The Abu Dhabi Experience Or 6 months ago I couldn t spell Screwtinear and now I are one. About 6 months ago, Terry Wilson (President of AVO Turboworld, on the right) and myself (Pat Weir) were invited to attend the Abu Dhabi F1 event as scrutineers. After a few shit yeah s, we both responded with a very loud YES before we had finished reading the invite right through. From then it was booking plane flights and waiting for the day to arrive. Accommodation, food and transport in Abu Dhabi were to be provided by the organizers. Monday November 8 Flew to Doha on an early morning flight and even though the flight was OK neither Terry or I would give you two bob for the service with Qatar. The flight was comfortable enough but the cabin crew were only seen once or twice during the flight and pressing the call button for 20 minutes still got no response. We then sat in Doha for 5 hours waiting for a 30 minute connecting flight to Abu Dhabi. We got to the hotel about 8:00pm after 17 hours on the road. Tuesday November 9 1 / 6
Looked around Abu Dhabi and found a place to have a few beers that night as the hotel we were in is quite new and did not have a liquor licence yet. Wednesday November 10 Met up with the Chief Scrutineer and the rest of the crew and received our tickets, T-shirts, tabards and found out what our responsibilities were to be for the weekend. Terry and I were lucky (we believed) to be given the title of Pushers. Initially we thought they had left a word off the front of it but later found out this was not the case. What it means is that us and 3 others will be working in the Weighing Station (otherwise known as the Gentlemen s Club). This is where the Race Cars are checked for weight, height and all the other legal requirements. As our name implies our roles are to push the cars in and out of the weighing station and as we found out, to also carry out a series of checks on all cars that come in. The other Scrutineers work in the F1 garages and are responsible for all the safety aspects of the cars and to also write down any changes carried out on the vehicles while in a Parc Ferme situation. Thursday November 11 You could sum this day up as mainly boring. Outside of a morning briefing by the FIA Technical Director and another 15 minutes on our specific duties, that was about it for the day. The rest of the day was spent just looking around and also watching each team in action as they bought their cars to the weighing station to do their own check independent of the FIA team and scrutineers. 2 / 6
Friday November 12 Another largely boring day although being at the beginning of the pit lane you get to see all the cars coming in and also the going ons all the way along the pits. There were 2 practice sessions for the day and things started to get interesting near the end of Session 2. FIA told us they would be bringing in 3 cars for random checks and for us to get ready to learn the ropes. The 3 cars selected were Michael Schumacher and his Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull and Robert Kubica in the Renault. It was very interesting to see Michael Schumacher making mental notes of the Red Bull car as he was getting out of the Mercedes. All 3 cars were weighed and then we were instructed in what templates to use and what measurements to check while the cars were on the weighing platform. After weighing the Vettel car was subject to more stringent series of tests by the FIA guys to test flex and rigidity of the front wing and front body structure. From then it was back to the Hotel for the night. Saturday November 13 Saturday morning dawned and it was back on the bus to the track again at 8:00am but Terry and I still had a few hours to kill before the first practice session. No activity for us as no cars were bought in during or after this practice. We then had a very comprehensive briefing for the Garage scrutineers, tyre checkers and to us, the weighing station team. As well as weighing and measuring the cars we are also to put up the Parc Ferme barriers to contain the 10 cars from the final qualifying practice. The FIA would also select 2 cars from the 7 dropped from qualifying session 1 and another 1 from session 2. Qualifying started at 5:00pm and at the end of session one, FIA bought in a Lotus and a Torro Roso and we did weights and measurements on these 2 cars. At the end of session 2 a Force 3 / 6
