Unfortunately I was unable to attend this year’s F1 GP at Silverstone, as I had not anticipated the date moving from July to June, and had therefore booked to go to Royal Ascot instead. Disastrous!
Of course, my trusty colleague and a couple of models (Natasha, Sarah and on Sunday Chloe) attended in my place, and had plenty of fun without me! This blog is therefore written by my colleague below:
This year is supposedly the final F1 GP ever to be held at Silverstone, with the move to Donington Park due for 2010. Therefore this should have been a pretty special one for us. However, a focal point of this year’s event seemed to be the speculation about whether the move will happen, as well as the subject of the potential splitting of the F1 series by the FOTA teams.
We were staying near to Towcester, and arrived on the Friday night to attend the 50th Birthday Bash of Keith Sutton, F1 photographer (www.suttonimages.com). There were many familiar faces at the bash, although we missed Martin Brundle who had earlier landed his helicopter in the garden. The typical English weather meant we were all in our winter woolies and retired for a fairly early night.
On Saturday morning we headed in to the circuit and over to the Johnny Herbert/Monacokool Hospitality Suite (www.monacokool.com ). The weather was rather chilly but we had a great view of the track from the terrace. Our model Natasha had a bet with Johnny H on who would qualify 1st/2nd/3rd and he lost to her for 20p with a vote for Button in 1st place! With Button set to start from 6th place on Sunday we were excited about the race. The highlight of the afternoon was finding Johnny on his iphone in the cupboard (apparently it was the only place to get some peace and quiet during qualifying).
We did go on a quick pit-lane walk but unfortunately didn’t bump into any drivers.
After eating lots of delicious food we left the circuit around 4pm and headed to get changed for the GP Ball in Stowe. Unfortunately though there had been an error in traffic control and all the roads around Silverstone were at a standstill. We were supposed to be helping out with a charity game at the champagne reception, but we ended up arriving over an hour late! Fortunately a lot of the other guests seemed to be in the same position, and everything was delayed an hour or so.
The GP Ball this year was held in a marquee in the grounds of Boycott Manor in Stowe, rather than the usual venue of the grand old Stowe School. It seemed to be a slightly smaller affair this year, with less familiar faces, and no fireworks (boo hoo!!). The champagne reception was held on the lawn and it was extremely chilly in our evening gowns and stilettos (which kept sinking into the mud!) so we were glad when we were finally called to dinner.
We were very kindly invited by Andy Judson at Event Vision, and Sarah, Natasha and I were sat on a table with a group of lovely young lads who had designed all the artwork and literature for the event, which was sponsored by former A1GP sponsor TWSteel (www.twsteel.com) who make oversized luxury watches. The dinner was rather delicious and the wine was flowing.
In terms of celebrity spotting, there was a rather hunky Mark Foster (the swimmer) having endless photos taken with the ladies, and Caprice on the table next to us.
The night kicked off with the international Miss TW Steel beauty competition on the stage, hosted by Eddie Jordan and judged by him and Caprice and Rick Parfitt Jnr. Eddie and Rick were loving the ladies in bikinis, and didn’t hesitate to tell everyone! My vote was for Miss NZ but the final winner was Miss Portugal. Not sure what the meaning of it all was but they stretched it out as the entertainment for the first few hours.
Next up was highlight of the night ‘Signature’ (finalists in last year’s Britain’s Got Talent) performing a couple of Michael Jackson numbers. By this time everyone was pretty tipsy and had headed for the dance floor. Next was Micha Paris, although she didn’t seem to be on for long.
Rick Parfitt’s band was due on after Micha, but they never appeared, and strangely no explanation was given.
On stage next was Eddie Jordan’s band Eddie and the Robbers, but by this time we were ready to leave, contemplating an early start for the race the next day. Normally we might have stayed a bit longer but of course there was no Amber Lounge section this year, so to be honest the atmosphere later on was a little lacking.
We drove back to Towcester and sat up for a while chatting over tea and toast (no gherkins this time, just a dash of marmite!)
On Sunday morning we were supposed to be up at 7.30, but we just couldn’t do it! Must be getting old! We dragged ourselves into the circuit for around 11am, and headed again to Monacokool’s hospitality suite. It was extremely busy and we had a fab time chatting to the guests out on the terrace, watching the grid-girl parade and the Red Arrows air display before the race. We also met the guy who plays bagpipes at all the races Pipe Major Martin Hewins (www.pipergram.com) who entertained us with many a bagpipe story!
