Thanks Ed,
It was an odd week. I live not that far from the circuit and last Wednesday I already did a small recon ride on my racing bicycle. As the teams were already arriving, and the spectators to watch them as well, it was already very crowded. As my home town has several large (and luxurious) hotels. Several teams and celebrities were staying in my village.
When I was nearly home on Wednesday I saw a trucks from Alpha Tauri arriving at one of the large hotels. Formula One trucks and Dutch infra structure don't match. After he nearly had hit a lamppost, he needed to cross a "sleeping policeman" (Speed bump) however the trailer didn't have enough clearance.
Red Bull and Alpha Tauri were staying in the same Hotel (you see in the background of the second picture) and they had quite an audience of people trying to catch a glimpse of one of the drivers.
I saw Sir Jackie Steward, who stayed in an other hotel where my daughter-in-law works. According to her he was "quite a funny guy". Nico Rossberg stayed in the same hotel, it was because I knew he was Rossberg, but to be honest I wouldn't had recognised him even when I would had tripped over him.
What struck me most was the difference in habits between the drivers. Vettel had hired a small holiday house in Zandvoort, where he stayed with his family. And they lived the life of common German tourists and hardly anybody recognised them. I heard Charles Leclerc did more or less the same. Max drove the 18 kilometres between the hotel and circuit completely unrecognisable on a motorcycle, while Pierre Gasly covered the same distance on his racing bicycle. Other drivers completely avoided contact with the public and were transported by helicopter between their hotels and circuit.
The Dutch audience more or less expected that Max would get pole and would win. So actually he could only loose. The audience at car races is different than the crowd at motor races. At Zandvoort the majority came to see Max win, while motor audience is there mainly to enjoy the sport. I'm more a motorcycle man and mature enough to remember the Dutch successes in the 70-ties and 80-ties. In those day I was happy to see my favourite rider win, now I was relieved that Max didn't loose......
My village in completely covered with flags and banners telling me that my village is the home of the Champions. Well, for one day they are right!
Cheers,
Huub