Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix - Race Day Pics Part 2

Here are some great pics from the starting grid, first up Fernando Alonso:

Then on to the race winner and my personal favourite Lewis Hamilton:

Schumacher ready to go:

And a bunch of Sebastian Vettel:

F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - Pictures from Race Day Part 1

I have a lot of pictures to post from race day, starting off with some from the Porsche races and drivers parade:

Then the drivers Parade!

Recap from F1 Canadian Grand Prix!

I have to say the Grand Prix weekend was the most fun  thing I have even done in my entire life.  If you love cars then this is the holiday for you.  Forget about beaches, casinos, theme parks, Broadway shows, concerts..... whatever.  F1 cars destroy all those lesser holidays!

I mean seriously did you check out my video from the start of the race???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW9tH4cutVk&feature=youtu.be

I would highly recommend grandstand 1 or 2 seats, great view of the race starts, big screen right in front, excellent for the drivers parade and pit stops.  The hairpin seats might be better for viewing the cars during the race but a lot of the seats are not assigned seating so you have to keep your spot all day without leaving, not recommended in 30 degree heat.

The food was great, although I never enjoyed Schwartz's smoke meat sandwich as much as I thought I would.  The Turnstile at La Milsa is a must eat if you are in Montreal and like meat...... not for the vegetarian.  Also had some great Poutine, went to a place called Smoke's Poutine and had a poutine with roast beef and onions, it was great.

The Formula Tours people were great, providing transportation to and from the airport, answering all our questions about the track and looking after all our needs.  We had a great room at the Delta and only needed a 15 minute subway ride to the track.  We got to see the student protesters up close which was also a bit of fun.

I don't know how it could have been any better...... OF COURSE HAMILTON DESTROYED VETTEL TO WIN!!!!

F1 - Pics from Practice Day!

Here are some pics from practice day at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix!

THE BIG SCREEN

 BRIDGE TO THE TRACK

 BUD GIRLS HANGING OUT

 BUTTON IN HIS PIT

 THE CASINO ON THE ISLAND

 CROSS THROUGH SECURITY AT THE BRIDGE

 HAMILTON FINISHING UP A PRACTICE LAP

 FERRARI GOODIES

 MERCEDES GOODIES - I GOT A JACKET

 MAP TO THE GRAND STANDS

 GRANDSTAND #1 - WHERE WE SIT

 SECURITY ON THE TRAIL

 OUR VIEW OF THE PITS

 OUR VIEW OF TURN 1

 VETTEL IN HIS PIT

 ANYONE KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING???

Montreal Protest Video!

Here is a video I took of the Montreal protesters from our hotel room Saturday night after qualifying day at the track.  It is a bit dark but gives you a good idea of the size of the mob!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J643vi8uPZk&feature=youtu.be

F1 Canadian Grand Prix Videos!!

Just a quick update, I have two of my better videos uploaded check them out, the race start:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW9tH4cutVk&feature=g-upl

and podium celebrations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O58ysSn_bsA&feature=g-upl

LOTS MORE TO COME

Live from Montreal - Canadian Grand Prix - Day 3

Friday Night Update - Went to the "Lotus" Grand Prix Tours free Cocktail party thing.  I did as any car lover would do.... stuffed my face, guzzled down free beer and took pics of Jarno Trulli and Jerome D'Ambrosio.  It was pretty cool, the event was lotus sponsored so they had Trulli and D'Ambrosio there.  There was only a couple hundred people there so you could get close, easily get food and booze, it was wonderful.   If you have 4 or 5 grand to blow (for 2 people) and want the ultimate race car experience I'd say this is where to blow it.  This Grand Prix Tour thing is excellent, so far I don't have single complaint but lots of compliments.




SATURDAY - 


So I woke up extra early with the thoughts of qualifying spinning in my head.  We got to the track about 9, and caught the end of the Ferrari Challenge, it was bit of fun.  Then on to practise session #3 for the F1 guys, it was awesome, you could tell they were really pushing it out there.  On to lunch break time, I had a couple beer and ate a sandwich, we found a nice rock in the shade to sit on for a while.... it was hot there this afternoon.  The place was absolutely packed for qualifying, some people coming in a bit late which I found annoying as I was trying to take pictures.

Got another slew of good pictures and a couple short videos (which will be coming over the week).  Vettel smoked the pack unfortunately, I don't like Red Bull for some reason, my guy Hamilton came second and I can't wait for the start of the race tomorrow.

So for supper we went to this place called La Milsa....... if you like MEAT this is the place to go.  You get a meal called the turnstile, they keep serving you sirloin, fillet mignon, bacon wrapped turkey, roast beef, chicken, pork sausage and roast pork till you bust, and its only $30 ($35 on weekends).  I am now slipping into a meat coma as I type.

It's race day tomorrow..... won't be sleeping much tonight.....................

Live from Montreal - Canadian Grand Prix - Day 2

So I just got back from practise session #1.............. OH MY GOD IT WAS BEYOND WICKED.