Not long into the race it was clear that JB was not going to make his way to the front from 6th place, and that even Lewis, the king of overtaking, was never going to work his way up from the very back! Such a shame as it was one of the first times we had ever seen the grandstands completely full, and so rather disappointing for all those patriotic fans. It was a slow and rather uneventful race, and when Vettel won there just wasn’t the same atmosphere as last year, and we got the feeling that everyone felt a little deflated.
However, the mood improved after the race with a big event on the stage at the track which involved interviews with top F1 peeps and drivers followed by a concert. We were lucky enough to be out the back in the VIP area although we didn’t get to meet any of the celebs and drivers who were locked away in the VVIP area.
Tony Jardine was presenting, and interviewed both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button who both got great cheers from the crowd and were both very sweet and lovely! Lewis’s pussycat doll girlfriend popped out on stage to huge cheers from the male fans, to say one line ‘Don’t you wish your boyfriend was hot like mine’…well…moving on! Other guests included Sir Jackie Stewart and Eddie Jordan, both campaigning to keep the F1 at Silverstone.
Unfortunately we couldn’t quite take another dose of Eddie and the Robbers, so when they came on we decided to shoot off before the other thousands in the crowd!
We had been invited to an after-party in London but we decided to call it a night, so we said goodbye to Silverstone, perhaps for the last time for the F1, and headed back to the city in the Gridmodels car.
A fun weekend, but a track race is never quite as exciting as a street race like Monaco. We have been recommended to attend the Singapore race which apparently has a similar party feel about it to Monaco, but we’ll keep you posted!
Bye for now!
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Monday, 8 June 2009
Monaco F1 GP 2009: Parties, more parties, and lots of gherkins!
To celebrate our 5th year at the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, Gridmodels expanded our entourage this year by taking 7 girls down to the Cote d’Azur to spend 5 days partying with the motorsport elite.
Monaco is without doubt the most glamorous race on the F1 calendar and in many ways it is also the most accessible, as even visitors without tickets can experience the atmosphere, sights and sounds of the grand prix from close proximity in the city streets.
For 2009 we brought along four Monaco virgins (Sarah Beaufoy, Eleanor Sophie, Rebecca Walsh and Liz) in addition to myself, my event manager and Lauren (a second year veteran). It’s always nice to create a new dynamic in the group but how seven of us were going to cope in a one-bedroom apartment with one bathroom and two mirrors was definitely an intriguing question!
Our first celeb spotting of the trip was Liz Hurley at the airport in her trademark white trousers. She is looking good for her age but she wasn’t too keen on having a photo taken with Lauren when she bumped into her in WH Smith! Still, it’s nice to know that even the first class flyers have to share a bookshop with lesser mortals.
After a quick flight and cab journey we found ourselves on the top of the mountain at our home for the weekend. Residence Beausejour has wonderful views but we were suddenly faced with the problem of how to get back and forth from
First stop on the social circuit was the Kingfisher party, hosted by tycoon Vijay Mallya, who runs F1 Team Force India, on one of the largest yachts in the harbour. The Kingfisher bash is fast becoming the most glittering event at the Monaco GP, replacing the Dolce Vita Ball of previous years with its ability to draw all the celebrities and drivers and hold them hostage for most of the evening!
Behind us on the red carpet, Chris Evans had a few problems getting in as the girls with the guest list weren’t sure who he was. To be fair, he is sporting a dashing mop of grey these days and is a little harder to recognise.
The Kingfisher boat is made for parties, with the first floor deck holding the largest hot tub I’ve ever seen (covered up for the purposes of the party) and a long buffet table with enough food and drink to sink a ship. The interior is sumptuous enough to impress even Richard Branson, who was there hovering by the buffet while his son partied on the upper deck with some hunky actors from a low budget horror movie being shown in Cannes, one of them being Josh Bowman aka Amy Winehouse's last squeeze.
There were no current drivers to be seen, but there were some old faces including Jacques Villeneuve and Vitantionio Liuzzi (2008 Force India test driver). The fathers were also out in force with John Button (Jenson’s Dad) and Anthony Hamilton (Lewis’s Dad) still partying until the early hours. Lauren grabbed a pic with golden oldie Eddie Jordan.
The upper deck is large and open, with a long bar and a floor designed only for dancing. In previous years, we’d have been wading through an inch of champagne and broken glass after a couple of hours, but plastic glasses for drinks solved much of that problem.
