Sunday morning we got up early and headed to the circuit (fully decked out in Ferrari gear). We had general seating tickets so we had no assigned seats, meaning that not only were we in the rowdiest section of the circuit, but we would also be sitting in the same seats and in the sun all day (from 9am to 4pm).
This was our first live F1 experience and we had no idea how the day was going to unfold. The first race started soon after we were seated. The first race was for G3 drivers, the "C Team" of F1. The cars were fast and loud but bearable, much like watching go-karts. It was just what we needed to get into race mode.
The crowd really started to show up as the second race, G2 ("JV"), started. These cars were noticeably faster and louder than the G3 cars. Their race was about twice as long and much closer between the drivers. It was really fun to see the progression of speed and skill between one race and the next, and it made us even more excited about the F1 race.
I'm not sure if I would have fully appreciated the power and speed of the F1 cars had I not had the other cars to compare them too.
After the G2 race there was about two hours of lag time when the drivers were getting medical inspections, having team meetings, etc. There was also a driver's parade around the track and interviews with each of the 24 drivers, discussing the track.
As I said before, we were sitting in the rowdiest section of the circuit, filled with Spanish fans donning Ferrari gear in support of Fernando Alonso, a Spanish native and two-time F1 World Champion. So when he came by our section of the track during the parade, the first time we had seen him all day, the crowd went absolutely nuts! In fact, every time he came by (which was about 60 times) the crowd went crazy. It set the mood for an excellent day!
The warm up laps started and the difference between the F1 cars and the ones we had seen earlier was immediately known. The noise was unbearable but incredibly impressive, and these was just the warm up laps. We quickly put ear plugs in as we waited for the official start.
The race started and Alonso was in fourth place, the spot he qualified for, but by the time the first lap was finished he had bumped up to third.
I won't go on and on about the details of the race, the important thing to know is that at the end of the race Alonso finished second and our section was wild with excitement! We stayed for a few hours after the race but we couldn't stay all night because we had to drive back to Barcelona.
We survived the 3.5 hour drive to Barcelona, checked into our hotel, and then went out for dinner.
A few things we noticed about Barcelona on our first night:
-It is much more expensive than any other city we had been to this trip.
-It also hosts more street vendors than any other city we had been to this trip.
After the long day we had, and all the sun we took in, we were exhausted. We went to bed, preparing for some intense sight seeing the next day.
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