We got the subway about 3 minutes from the hotel at 8:30, took subway #2 about 3 minutes later and 2 minutes after that we started the walk to our seats.  Upon exiting the subway you are met with people flogging everything F1.  Of course I bought a bunch of stuff, t-shirts for the kids, couple of hats and a very nice McLaren jacket for myself, something I could actually wear somewhere but the race track.  We brought our own cooler bag full of goodies so we didn't have to spend $5 for a hot dog or $6 for a gatorade.  They did have good looking lobster rolls there for $9.50 though..... maybe Sunday.  

There were Police everywhere.  On the way down there were 3 police in every subway car across to the island.... but none coming back.  There is definitely tightened security.

Anyway our seats are literally 50 feet away from the pole position on the track..... I have so many nice pics and videos I can't wait to share. We left the hotel at 8:30, got to our seats about 9:30 and practise started at 10.  Rain was expected this afternoon so everyone was out this morning, and they all did a good 10 laps or more.  I got a great video of Vettel coming to his pit while cars zoom past us on the straight away.  YOU NEED EAR PLUGS, which we had lots of....... this is louder than you would expect, you can feel the engines right up through your backbone.  It was mesmerizing, the most beautiful car experience I have ever had.

After practise we watched a bit of CCPC, I think is what it was called, it was ok but not like the F1 cars at all, mostly Hondas, Minis and BMWs.  Started to rain so we came back to the hotel, not sure if going back this afternoon, depends on the weather, they were saying there won't be many cars out for this afternoon practise due to the rain which is why they were all out this morning.  We have a pass to some cocktail thing tonight but I am not sure if it will be disrupted or not, Jarno Trulli is supposed to be there, and it is free beer and food, two of my favorite things..


THIS IS THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!! 

Live from Montreal - Canadian Grand Prix - Meet the Mob Day 1!

Ok, so we got up 4am, headed off to the St. John's Airport and low and behold all the flights were on time.  Check in was slow as usual but we made it through security just in time to board and by 6 am we were off to Montreal.  It was overcast and cold as usual in St. John's so we were thrilled to be going anywhere warmer.

When we got to the airport around 7AM Montreal time we saw the Formula Tours guys and they got us a nice big Suburban to take us to the Delta Hotel Downtown.  It took a little over an hour.... TRAFFIC HERE IS BRUTAL IN THE MORNING.

Of course our room wasn't ready yet and the tour guys weren't set up at the hotel yet so we bummed around St. Catherine Street for a while.  They were just setting up the displays, booths and various selling booths in a couple of cordoned off sections along the street.  Couple of formula 1 type cars there which I got pics of (not downloaded from camera yet because I never brought my computer).  Did a bit of shopping and got a bite to eat.

After lunch we walked to old Montreal which is a nice touristy thing to do but nothing too exciting there.  Weather was nice and I'd say we walked about 10 km all together.

So we were planning to go to an Italian place for supper  but upon arriving noticed they had jacked up all their prices by 50% to the tune of a plate of pasta was now running over $40.  I know we are on vacation but that seemed excessive we decided to visit Smokes Poutinery instead and it was fantastic.

Anyway lets get to the good stuff.  We doubled back to where all the concession stands and displays were and it was blocked with people and the bars were starting to rock already around 7.  It was the highest concentration of hot women I have ever seen, they were selling everything from beer to phones to tires to condoms..... you name it they were promoting it.  I decided to hold off on the mandatory hat and shirt purchases until we hit the track tomorrow.

So that was ok, and all of a sudden it started getting really loud and police were swarming the place.  The protesters tried to get into the concession area and the police were holding them back, helicopters were overhead, pots were banging, people were screaming..... NOW THIS WAS FUN!  I got a short video which I will be posting as soon as I can as well.  It is hard to say how many protesters there were, I would make a wild guess at 100.

So with all the police and protesters and whatnot we decided to head back to the hotel and grab a few beer.  Overall it was a great first day.  Our seats are grandstand 1 section 2 row BB seats 19 and 20, we picked up our packages at the hotel here when we got back.

I will have lots of pics and video to share when I get home, thats all for now.

Formula 1 - All Fingers Crossed

So tomorrow morning we head off to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix Formula 1 Race.  There are two minor issues:

1. No flights have gotten out of here lately due to the fog (but it is cleared up now)
2. People in Montreal are protesting

So hopefully our flight gets in tonight so it can leave tomorrow morning and no protesting people get in our way.  They have cancelled the free Thursday open house due to security concerns but so far everything else is a go.  I took the liberty of renting myself a wicked telephoto lens from lens rental canada online.  It arrived ahead of time and very well packed.  Total cost is about $160 including shipping both ways for 10 days.  One of these suckers new is about $1800.  I am hoping to send a post or two from Montreal if we can find some computers to use at the hotel.  I will have TONS of pictures to share when I get back hopefully, we are in Grandstand 1, right at the start/finish line.

Bye Bye Winter Salt

Check out this thread on Autos.ca for easy salt removal from your vehicle.  I actually have one of these Bissel carpet cleaners and will be giving it a try.

http://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php/topic,79230.msg794877.html#msg794877