Silverstone day 3 - Race Day

Once more, and for the last time, up at 4:30.
race day dawned bright and sunny. I donned a kagool, wooly hat, scarf and thermal underwear.

At the circuit just after six. and the place was packed. The race was to be watched from the Copse Corner stand. Seat number allocated, so all we had to do was wait and relax. This is the day that everybody goes to; the race fans and the people who get free tickets on corporate jollies. If you don't have a stand seat, you have to fight for a place around the circuit where you can see a bit of the track, and the only way to do that is to get in early, otherwise you will be looking at 50 metres of tarmac through somebody's armpits.
There were queues for the bogs that you wouldn't believe, queues for burgers, coffee, donuts, portable TVs.......
....I can't believe that so many people hired TVs at the circuit. £80 for 3 days, or £60 just for Sunday. I could have told the people who spent £250 on a ticket and then £80 for the tellythat they could have saved themselves at least £330 quid by staying at home and watching it on the telly in their living rooms.
In fact, the best way to experience F1 is to go the much more relaxed Friday session for 3 hours of F1 cars where you can experience the sound and smell of the cars, then watch the race on the telly. I didn't know how the qualifying had ended up until I got home and googled it.
Race day is a bit of a let-down as you only get to see just over an hour and a half of the F1 cars . Even on Saturday you get two hours. It's the race fans that amuse me - some of them go all the way and try to look like members of their favourite race-team. The two guys in the picture are an example - they had regulation shorts on as well. I think these folks rival Trekkies.
There was a cold wind blowing across the circuit which caught out most people who hadn't been here the previous two days and had listened to the weather forecast. All those people in shorts freezing to death. I almost felt sorry for them.
The race result was no surprise, Vettel was in a class of his own. Button lost 3 places at the start and spent the rest of the race getting them back. Hamilton spent all weekend apologising.

With promises that the GP will be back next year at Silverstone ringing in our buzzing ears, we got back home in less than 40 minutes. A record by anybody's standards.