Partying on the Kingfisher offers an insight to a world like no other and this is why it’s so popular in
Friday morning we awoke early, bleary eyed and facing a photo shoot on the track in the searing heat. F1TV had kindly offered to shoot the girls in our Gridmodels racing outfits for the television so it was all hands on deck getting the slap on our faces and taking our turn in the shower.
Five hours later, (four hours getting ready and one hour’s walk) the first stop was a large yacht a few doors down from the Kingfisher, for a shoot with Mark Sutton of Sutton Images. With hardly time for an introduction to the owner, we were posing on the front of his yacht in bikinis.
We soon realised that Mark wasn’t the only one taking photos. We had attracted a gaggle of paparazzi shooting us from afar on a long lens. (Unfortunately, one of these pictures, a bum shot, must have been sold to the international press, and appeared in every UK newspaper on Saturday including The Sun, and unexpectedly for a fairly straight-laced rag, The Times!)
Once the shoot was over, we marched the track speedily over towards Tabac Corner, where we had arranged to meet the F1TV guys. Testing had finished for the day so the track was now open as a road, and we were again followed by random cameramen with oversized equipment, as well as being asked for a photo by every fan along the way! We were rather hot and bothered by the time we arrived, only to be told that they wanted to film further up towards the chicane which meant a longer walk in our very high heels. Oh well, no pain no gain!
The shot that the guys were after was our group of girls walking towards the cameras, holding hands and then waving. Pretty cheesy stuff! We were attempting to shoot it without punters or any kind of vehicles in the background, which proved to be pretty difficult as the track was now open and we were on a main road! So they filmed over and over to get the shot. They then re-shot on a super high-res video-camera. The footage ended up being used on the opening of the ITV F1 coverage on the Sunday, so that made it all worthwhile! You can also see some of it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00kmmhj/Formula_1_2009_The_Monaco_Grand_Prix_Part_1/
After a good hour or so of filming, we were all starving and headed back to the yacht where we had done our Sutton shoot hoping for some lunch, but we were too late and so filled ourselves up with the staple French left-overs, bread and cheese, much to the shock of all the men who thought models didn’t eat at all!
Managing to persuade one of the kind guests to donate his room to us for the purposes of re-beautifying for the evening, all seven of us all piled in to a tiny cabin for another fight for the hot water. Apparently this caused some trouble with the Captain of the boat, although I’m not quite sure what he thought we were getting up to!
Dolled up in our little black numbers, our next stop was a random Toyota sponsor party, the organiser of which donates food to starving children in Africa. Nice to see something charitable mixed in amongst all the decadence and indulgence. We had a quick boogie to the fabulous live latin singer and DJ, but we were supposed to be headed for the infamous Amber Lounge so we couldn’t stay long.
On our walk around the harbour, we came upon the Bulldog yacht, which had last year hosted the DeBeers Diamond party. Tonight they were hosting the Bombadier LearJet Party, and we were invited on board for a fresh strawberry daiquiri! We stayed for one or two, and whilst we were there managed to bag an invitation to the very exclusive Red Bull Party the following night. (We were rather excited about this as we had never managed to find a way in before!)
With the prospect of a busy weekend we decided to call it a night and headed back to the apartment to stuff our faces with more bread and cheese from the fridge, and of course, gherkins!!
Although we thought it had been an early night (3am!), it was pretty difficult to wake up on Saturday morning! We were determined to make it down in time for lunch this time though. We spent the day sunbathing to the loud and exciting sound of the cars in practice, and then found another poor soul to donate his room for us to transform ourselves for the evening!
The Red Bull Party is held on their floating Red Bull Station, a purpose-built hunk of metal with a swimming pool and many bars, that sits on the water next to all the yachts. When we arrived it was still light, and we headed upstairs for food and champers. We watched the sun go down on the beautiful scenery, and celebrated the fact that it was still warm enough to be out without a jacket so late at night. Very different from home!
The Red Bull Party attracts more of those who work in racing: PR’s, sponsorship peeps, photographers. There also seemed to be lots of exceptionally beautiful girls there, although I’m not quite sure who they were as the word on the street (or yacht) was that the usual Formula Una girls were not employed this year. I guess in a recession the expendable little extras are the first to go!
