Today at Silverstone, I managed to pitch a few questions to a couple of drivers in the press conference. I started, naturally, with Lewis Hamilton, asking him his opinion on his chances of winning this weekend.
LH: “I think that if we can replicate the kind of pace we had in testing last week then we’ll be battling with Ferrari all the way. I want to win for the home fans man, that would be great, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
After the announcement from David Coulthard that he will call time on his career, I asked him what lies ahead for the Scot.
DC: “Well I’ll be staying on at Red Bull, helping with development and testing as well. I’ll be an advisor too, similar to the position Michael Schumacher has taken up at Ferrari.”
I then asked him about the rumours linking him with a commentary position at the BBC, who take over the race coverage in the United Kingdom from 2009.
DC: “That would be interesting, but I think the viewers would get bored of me pretty fast. Obviously Martin Brundle has to explain a lot of the technical side of things, but I would probably go overboard. I’m not sure if I would be ready for that yet.”
I then turned to Jenson Button, and I asked him if he believes he can challenge for a points finish.
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JB: "I hope so. That would be lovely, as we have made a lot of progress this season. Having an experienced head like Ross Brawn has helped a lot. The car is good here, and both I and Rubens love this track, and Rubens has won here in the past."
"Anything can happen in Formula One, and it probably will."
That was it for me. It was surreal really. I was sitting in the press room, surrounded by journalists who are lucky enough to fly around the world to every race. Lucky bast*rds.
I was given some bad news by the guy who recaps the press conference for Formula1.com. I'm not a regular member of the press, and don't have the typical press accreditation card, so I cannot be credited on the F1 site. Still, I was there and that is all that matters really.
Encouragingly, I had a few people ask me who I was reporting for, as they appear to all be quite familiar with each other in the press room.
When I explained the concept of Bleacher Report, they were quite impressed, and all checked it out. They were extremely impressed with the quality of writing, considering that hardly any of us are professional journalists.
They did like the fact that although I am reporting here for Bleacher Report, I am still sleeping in a camper van with thousands of other typical fans. I was the only person in that room who wasn’t staying in a posh hotel.
I bet my bed is more comfy though. The Volkswagen California is an engineering marvel. It really is. I have a double bed! If I converted the bottom floor, I would have two double beds!
The fridge in here is almost as cold as mine at home. That's pretty good, and uses sod all power. The double hob/stove is brilliant though. Full English breakfast before I made my way over to the circuit this afternoon.
I am however, still disappointed after I received a phone call from Bernie, the guy who managed, somehow, to get me my Media Pass. He was shouting and screaming at me. I wondered what I had done.
It was, however, what I hadn’t done that he was so riled up about. He said look in your bag, so I did. Pull out your pass he said, so I did. Look at the back and look inside, and again, I did.
He got me an invite to the Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Children’s Charity F1 party. I was gutted. There was no way I could get to London. I have no idea how that dodgy git got tickets to that.
Before you ask, Bernie is not the little grey man that we all know and loathe. Just a mate of my brother who can get anything, quite literally.
Anywho, that is in the past, and I’m here anyway. That is the important thing.
I’ll be back tonight with my diary from today. Peace out. Ha-ha.
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about 1 month ago
Nice dude , you are now literally famous . Lewis hamilton , Jenson And DC You Lucky Guy . Still Tho I Dont See The Question About The Biasness In Lewis' Opinion But Still What does That Matter , Do You Wanna Do Me A Favour , Try And Explain To Me How I Can Get To Use Microsoft Word To Save My Articles And I May Just Write My Article Again . For the 3RD time . :-) .
from about 1 month ago
hey mark, thanks for the POTD. why don't you write your articles in word first, then save as, obviously, then try uploading them. this sodded up before uploading, so i'm lucky i managed to save it first.
i assume you have knowledge of word yeah? hope that helps, but if it don't what you could do is copy the article and send it via email to me, and i'll save it. then i can send you a saved copy. nice.
about 1 month ago
Great work, Michael! Congrats!
Try to get some photos to build the library...
from about 1 month ago
Oh god, the photos. I'm hoping my camera comes back to life tomorrow, but if not, I do have permission to use photos from another photographer, so all is not lost.
about 1 month ago
No Worries about the POTD , You Get It just For Talking To Lewis DC And Jenson .
