will be for the start of the race
That last one is a very interesting one. I believe it is also new for the 2003 season, and it has really helped step up the competitiveness of the races. If you think about it, it makes sense. The lighter your car is, the faster it goes. The less fuel in your car the lighter it is. Therefore, for qualifying session, only put as much fuel in the car as you need in order to complete the session, and your car will be as light as it can be, which will help you go faster. Tires also play a very important role. Your selection of tires is based largely on the current track conditions. If the track is really hot and dry, the tires you choose for your car will be different than if the track is cool and/or damp or wet from a recent rainfall. But if you are required to start the race in the same tires that you qualified in, then you need to put a bit more strategy behind your tire selection for the qualifying session. You need to factor in the anticipated track conditions for the next day.
There is also your whole pit strategy. It is not possible to complete an entire race without a pitstop. Even if everything is working on your car, you're going to need to refuel at least once, and you're probably going to need to replace your tires at least once. But if you plan a one-stop strategy (ie one pitstop for refueling and possible tire change) that means you're starting your car with a lot more fuel than someone who is planning a two-stop strategy. That may (not necessarily but may) give the other an advantage in the beginning while your car is heavier with more fuel and consequently moving more slowly. But then they are likely to stop for their first refuel before you, and by then you'll have burned some and made your car lighter, and theirs will be more full... Typically teams will plan for either 1 or 2 stops. I've only ever seen more than 2 stops when there has been something wrong with the car between refuelings.
There are all sorts of other parameters that go into deciding the pitstop strategy, the tires, the fuel levels, the qualifying speeds, etc. They have all kinds of really smart people and a lot of data and computers whose jobs it is to figure all this stuff out.
Anyway - in the end, they were quite exciting, and it was not necessarily a given that Michael Schumacher would take pole position (which, actually, he did :-)). And we had a fantastic time!
Yes - we do have pictures from Grand Prix day 2. I actually only included a small selection of the photos we took during the pitwalk and one taken at lunch. If you wanna see them all - more pitwalk photos and all of the qualifying session photos - check out Tim's pictures of:
- Grand Prix Day 2 - Pitwalk
- Grand Prix Day 2 - Qualifying Sessions
The ride home from Monza was uneventful. I should tell you though, that we learned that the bus finally showed up at the hotel at 8am, and was told to meet us at the track in the parking area, which it did, and which we successfully found. Georgio wasn't our driver though. I can't remember our new driver's name. He was very competent and we got back to the hotel very quickly. And he was pretty fun too!
We decided that afternoon to check out the infamous fashion district. I had done a little research and knew the street we wanted to hit was Via Monte Napoleone. We walked back up to the Piazza Duomo and followed the map to the street we were looking for.
I'm sorry we don't have any pictures of our actual window shopping experience. I think we were both a in a bit of a people-watching stupor to be able to remember to pull out the camera and take pictures.
We had definitely found the "hot spot" of Milan for fashion, as evidenced by the names in gold letters that appeared above the boutique stores, and by the large amount of glitz we observed on the tourist shoppers. Yup - this was it.
We ventured into one store. I can't remember if it was Prada or Escada or Dolce & Gabbana (say that fast over and over .It has a a nice rhythm to it :-). They all looked the same to me after a while.
I have never been in a store before in which I didn't know how to shop. Really. I walked into this place and I had no idea what to do. I was out of my shopping league.
The floor was divided into "nooks". Each nook had beautifully hung clothes around the perimeter. I swear every hanger of clothing was separated by the next by exactly 3.5 centimeters.
Each nook had an attendant. A woman or man impeccably dressed, hair and makeup perfectly done, and he or she was poised and ready.
Ready for what, I wasn't sure. I couldn't speak the language, although I'm quite sure they could speak English. But I didn't know what they were there for. I was afraid to touch the clothes myself because I suspected that was their job, but if I didn't ruffle through the rack, how would I know what I liked?
And even if I did figure out what I liked, there was only one of each garment on the rack. What if it wasn't my size? Where were they keeping the rest? And where were the change rooms?