There is a lot of talking going on and not a lot of dancing and soon we are ready for a proper boogie, so we head to Amber Lounge at the Meridien Hotel. The guys from the yacht that have kindly been looking after us have a table, and we head for the dance floor for a good old booty-shake. It’s a free bar so lots of people seem very drunk already. We decide we don’t want to be in the same position as them as we need to be up early on Sunday for the race, so we head home just after midnight. Yes and more bread and cheese and of course, gherkins!!
It’s up early again on race day, and the tiredness is really catching up with us all now. We decide we must leave the apartment by 11.30am so that we make it down to the harbour before the race starts at 2pm. It’s another sizzling hot day, which is bliss after last year’s wash-out weather. We don our best ‘Ascot’ style yacht dresses and make our way down the mountain.
We pop on to the Red Eye Events yacht for a drink, and end up staying for the race. It faces directly onto the track on the straight just after Tabac Corner so the view is fabulous. Red Eye really look after us with champagne and lovely food, and all the guests are charming to talk to. Jenson wins the race, to huge applause, and the mood is jubilant. We stay for drinks late into the evening and don’t want to leave, but we have parties to go to, so we make our way back to the apartment for a final beauty session!
We decide to head to Movida’s Billionaire’s Club first, which is at the Fairmont Hotel. We have been told this is the place to be on a Sunday night. However, we don’t arrive until midnight, and it is practically empty. We spot Johnny Herbert, but otherwise it seems to be just a few old men. It really gets our goat when the staff tell us that drinks are 50 euros each, and we should try to get a man to buy us one! No thanks! We head off to Amber Lounge where the drinks are free, and the place is packed out!
We get split up, and before we find each other again, Rebecca and Lauren manage to find and get photos with Prince Albert of Monaco and Felipe Massa and to sit on Jenson’s table! When we finally hook up, Jenson seems to have left, although his Dad John is still there, the party animal!
We hook up with the Sutton Images boys for a good old boogie, and dance the night away until the club closes at 5am. We bump into Metro F1 blogger Adam Hay-Nicholls outside, who tries to drag us to Tip Top Cafe for a pizza. We are pretty tempted but more tempted to pop back into the Billionaire’s Club to see if it has livened up However, after a long wait we realise that taxis are hard to come by so we grab the first one we can get and head straight home. We are pretty excited at the prospect of a lie-in! Of course, we can’t get to bed though before the usual bread and cheese, and of course, gherkins!!
Monday is our chill-out day. We go for a meal at the stunning Miramar Terrace restaurant (our first proper meal in days!) while the sun sets, and then back to the apartment for a girlie one in our pyjamas with some PG tips, French Gateaux and a Bridget Jones DVD. We gloat over the fact that most other F1 peeps fly back today with massive hangovers!
Tuesday we have to check out of the apartment. We take our suitcases up to the pool hoping to catch a few last rays before our flight, but it rains! At least the bad weather held off for the racing. We head back to the UK feeling exhausted, but exhilarated. If only every day was like a day at the Monaco GP! Although we might end up in the Priory or a sleep deprivation clinic!
Roll on Monaco 2010!
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
And now, the end is here ...
Well, what an end to an action packed motorsport season.
I'm sad to say that I watched the final F1 race from the comfort of my living room, rather than in Brazil, but at least that meant I actually watched it for a change! When you're actually on location there are so many other distractions!!
What a valiant effort from our boy Lewis. I've never seen anything like the come-back attempt he made. 18th to 7th! If only he had been a little less feisty at the beginning he might have been victorious.
So what now, until Australia next year? Well there's the Gridmodels Christmas party to look forward to - and let's face it everyone does! You can catch me there in my mini Santa suit and saucy smile, but I can't tell you where yet. It's turning out to be one of those secret location jobs but that just makes the anticipation even better.
I'll be back with party photos before the Christmas break!
I'm sad to say that I watched the final F1 race from the comfort of my living room, rather than in Brazil, but at least that meant I actually watched it for a change! When you're actually on location there are so many other distractions!!
What a valiant effort from our boy Lewis. I've never seen anything like the come-back attempt he made. 18th to 7th! If only he had been a little less feisty at the beginning he might have been victorious.
So what now, until Australia next year? Well there's the Gridmodels Christmas party to look forward to - and let's face it everyone does! You can catch me there in my mini Santa suit and saucy smile, but I can't tell you where yet. It's turning out to be one of those secret location jobs but that just makes the anticipation even better.
I'll be back with party photos before the Christmas break!
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Silverstone Virgins
I have to admit it crossed my mind that going to the F1 grand prix at Silverstone would be a bit crap, especially with Monaco fresh in the mind and a couple of nights in a tent to look forward to!
