Goodwood Festival of Speed…an event I’m lucky to have down the road from my house and one that I’ve attended for many years and this year has been another great success.  I never really know what to expect to do each time I go apart from seeing a large array of cars, unveilings and hearing ear deafening engines but as it has turned out, this year has mainly been about F1, more than all the other years anyway.

Whilst walking around the show I bumped into a friend from Mercedes F1, who kindly invited me into the garage and have a look around, take a few pictures and hang out.  Seeing as I walk around every year checking out the cars, this was a nice insight into a demo team and be positioned in one place for a bit and rest while my brother and cousin wonder off in their own world.

For this year, Mercedes bought down the W03 2012 car which belonged to Michael Schumacher, in fact this was his retiring car.

The W03 ready for the hill climb at Goodwood.  Sitting pretty.

Confused much? It may look crazy but it’s needed.

85% of the car is carbon fibre.

Petronas, the Malaysian oil and gas company is the main sponsor for Mercedes.

Communication is key.

Radio, boost, neutral, pit limiter, pit confirm, etc etc etc

Was nice to get a drivers point of view and to be able to take a seat.  Super comfy, cosy and surreal, sat there just trying to imagine what it would be like to drive this at high speeds.

Hamilton’s crash helmet.

As the big guys car push the car to the holding area, the smallest pit crew member gets the driving seat.

…greeted by the italians who were already there. Ferrari.

Iconic red.

Starter motor at the ready.

Last minute checks here and there.

Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the drivers and go ahead from Goodwood.

Red Bull were also in the mix.  Natalie Pinkham from Skysports was also there filming and interviewing.  I believe their will be some coverage of Goodwood at this weekends British GP on Skysports.

And driving up the hill in the first session for Mercedes is Johnny Herbert, former F1 an and Le Man driver.  Had a nice chat with him about how many burnouts he’s going to do up the hill for the crowd.

Sebastian Buemi (Former Toro Rosso driver, now reserve driver) and Johnny having a friendly face off.

Buemi fancying himself to a cheeky sneak peek at the W03.

Nearly ready to rock.

In the meantime, take a seat on the most expensive chair in the world.

Johnny Herbert gearing up.

McLaren bought their toy down too for the weekend.

A few historic cars came out to play as well.

The voice of Formula 1, Murray Walker made an appearance too.

Strapping in time for Johnny.

Gloves are on.

Buemi ready to go

Then this guy came along and trumped me with his camera.

AFTERNOON SESSION

Same as before, the car was rolled back to the holding area.  In between Johnny’s session and this one, the car has gone through a set up change for Lewis Hamilton.  Set up changes usually consist of different pedal settings, seating and minor adjustments to headrest.

Anthony Hamilton came by too.

Lewis Hamilton arrives into the holding area all smiles.

Lewis does his round of hello’s to the pit crew before settling into a round of autographs to the crowd in the background.

Small chat with his father.

Lewis’ helmet and gloves eagerly await in his seat.

Earphones in + radio check.

Strapping in time for Lewis.

Time for action.

I hope you enjoyed this post from me, Goodwood was a large area to cover so I have decided to break it down, this being the first so many more to come during this week.  Thanks for reading and here’s a short clip of Lewis driving away.