India was bought in for checking and no problems found in these 3 cars. From the end of session 1 of this qualifying practice all cars are now considered to be in Parc Ferme until released after the end of the race when Stewards are happy with the cars after testing and also the results for the event are confirmed. This means no changes are to be made on the vehicles unless approved by the FIA. Some activity such as cleaning, replacing oils and brakes can be checked etc. Mainly safety items can be addressed but no component changes or adjustments unless approved by FIA. As session 3 drew to a close we erected the Parc Ferme barriers outside of the weighing station and the final 10 cars were pulled in. Seven of the cars went through the normal weighing and measuring and the leading 3 got the Royal treatment. First it was Alonso s Ferrari that we weighted and measured and then the FIA techs went to work trying to pull the car apart. Nose deflection is checked using 2,500 Newton Metres of force and also the rear wing got the same treatment. All 3 got through OK and it amazed Terry and I how strong Carbon Fibre components are. It was also good to get a close look at the different concepts used by each manufacturer in putting their cars together as quite a lot of the body components needed to be taken off for the testing. We wrapped it up about 9:30pm and all the cars were sent back to their garages to be wrapped up for the night. We headed back to the hotel for a couple of beers and a good night s sleep and looking forward to race day. Sunday November 14 We had a sleep in this morning as the bus was leaving at 10:00am instead of the 8:00am we were getting used to. We had another briefing on the day s activities and the garage scrutineers went to their respective garages at 12:00 noon. As all the cars are still under Parc Ferme until after the race the garage scrutineers have to stay with their cars even when they go to the grid. Terry and I just hung around until race start as our work starts about 2-3 laps before the finish. At this stage we couldn t see ourselves getting on the grid. 4 / 6
About 30 minutes before the race, Terry and I are standing by the weighing platform discussing where would be the best place to see the race when one of the lead scrutineers came running up, grabbed me by the arm and said can you be a Flag Marshall. Needless to say the answer was yes and then we are on the Main Straight heading up to grid position 20. This is where Christian Klien was to start the race from. I was given a flag and some instructions and left to it. The idea was to wait on the grid as the cars left for the warm up lap, then climb over the track fence (onto the pit entry road) and wait for the cars to come back and grid up. If Christian stalled his car or had some other problem I was to wave the yellow flag. Thankfully the race started OK and the flag was not needed. 10 minutes before the race I looked up to see the smiling face of Terry being escorted up the grid by the chief scrutineer for a look around so be both got to be on the Start Grid of an F1 race, how bloody cool is that. From there it was onto watching the race on the big screen and also watching Webber s hope of a World Championship disappear. His car appeared to be slow through all the practice and qualifying sessions and not much better in the race. We don t think he would have been very happy after the races. As the race was nearing the end we gathered outside and prepared to put the crowd control barriers in place. This was to create the Parc Ferme area for all the cars and to also keep the photographers at bay. We waited through the presentations and for the crowd to disperse and then went to work. The first 3 cars were checked behind closed doors and as well as weighing we then saw FIA do other checks that we had not seen over the weekend. Each car took about 15-20 minutes. Terry and I both thought at this stage it was going to be a very long night as all cars finishing the race were to be tested. The next 7 point-scoring cars were quicker as less testing was done and for the final 10 cars that completed the race it was back to basic checks. This all wrapped up at 9:00pm and the cars were released out of Parc Ferme about 9:30pm when FIA and Stewards were satisfied with the final results. Our job was over then so it was handshakes all round with the FIA guys we had worked with, a final de-brief with the Chief Scrutineer and back to the hotel for a few well earned beers. Before we could consume too many beers however tiredness overtook us and we decided sleep was the best thing we could do. The End (nearly) 5 / 6
Observations: Being an integral part of F1 is a real eye opener and a great experience. Being at a racetrack and taking pit walks etc. gives you very little idea of what really goes on. The organization is fantastic as is the technology in the cars and the dedication of the race teams. Even though some teams don t have a chance they still come along with the intention of winning. The cars are unbelievable and standing on the start grid as they take of is an experience you can never forget. The noise alone tells you that something big is about to happen and the acceleration is awesome. TV shots don t do the speed aspect justice at all. The Abu Dhabi circuit is a purpose built Race Track and I would say it is the best track I have ever been to and it appears that they got everything right. As Pushers we also get to lay our hands and leave fingerprints on every racecar in the Paddock sometime over the weekend. Would we come back next year to be both bored and excited, you can bet your arse we would and we have already made that known to the organizers. We might have to see if we can get a gig at the V8s in Abu Dhabi next year as well. Watch this space. 6 / 6