But off we went anyway, the Gridmodels GP crew, less one member (Nadine the Machine) who sadly had other commitments. With the Gridmodels car packed to the rafters with our girlie stuff and camping gear, we drove to central London in search of our first party.
One might wonder, as we did, why they bother having Grand Prix parties in London, a good few miles away from the track. Apparently it's because no F1 related people actually turn up! They are actually having nice cosy BBQs at their motor homes on site!
That said, we thought we'd go to the official Dolce Vita Ball after party since we were in London anyway. It was being held at Stringfellows new club on Wardour Street, Soho, called The Wardour (belive it or not). Despite meeting some teenage boys in the queue who didn't realise what the party was about, we didn't really cotton on to the nature of the beast until a couple of hours later.
Although we felt right at home in the club itself (the place bore a very close resemblance to Jimmy'z in Monaco) it took us some time - actually about 2 hours - to find a nice man to buy us a drink and about the same time for the music to get good. And it was around this point we realised that the real party was going on downstairs behind a velvet rope, to which we were definitely not invited. Hoping this wasn't an omen for the entire weekend, we stuck around until about 3am anyway and then headed for the Gridmobile.
Our luck started to change once we hit the road. No traffic and we all made it there in one piece despite the possibility of sleep-driving. Luckily Clara is highly experienced in the art of driving while knackered so we were in safe hands.
After catching a couple of zeds in the car we were more or less refreshed and decided to pitch our tent at the campsite. By the time we'd showered and left the tent was practically flat due to the wind and probably our dodgy tent erecting skills, and we weren't looking forward to sleeping in it that night. But we figured we'd probably be too drunk to notice, so hey ho.
Saturday at the Silverstone grand prix is a fairly quiet time. The grandstand filled up for the qualifying rounds but before and afterwards not so many people stuck around. Lewis Hamilton getting pole position on the grid lifted the atmosphere considerably though and there were a lot of banners showing support for him. It must be great for him to have the British public squarely in his corner.
For us in Tony's MonacoKool / Johnny Herbert hospitality suite the day passed in a leisurely manner. We met up with a few old friends - Keith Sutton of Sutton Images popped his head in to say hello. It was strange to see him without a tan and in England not Monaco! It was good to catch up with Tony as well. He's such a sweetie and always looks after us.
Anyway, it was still early so the four of us went off in search of the BRDC bbq. 5 minutes later we were back with our tails between our legs. We'd walked all the way into the circuit and it turned out that the bbq was in the BRDC farm right outside the motor home! And they wouldn't give us any food.
As it turned out we were invited to Jensen's bbq anyway, so after a bit of a chat we went round to their motor home. They had such a mountain of food but we couldn't eat any of it because we'd just had something to eat, which was disappointing.
Sunday morning we were woken by the sound of the racing at 7am! Confusingly, it turned out to be just the sound coming from the massive tv screen that had been erected outside on the BRDC farm. Looking out the window we could already feel the buzzing atmosphere as so many fans had already arrived to claim their spot by the track.
Since we already had the most comfy spots in Silverstone (ie. bed!) we opted to sleep for a little longer, only just making it over to the Farm to watch the race on the big screen after some horrible lunch at the Paddock Cafe. They really need to work on upgrading the facilities at Silverstone. A greasy spoon would have offered better quality and value than that place.
Watching the race on the screen instead of at the hospitality was perfect as we could just relax in the sunshine with a beer in relative peace. Nadia had bumped into Lewis Hamilton's chums earlier, so we agreed to meet them later on at the Grand Prix Party.
After the race finished we went over to make a celebrity appearance at Tony's suite. We were apparently very very welcome and had a fun half hour doing photos with everyone. It was good to see some familiar faces from the yacht in Monaco, as well as meeting some new friends.
After a while we all trouped over to the VIP area at the Grand Prix party. It was actually more like a concert, with tribute bands playing and appearances from the F1 drivers. It was disappointing that most of the vips who'd been in the Paddock earlier had gone home. I would have been interested to meet David Beckham and Danni Minogue, but instead we got Patrick Dempsey of Gray's Anatomy fame and Bryan McFadden. Oh well.
Leaving before the concert ended in order to miss the traffic, we decided to do one last party at Boujis. After racing down the M1 against LH's mates in their Mercedes (not exactly a fair fight - the Gridmobile is only little!) we ended up joining them all for a drink at The Hilton. A nice way to end a massively fun weekend.
