Greetings from Seoul. It's 0800 on Monday and I'm sitting in bed with a coffee, contemplating when to prize myself out of a comfy bed and into the shower.
We are now playing the waiting game and twiddling our thumbs until we can clamber aboard the plane home. A further 12 hours and an epic fortnight in Japan and South Korea is over.
There are many wonderful pleasures attached to this job, and arriving home in the UK is certainly one of them.
After two weeks of emotional, fraught, pressurised and dramatic television - the kind I think only live sport can deliver - walking in through the front door always feels strange, and it takes a couple of days to adjust emotionally as the adrenalin melts away.
I normally help the process along by heading out to my local pub for dinner with my wife, just to really feel like I'm home. By the time you're reading this I may well already be there - pint of bitter in hand.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
In the fortnight we have been out of the UK, history has been written.
Sebastian Vettel has been crowned the Formula 1 world champion, Red Bull have defended their constructors' title, and I have turned 33.
Many thanks, incidentally, to the person on Twitter who tweeted simply, "4 months and you'll be a third of the way to 100-Happy Birthday"...
Well, perhaps using my advancing years - but, I'm glad to say, not receding hairline - as an example, let's consider how impressive the achievements of the past two weeks actually are.
Let's start with the team of the moment - Red Bull.
I think what team principal Christian Horner, chief technical officer Adrian Newey, adviser Helmut Marko and all at their Milton Keynes base have achieved is incredible.
Consider the dedication at McLaren, the blueprint for success at Ferrari, the wealth of Mercedes and the casualty rate of new teams. For Red Bull to achieve what they have in just six years is stunning.
I know they weren't a start-up like Virgin Racing or Team Lotus, they were a reincarnation of an existing team, but as an example it has been a similar amount of time since the Jordan name left F1. In that time Midland, Spyker and now Force India have operated from the same base and their achievements are incomparable to Red Bull's.
Yes, the company's commercial success in selling fizzy drinks means they are able to fund big salaries and huge budgets, but only a fool would think money alone could buy the titles.
I have been impressed by the passion in the squad. They are racers and there is a huge desire to win, true disappointment when they don't, and an ability to have a good party when things go their way. Which I also like ;-).
There is a strange ethos in F1 that you don't stop to smell the roses.
I often wonder whether Robert Kubica revelled sufficiently in his 2008 Canadian Grand Prix win, or whether Lewis Hamilton really absorbed what an incredible start he had to his career in 2007.
The thing I say most to my wife is "savour it" and I'll be the same with my children. I think that's the most important lesson a person can learn.
It was John Lennon who said "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" and you, me, Vettel, everyone should avoid that at all costs. Life is too short - so savour it.
And on that front I'm happy to report that, having been just feet from him as he won title number two, Vettel is well aware of his achievements and just how lucky he is.
Whether you like him as a driver or not, he is very impressive as a person. Without naming names, there are a number of drivers who not only are reluctant to speak to the media, but, even worse, are quite dismissive or condescending.
I guess that the F1 paddock is just a snapshot of everyday life and so therefore it is to be expected, even if some might consider it unforgivable.
However, you can trust me when I tell you that Vettel is as impressive as anyone who currently drives an F1 car, for all the right reasons. He is approachable, accessible and, most importantly, genuine.
Those who have known him for a while say he's always been the same and so credit to his parents for bringing up a person who realises that being the fastest driver in the world is just a phase. World champion isn't who Vettel is; it's a title he wears.
On Sunday he talked about when he retires in many, many years, and he is already aware that even he doesn't possess the talent of immortality among his many skills.
When the fawning has died down, the trophies have become tarnished and the attention has turned to someone younger and faster, the man left behind is what matters. On that score, Vettel is also a champion.
My highlight of this whole trip was the F1 Forum after the Japanese Grand Prix. I remember a few grumbles at the start of the year about the new-look forum, where we move around the pit lane rather that sit in a motorhome by a big TV. Well, Japan - or Monaco - this year, are exactly why we don't do that anymore. To be in the heart of that drama, the celebrations, the rare display of emotions in the scientific world of F1 is great to see.
I loved Japan, particularly the racing history it has seen. The past couple of weeks I've been out running the tracks with a couple of members of the BBC production team, producer Tom Gent and video editor Robin Nurse.
It was great fun, particulary Japan, where we pointed out where Nigel Mansell had a couple of big accidents, and stopped at the exact places where Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost had their famous incidents.
Those are just a few examples where, in those moments, the people involved thought of nothing but what had just happened on track.
It would have been all-consuming, no time to stop and appreciate the moment. Yet suddenly, here we are 20 years later. The bodywork has long been swept up, the tears of joy and happiness have dried, and all we, and they, have left are our memories and Murray Walker's wonderful voice.
With that in mind - and particularly having seen the sad events in Las Vegas on Sunday that led to the death of British driver Dan Wheldon - whatever you are up to this week, wherever in the world you are, my only advice to you is very simple - savour it.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2011/10/greetings_from_seoul_its_0800.html
Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk
No comments:
Post a Comment