Qualifying day.

With widespread talk of how disappointing the new engines sound, today seems appropriate to talk about an old car on display this weekend instead of the exciting qualifying session we watched.

David Coulthard is driving this 2011 Red Bull, this is quite remarkable for me as it is 20 years since I first watched DC drive an F1 car at Silverstone in July 1994. A race that was filled with many remarkable moments, not least my younger brother sleeping beside the track during most of the race. From a historical standpoint, it was extremely exciting and important in how the 1994 season unfolded. Schumi was black flagged during the race for not serving a stop go penalty after overtaking Damon Hill on the formation lap. Enough of all that, you should read more about what Murray Walker has to say about the race as he lists it as one of his top 20 of all time in his new book.

Back to the car in the picture, it has a 2.4l engine that makes the astonishing noise that everyone knows and loves in F1, something sadly missed this weekend. Speaking to someone who had never attended a grand prix before, they were disappointed that the new cars sound nothing like that as the atmosphere would be so much better with 22 of them firing up at the same time. I couldnt agree more.

It was nice to see DC because he is a Scottish driver, something F1 misses this season sice Paul Di Resta is back in DTM, the German Touring Car series. I guess I better mention something about the actual on track excitement of rain starting during Q3 and the track getting wetter and drying out then getting wetter as Q2 saw Sebastian Vettel land in 13th place and not make it to the final 10. A final 10 where the new Australian hero, Dan Riccardo, claimed a very respectable 2nd on the grid behind Lewis Hamilton.

It had been a scorthching day, even with the rain and when we got back to the room it was time to recuperate for a couple of hours before heading out for dinner followed by a quck sleep ahead of the early morning alarm for race day!