Gridmodels' top tips for surving the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone:
1. If you haven't booked a campsite space in advance and plan on rocking up there on the day, make sure you've stayed up all night and are wearing a very short skirt.
2. Make friends with someone who knows where all the parties are happening!
3. Don't eat lasagne before attending a bbq (especially one which has steaks!)
4. Get tickets
5. Don't be fooled by bogus after party invites
6. You must always have more than one person present in a Hilton hotel room in order to open the balcony doors
7. Don't eat lunch in the Paddock Cafe, but if you do, make sure they give you two fishcakes not one and a lettuce leaf
8. Don't wear stilleto heels on the grass
9. Wear sun block even if it doesn't feel like summer or suffer the ski-goggles effect for weeks afterwards.
But off we went anyway, the Gridmodels GP crew, less one member (Nadine the Machine) who sadly had other commitments. With the Gridmodels car packed to the rafters with our girlie stuff and camping gear, we drove to central London in search of our first party.
One might wonder, as we did, why they bother having Grand Prix parties in London, a good few miles away from the track. Apparently it's because no F1 related people actually turn up! They are actually having nice cosy BBQs at their motor homes on site!
That said, we thought we'd go to the official Dolce Vita Ball after party since we were in London anyway. It was being held at Stringfellows new club on Wardour Street, Soho, called The Wardour (belive it or not). Despite meeting some teenage boys in the queue who didn't realise what the party was about, we didn't really cotton on to the nature of the beast until a couple of hours later.
Although we felt right at home in the club itself (the place bore a very close resemblance to Jimmy'z in Monaco) it took us some time - actually about 2 hours - to find a nice man to buy us a drink and about the same time for the music to get good. And it was around this point we realised that the real party was going on downstairs behind a velvet rope, to which we were definitely not invited. Hoping this wasn't an omen for the entire weekend, we stuck around until about 3am anyway and then headed for the Gridmobile.
Our luck started to change once we hit the road. No traffic and we all made it there in one piece despite the possibility of sleep-driving. Luckily Clara is highly experienced in the art of driving while knackered so we were in safe hands.
After catching a couple of zeds in the car we were more or less refreshed and decided to pitch our tent at the campsite. By the time we'd showered and left the tent was practically flat due to the wind and probably our dodgy tent erecting skills, and we weren't looking forward to sleeping in it that night. But we figured we'd probably be too drunk to notice, so hey ho.
Saturday at the Silverstone grand prix is a fairly quiet time. The grandstand filled up for the qualifying rounds but before and afterwards not so many people stuck around. Lewis Hamilton getting pole position on the grid lifted the atmosphere considerably though and there were a lot of banners showing support for him. It must be great for him to have the British public squarely in his corner.
For us in Tony's MonacoKool / Johnny Herbert hospitality suite the day passed in a leisurely manner. We met up with a few old friends - Keith Sutton of Sutton Images popped his head in to say hello. It was strange to see him without a tan and in England not Monaco! It was good to catch up with Tony as well. He's such a sweetie and always looks after us.
Anyway, it was still early so the four of us went off in search of the BRDC bbq. 5 minutes later we were back with our tails between our legs. We'd walked all the way into the circuit and it turned out that the bbq was in the BRDC farm right outside the motor home! And they wouldn't give us any food.
As it turned out we were invited to Jensen's bbq anyway, so after a bit of a chat we went round to their motor home. They had such a mountain of food but we couldn't eat any of it because we'd just had something to eat, which was disappointing.
Sunday morning we were woken by the sound of the racing at 7am! Confusingly, it turned out to be just the sound coming from the massive tv screen that had been erected outside on the BRDC farm. Looking out the window we could already feel the buzzing atmosphere as so many fans had already arrived to claim their spot by the track.
Since we already had the most comfy spots in Silverstone (ie. bed!) we opted to sleep for a little longer, only just making it over to the Farm to watch the race on the big screen after some horrible lunch at the Paddock Cafe. They really need to work on upgrading the facilities at Silverstone. A greasy spoon would have offered better quality and value than that place.
Watching the race on the screen instead of at the hospitality was perfect as we could just relax in the sunshine with a beer in relative peace. Nadia had bumped into Lewis Hamilton's chums earlier, so we agreed to meet them later on at the Grand Prix Party.
