F1 Grand Prix in Korea

We were sent on a blog trip to South Korea and had already experienced the sights of Seoul but now it was time for the Formula One Grand Prix. The team consisted of myself, Chris (@theaussienomad) and John (@JohnONolan) and we were tweeting on the hashtag #T5Korea as the trip was organised by Travelllll.com along side Expedia.

The years after the likes of Ayton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Alan Prost were battling it out for grid positions I’d somehow lost interest in a sport that pushes the boundaries of engineering.

I’d found the sport lacking in real characters and rivalries that made it so intriguing in the first place. We were left with Damon Hill trailing an unstoppable Michael Schumacher in his superior Ferrari.

F1 lost it’s appeal

The sport had lost its appeal, seemed more formulaic, more predictable. Admittedly my knowledge of F1 in the proceeding years was pretty much non existent, a sport that I had relished watching on a weekend as a teenager was dull and mediocre at best.

Fast forward 10 years and I have the opportunity to attend my first F1 Grand Prix in Korea. I was intrigued to experience the event that some more fanatical friends would have “walked to Korea” to see. What made these fans so obsessed by the sport that seemed an irrelevance to me?

Train to the F1

We’d been staying in Seoul for the first part of our Korea trip spending time touring the city and taking a tour out to the demilitarized zone. The Grand Prix was held in the South so we booked a ticket on the bullet train and found ourselves in the cinema carriage. The ticket for the cinema carriage cost a little extra but included a big screen that dropped down where we had to endure “The three musketeers” for most of the journey.

The F1 experience

I’d been warned to wear ear plugs at the stadium but even that didnt really prepare me for the thunderous sound coming out of the pit lane on practice day. The Korean circuit certainly looked the part complete with traditional Korean architecture on the main bridge connecting the grandstand area to the paddock and pit lane. The practice session went extremely quickly and gave me the opportunity to practice taking photos from the grandstand. Vettle was in pole position in the Mclaren with Hamilton in second.

On race day myself and Chris (@theaussienomad) flipped a coin to see who got the tour behind the scenes of the Formula One Management (FOM). Fortunately for me I guessed correctly. It was quite a fascinating tour around a temporary building full of TV monitors, computers and software to track times. The highlight for me was walking down the paddock behind the pit lane when all the drivers strolled past after getting of the parade bus. I took the opportunity to get a few close up shots of the drivers. Just when I thought that was the highlight of the day we managed to take a stroll down the pit lane. I was amazed that it was even possible so close to the start of the race.

The Race

The constructor’s championship was won by Red Bull as Vettel took the chequered flag after over taking Lewis Hamilton on the first lap of the race. It was Veetel’s 10th win of the season. Jenson Button managed to keep Alonso in the Ferrari at bay to clinch 4th place behind Mark Webber.

The Grand Prix was definitely a great experience, to be there, to hear the deafening sounds of the engines and to revel in the pre-race build up was an experience I won’t forget. Seeing the drivers faces up close and having the opportunity to stroll the pit lane is something of a one off. A great day and a great experience.