Paddock Postcard from Shanghai 18 Apr 2010
The Formula One teams are now starting to ponder just when they are going to be able to get home from China, thanks to the dust cloud over Europe from the Icelandic volcano, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been making the most of their time in the Orient.
Earlier in the week, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton visited the Seed Cathedral, the centerpiece of the United Kingdom’s pavilion at Shanghai’s Expo 2010, which opens next month.
Already nicknamed ‘the dandelion’ by the city’s populace, the sculpture was created by architect Thomas Heatherwick and is constructed from 60,000 acrylic rods, each containing an individual seed at the base, which gently wave in Shanghai’s cool morning wind.
Hamilton’s fellow Briton, Paul di Resta, has had another busy weekend with another Friday drive for Force India, taking over Tonio Liuzzi’s car for Practice One. He celebrated his 24th birthday on the same day and was presented with a special pair of Alpinestars racing boots to mark the occasion.
It has also been a weekend of celebration for luxury Swiss watch brand Hublot, recently announced as Formula One racing’s Official Watchmaker. They unveiled the F1™ King Power, their first Official Formula One watch, and also presented their first boutique in the Formula One Paddock Club.
And at the HRT team, drivers Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok went back to their roots on Thursday as they went karting with a number of young, Chinese F1 hopefuls.
And another F1 hopeful - or at least a man hoping to resume his Formula One race career - also joined HRT, as former Super Aguri and Spyker racer Sakon Yamamoto was announced as their official 2010 test and reserve driver. The Japanese star - also an accomplished DJ - will be hoping to get some Friday track action later in the season as HRT look to his experience to up their pace of development.