After the race finished we went over to make a celebrity appearance at Tony's suite. We were apparently very very welcome and had a fun half hour doing photos with everyone. It was good to see some familiar faces from the yacht in Monaco, as well as meeting some new friends.
After a while we all trouped over to the VIP area at the Grand Prix party. It was actually more like a concert, with tribute bands playing and appearances from the F1 drivers. It was disappointing that most of the vips who'd been in the Paddock earlier had gone home. I would have been interested to meet David Beckham and Danni Minogue, but instead we got Patrick Dempsey of Gray's Anatomy fame and Bryan McFadden. Oh well.
Leaving before the concert ended in order to miss the traffic, we decided to do one last party at Boujis. After racing down the M1 against LH's mates in their Mercedes (not exactly a fair fight - the Gridmobile is only little!) we ended up joining them all for a drink at The Hilton. A nice way to end a massively fun weekend.
Gridmodels' top tips for surving the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone:
1. If you haven't booked a campsite space in advance and plan on rocking up there on the day, make sure you've stayed up all night and are wearing a very short skirt.
2. Make friends with someone who knows where all the parties are happening!
3. Don't eat lasagne before attending a bbq (especially one which has steaks!)
4. Get tickets
5. Don't be fooled by bogus after party invites
6. You must always have more than one person present in a Hilton hotel room in order to open the balcony doors
7. Don't eat lunch in the Paddock Cafe, but if you do, make sure they give you two fishcakes not one and a lettuce leaf
8. Don't wear stilleto heels on the grass
9. Wear sun block even if it doesn't feel like summer or suffer the ski-goggles effect for weeks afterwards.
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
A sobering thought
First day back at work today. What a struggle. Life just isn't as shiny without sunshine and champagne!
Looking back at my previous posts I realise just how tired and hungover (possibly even still drunk) I was when I wrote them. Ahh, good memories. I didn't put in much detail though by the looks of things - probably because most of it's too naughty to put in writing :-)
Some of my better photos are shown here, but I didn't take as many as I thought. Hopefully the other girls have some good shots too.
Gridmodels did quite well in promoting itself - we have got our pictures from the Friday shoot on several websites, and we even got a small shot in the Red Bulletin although it wasn't quite what we were hoping for. It was a pic from Barry's 70th party, when everyone clearly thought we were the hired booty. Nadine even did a Marilyn and sang happy birthday to him in her husky voice. We were rewarded with a lobster dinner though, and one of us was rewarded with a handsome young man - no names needed!
Here are some of the links:
http://www.formulapod.com/?m=1&s=21&r=
http://www.suttonimages.com/fotoweb/searchresultposters.fwx?folderid=5009&hidefc=1&search=f7141
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/6128/774.html
http://www.planet-f1.com/gallery/0,18973,3524_2152002_0,00.html
http://www.rodcollins.com
http://www.itv-f1.com/Home.aspx
http://www.redbulletin.com - Saturday issue
We met some really interesting and fun people while we were there. It's amazing the variety of wealth business-men there are, most of them self-made with a tale or two to tell. We met everyone from bankers to nightclub owners, to bottled water magnates. One man we met at Les's party announced very nocholantly that he was off to buy a yacht the next day - I'm guessing he wasn't going to put it on his credit card!
The funny thing is, that because everyone is wealthy it stops being novel and you see all the men and women on an equal footing. Some just want to talk about their money and the others want to have fun with it! No man can use the 'Can I buy you a drink' chat up line at a Monaco party because they're all complimentary anyway!
The nice family who gave us a lift in their boat on Saturday morning when security was so tight we couldn't get to Trevor's yacht to get our stuff, turned out to own the Kingfisher boat where the amazing party was on Sunday night. They were such a nice kind group, offering us a lift without any questions, and they damn well know how to throw a good bash. I think their boat was completely trashed afterwards though. oops!
It's so exciting to be in Monaco for the race days, the atmosphere is really buzzing. Everyone seems to be high on life, though they're probably just high on rose, the new water in the south of France.
Time to book a week in Monaco for the same time next year!
Looking back at my previous posts I realise just how tired and hungover (possibly even still drunk) I was when I wrote them. Ahh, good memories. I didn't put in much detail though by the looks of things - probably because most of it's too naughty to put in writing :-)
Some of my better photos are shown here, but I didn't take as many as I thought. Hopefully the other girls have some good shots too.