Oh, the despair. The only thing that saved me was the knowledge that I couldn't possibly afford anything in the store anyway, so what did it matter.
I mustered up the best "I have money and I know what I'm doing and I could buy anything in this store if I wanted to" look on my face and I proceeded to "browse". Browse without touching, that is. I must have looked really odd.
The one time I did venture over to a rack, sliding a couple of hangers over to take a closer look at an item, Tim informed me later, the attendant immediately rushed over when I had walked away to respace the hangers. I asked if she had a ruler with her. Tim didn't understand. I bet she did.
Tim looked at shoes and belts. There were nooks with men's clothing and accessories. He found a pair of shoes he really liked, but they were $900 Euros. Do you know, my wedding dress cost $900. I'd be damned if Tim was going to own a pair of shoes that cost more than my wedding dress! Actually, Tim is extremely fiscally responsible. He took one look at the price (It couldn't have been THAT high end a shop come to think of it; all the items had price tags on them) he descretely put it down and walked away. Tim wasn't afraid to touch anything. That's one of the things that I admire about him. I tried to take his lead :-)
In the end it was a rather entertaining shopping experience. We were mocked in some stores (discretely, of course, but nothing gets past Tim!) because of the department store bag I was carrying around with me containing the department store sweater I had purchased on the way to the high fashion district. What was I thinking? I could have purchased the sweater on the way BACK from the high fashion district! ;-)
I did eventually find a store that was more my speed. Max Mara. I'm now a fan. I have no idea if it is Italian or not. Who cares. It was a little more user friendly.
There were of course all the usual non-italian designers in the area as well - Chanel, etc. And of course the jewellers.
There was also a lot of designer accessory stores. Like the designer baby stroller store. Again - I wish I had a picture. These things were quite outlandish! We actually did see a woman later pushing a designer carriage down the sidewalk, Gucci shopping bag over her arm. Wacky! Gotta love it :-)
The best part of the afternoon though, came on the walk back to the hotel. As we were passing through the piazza on the other side of that arched shopping mall we heard two very large, argumentative, voices. WE turned around and experienced our very first truly Italian Moment.
It was about 5pm in the afternoon and surrounding the fountain in the middle of the piazza were several groups of older italian gentlemen. Some were feeding the pigeons, some were holding a newspaper as if to read it, but all were engaged in extremely lively debate involving wild arm gesturing, and loud and passionate voices.
You could tell that no matter what day you came to this piazza, the scene would be the same - this was most definitely a daily ritual. Get a paper, go to the park, sit by the fountain, feed the pigeons, and discuss and debate with whomever happened to be there.
Two gentlemen in particular caught our attention. One standing with arms crossed and an expression as if to say "Impossible. Prove it. I don't believe you. You don't know what you're talking about". The other leaning inward, gesturing wildly, impassionately making his argument to his listener. We moved to the edge of the square, sat down, and watched. In a few minutes they reversed roles. And back and forth they went. Behind them were similar scenes of men in groups of 2 or 3 or 4, some shouting, some standing. Arms flailing. Voices climbing and combining into a mad italian crescendo. Pigeons fluttering to get out of the way as the arm gestures intensified. And the rest of the world walking by as if nothing was going on. Tim managed to get a few pictures to capture the moment. We should have made an AVI so you could have heard the sound too :-) Ah well!
The other thing that I wanted to capture was the prolific use of Motor Scooters as the primary mode of transportation. They were everywhere. And it was clear why. Traffic was awful no matter what time of day, but on one of these things you could maneuver your way through the worst of it or, if there wasn't enough room to squeeze by, you could ride your scooter up onto the sidewalk and escape the worst of the traffic that way. Apparently pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way even on the sidewalks. Trust me :-) The other advantage the scooter gives you is it can slip through the smallest of alleyways and streets that even the little "smart cars" won't fit through. AND they're much easier to park on the sidewalk, and drive the wrong way down one-way streets (doesn't create nearly as much havoc).
Here are our sight-seeing pictures from Day 2 in Milan, after we returned from Qualifying Sessions.