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Published: March 29th 2008
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When we first started to plan our travels last year we looked at the Formula 1 schedule to see if it would be possible to go to one of the races, but at the time it looked like we'd never quite be able to coordinate it. But a few months ago when we were traveling through Asia and planning exactly where we were going to be and when, we decided that it might be possible because we would be getting to Hanoi at around the right time to catch a flight back to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Grand Prix. It also meant that we'd avoid a nasty 24 hour bus journey from Hanoi to Vientiane in Laos.
So we booked some flights and a pair of tickets and on Friday 21st March we caught a flight from Hanoi back to Kuala Lumpur. The flight we got was with AirAsia and as they are one of the Williams F1 Team sponsor, the plane was painted like an F1 car which was quite funny!
We arrived at around 1.15pm local time and because the circuit is right next to the airport we decided to go and collect our tickets. When
we got there the 2nd Practice Session for the Formula 1 cars had just started, so we managed to convince the people at the information desk to look after our bags (would never happen in England) and we made our way to our seats to catch the remaining 45 minutes.
The view from our seats was great - we could see loads of the circuit. In front of us we had turns 6, 7 and 8 and we could see the bends that lead up to them and the small straight afterwards. As well as this we could see the back straight coming towards us and the main straight (with the start/finish line) going away. Check out the photos!
The first thing we noticed was the noise. It has been over 10 years since I went to an F1 race and I swear they've got louder. It is absolutely incredible and we made sure that we'd bring our ear plugs for tomorrow. Practice wasn't too exciting, but all the cars were out (except Coulthard) and it was interesting to see the different techniques the drivers used into turn 7. The big screen in front of us wasn't too
big and it was quite difficult to pick out the individual cars/drivers on the corners furthest from us, so we decided to see if we could get a cheap pair of binoculars that night to make it easier.
We left straight after the practice session and made our way to Kuala Lumpur city centre, where we were staying in the same hotel that we had the first time we came to Kuala Lumpur.
We caught the shuttle bus across the road from our hotel and arrived at the circuit just before the final practice session for the Formula 1 cars. This session was much like the first, but all the drivers were out on track. The ear plugs worked a treat and the binoculars made the session more interesting. We tried to get some photos of the cars, but it was so difficult to get a decent shot that wasn't completely blurred. I moved around a bit, but it didn't seem to make too much difference. After the session we had some lunch and wandered around the F1 Village, looking at the team stalls and merchandise and looking at the cars on display.
Felipe Massa took pole
position in the afternoon Qualifying session. There seemed to be more people here for this but nowhere near a full crowd. There weren't many surprises in the session, but we learnt the following day that the McLarens had both been moved 5 spots each on the grid for blocking other cars.
We stayed around afterwards to see the beginning of the GP2 Asia race. There was an accident in front of us at turn 7 early on and the race was stopped and when it restarted we watched the first half a dozen laps before heading back to the city.
We got up early on the Sunday to get to the circuit to see the support races before the Formula 1 race at 3pm. The first race was the 'Speedcars' which featured some ex F1 drivers, including; Jean Alesi, Johnny Hebert and Stefan Johansson. The cars are basically stock cars and the drivers seem to do it just for a laugh. The racing was pretty good though and Johnny Herbert tapped Stefan Johansson into a spin to take a place. The race started with a reversed grid from the first race on the Saturday, which Alesi had won
from Herbert, but it didn't take them long to come through the field - they've still got it!! We also watched the Formula BMW Pacific and the second GP2 Asia races, which didn't have as many incidents as the day before.
All of the F1 drivers went on a Driver's Parade before the start of the race in vintage cars and it was a good opportunity to get some photos. The pit lane closed at 14:45 and we stood for the Malaysian National Anthem before the start.
And then they were off!!!
The first few corners passed without incident, but we saw Bourdais beach it in the gravel at turn 6. We also saw Heidfeld's awesome move at the end of the back straight, overtaking 2 cars into the final corner. Massa lead till the first pit stop where he was jumped by Raikkonen. It was quite hard to follow, but the binoculars helped! Massa went off whilst exiting turn 8, so we got a good view of that and his bike ride back. Laura spotted that Hamilton had had a long 2nd pit stop and we learnt later that he had a problem with a wheel
nut, so she was right - I must have taught her well!! Raikkonen never looked troubled throughout the whole race and we stayed for the podium presentation afterwards.
These three days were awesome, noisy, but awesome and I can't wait to go to another race somewhere else.
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