iWitness in Melbourne: Thursday

Posted on Friday 25 Mar 2011 and tagged with iwitness.

Congratulations to Rubens Barrichello’s physio, Achim Hofstadter, who became a father during the off-season. The Australian Grand Prix is his first trip away from mother and babe, but he’s coping well. “There’s plenty of time to speak them via Skype because my wife is awake with the baby and I’m awake with jet-lag!”

The atmospheric Melbourne paddock is a dream for journalists because there’s nowhere for the drivers to hide. But its tight confines are not so good for the teams because it’s very squashed. Take the room used by the AT&T Williams marketing department. They are five of them, but there’s only room for three desks...

The season-opener is no less frenetic this year, due to the late arrival of updated car parts, but the mechanics are feeling fresher than ever before. The reason is the new curfew introduced by the FIA, which forces teams to leave their pit garages vacant for at least six hours per night. There’s no such thing as an all-nighter in F1 these days…

Local hero Mark Webber is a fantastic ambassador for F1 and he did his bit for Australia’s flood victims this evening. He organised a fund-raiser ($250 per ticket) in downtown Melbourne and called on a few of his F1 mates to turn up for what was dubbed, “An audience with Mark Webber and friends”. Good on you, mate.

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