iWitness in France: Saturday

Posted on Sunday 22 Jun 2008 and tagged with iwitness, france.

Adam Parr might be an expert at steering Williams F1 through the murky waters of F1 politics, but the same cannot be said of our CEO’s on-track ability. On the Magny-Cours kart circuit yesterday he emerged slower than Account Manager Phil Kennard (brother of F3 racer Jonathan). “It’s true,” said Adam, “I’m slow. But it was fun!”


There was an exchanging of gifts this evening at La Chaumerie, the hotel near Moulins where Williams F1 have stayed since the inclusion of Magny-Cours on the Formula One calendar in 1991. The maitre d, Mme Picard, has taken a bit of shine to Patrick Head and last night she gave him a traditional Moulins plate. Was it in honour of his stay, or was it, perhaps, in an effort to make up for what the team have lovingly nicknamed the "killer smurfs," the rather peculiar non-slip shower mats in the hotel that are more lethal than protective!


When Silvia Hoffer was heard shouting “Mike check, Mike check” this afternoon, she wasn’t actually looking for a man called Mike. Our PR lady was checking the new wireless microphone, which allows us to broadcast Nico and Kazuki’s television interviews simultaneously in the motorhome. We like to look after the world’s media.


Could it be that Felipe Massa is a bit accident prone? The Ferrari star complained of a sore neck this morning, the cause of which had nothing to do with racing. “I had a moment on the escalator yesterday,” he said. The mind boggles…