As For The Writing The Articles In Word , Where Will i Find It ? The Actual Application Word , Will It Be On My Computer Already ? Ive Got no Knowledge of word , Do I need to download it ? Once I Know What And where it is on my pc Ill Be Fine . I Think . cheers mate .
from about 1 month ago
oh, erm, I'll have a look on the microsoft website, but you may have it on your computer.
from about 1 month ago
Microsoft Word is packaged with MS Office. Unless your computer came with Office, it probably doesn't have Word. You can purchase the Office package and install it.
Otherwise I don't know if you can purchase and download Word direct from Microsoft.
I write my articles in Word, save them, then copy, paste, and re-format on BR.
about 1 month ago
is it just writing it on my notepad ? ive found my notepad .
about 1 month ago
found it michael , word pad its called . now i just gotta figure it out ahhahaha . sorry for spoilin your article with my dumb ass questions .
from about 1 month ago
aha! yes, nice one, hope it helps mate.
about 1 month ago
Impressive, what I wouldnt do to be a fly on the wall in that room ... Well not a fly on the wall but a reporter in a chair asking questions ...
Lewis, that bird off the pussy cat dolls, what does she look like naked ?
DC, you have a massive chin, do they have to make your helmet a bit bigger to fit ur head in ?
Jensen, Wanna race ?
Ha ha ha, yeah like I would ask those questions ... But man I could think of some great ones, I reallky could throw a cat among the pigeons ! Keep up the good work though mate, I look forward to your next installment tomorrow !
from about 1 month ago
haha, lewis is a lucky man if he bagged her. believe me, I so wanted to mention that chin, and it looks that big in person. seriously.
from about 1 month ago
Yeah I suspected ti would be ... Its a wide chin ! Ha ha ha ... Great stuff !
about 1 month ago
Me Too , No Article Is Worth 4 Attempts Without Suceeding . Ive Started Writing it , Just Not Sure How To Transfer It On To Here Once Its Written , Ill Give U A Shout If I Cant Getr It On . Cheers Mike .
from about 1 month ago
Just copy and paste it in and then spell check it ... You should save all your articles in word first ... Too much can go wrong ... I wouldnt dream of writing straight into Bleacher and then say my internet goes down and I lose the lot, its a tear jerker ... Word / Notepad first and then paste it on baby ! OH HELL YEAH !
about 1 month ago
I'm jealous of you Michael, but I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself! Keep up the good work, and I'm wondering, how far is Silverstone from London?
from about 1 month ago
oh god, i believe its around 80 miles. hilarious journey though, so many flags.
about 1 month ago
Adam , Michael And Ben Thanks For Your Help Guys , I Do Have Word And I Now Know How To Do It , Ill Never Write Straight Onto Bleacher Report Again . It Only Went And Worked 1st time Off Copy And Paste .
from about 1 month ago
wahey! nice one mark.
about 1 month ago
Oh Yeah Are You Sat In Your Camper Van Now Ha Ha . Cool . And DOnt Upset DC Coz U Know How Hard It Will Be To Break That Jaw Of His . You Ready For The Morning Practise Session ?
from about 1 month ago
you bet, I will have a report up probably a couple hours after it finishes. I prefer the quietness of my van when I am writing.
just doing my diary, one of funniest days ever. that should be up in the next half hour.
about 1 month ago
Well I Am Into That Kind Of Thing Mate Campin Out And Caravans (must Be The Irish in Me Haha ), If I Had The Money For a Camper Van Then Id Probably Be Parked Up Near Ya Somewhere . No One To Bother You , Get The Lamp On And Get To Work That Would be Awesome . Look Forward to Reading The Qualifying Report , You Should Try And Write The F1 News For Freeview Text (like Teletext ) As The Person They Have Puttin The Stuff On Is poor , he/she Cant Spell and doesnt know what they are talkin about .
about 1 month ago
Wow Michael, I am green with envy, imagine chatting up DC, LH and JB on the same day! Great maan! But why only them? Just because they are Brits, hah? Oh, so sad, I thought you'd speak to Massa, Raikkonen and Alonso too ...
from about 1 month ago
well i would have, but only JB, LH and DC attended the press conference. a british grand prix so only british drivers.
about 1 month ago
And please could you catch up with my favorite person on the F1 circuit!
from about 1 month ago
and who would that be?????
from about 1 month ago
Who else but the one whom I wrote a feature about - BIG BOSS the B
about 1 month ago
Wow, it sounds like you are having a quite an experience out there. I have to admit that I am rather jealous lol.
I have ambitions of being an F1 journalist so I will keep working hard on my arcticles and maybe send some to the right people. You have to chase your dream, you never know what can happen.
I am going to Spa hopefully in September, really can't wait to see what that track is like in the flesh.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
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