Gridmodels did quite well in promoting itself - we have got our pictures from the Friday shoot on several websites, and we even got a small shot in the Red Bulletin although it wasn't quite what we were hoping for. It was a pic from Barry's 70th party, when everyone clearly thought we were the hired booty. Nadine even did a Marilyn and sang happy birthday to him in her husky voice. We were rewarded with a lobster dinner though, and one of us was rewarded with a handsome young man - no names needed!
Here are some of the links:
http://www.formulapod.com/?m=1&s=21&r=
http://www.suttonimages.com/fotoweb/searchresultposters.fwx?folderid=5009&hidefc=1&search=f7141
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/6128/774.html
http://www.planet-f1.com/gallery/0,18973,3524_2152002_0,00.html
http://www.rodcollins.com
http://www.itv-f1.com/Home.aspx
http://www.redbulletin.com - Saturday issue
We met some really interesting and fun people while we were there. It's amazing the variety of wealth business-men there are, most of them self-made with a tale or two to tell. We met everyone from bankers to nightclub owners, to bottled water magnates. One man we met at Les's party announced very nocholantly that he was off to buy a yacht the next day - I'm guessing he wasn't going to put it on his credit card!
The funny thing is, that because everyone is wealthy it stops being novel and you see all the men and women on an equal footing. Some just want to talk about their money and the others want to have fun with it! No man can use the 'Can I buy you a drink' chat up line at a Monaco party because they're all complimentary anyway!
The nice family who gave us a lift in their boat on Saturday morning when security was so tight we couldn't get to Trevor's yacht to get our stuff, turned out to own the Kingfisher boat where the amazing party was on Sunday night. They were such a nice kind group, offering us a lift without any questions, and they damn well know how to throw a good bash. I think their boat was completely trashed afterwards though. oops!
It's so exciting to be in Monaco for the race days, the atmosphere is really buzzing. Everyone seems to be high on life, though they're probably just high on rose, the new water in the south of France.
Time to book a week in Monaco for the same time next year!
Monday, 28 May 2007
Today is our penultimate day on the Cote D'Azur. Very sad, but I really don' t think I can stomach any more champagne and schmoozing. It's such hard work ;-) I think I left off on Saturday, the day after Cannes. That seems like a lifetime ago. All the days are merging into one.
The last couple of nights have been such great fun, not to mention the racing in the daytime. Did I say that after our steak dinner we ran into Jonny Herbert on his way home. Actually it was more like he ran into us on his Harley, but whatever. He was loving the attention from our gorgeous girls that's for sure!
Saturday night ended up another all nighter - we just can't seem to make the last train home at night. There was a bbq and dancing on the yacht of a nice guy called Les, where we stayed until about 4am. It was a really great party and we met some interesting people like Herbie, Bernie's close colleague and a really sweet man. The food and the free-flowing Bolly was amazing as well.
We'd really wanted to be in a fit state to watch the GP on Sunday, but as it turned out Tony had practically given us his yacht all to ourselves for the day, so we were able to relax even with all the racket the F1 cars were making. One of the highlights of the day was going to the yacht in the tender. I do love speeding along on the open sea, even if I was soaked at the end of it. I heard it was a good race, although we couldn't see much.
After the race we went to the biggest and by the look of it, the only party in the harbour, held on a massive, jaw-dropping boat called the Kingfisher. It was actually really nice because most of the people we'd met during the week were there, plus a few more from last year who we caught up with. I have to admit it's great to be able to walk past the hopefuls on the quay and straight onto the boat - thanks Keith!
The only problem with party's on yachts is that there is a no shoe policy, so not only are all the glitterati at risk of losing their Jimmy Choos on the quayside, but also of cutting their pedicured feet on all the broken glass that ends up on the floor. By the time we left there was an inch of ominous looking liquid covering the floor with broken glass floaters. Yes, yacht parties can get very messy.
So then it was on to Amber lounge to see if we could get one of those elusive €2000 tickets and party to the wee hours with Monaco's finest. While we waited we did a bit of celeb spotting. Nadia clocked JZ going past, but he was on the way to Jimmy'Z, which was a shame forhim as by all accounts it was a crap night there. We also saw Roman Abromovitch (not the correct spelling I'm sure) leaving, and Jenson Button looking really messy. But with a little help from our friends and our stunning girls we eventually made it inside and ended our week in style.
Lewis Hamilton was showing off on the decks and the music was cracking. The night was rounded off with breakfast at the Meridien Hotel with Lewis and a couple of his pals. He seems like a stand-up guy, if a little battle shy.
Today I'm hopefully off to Italy to eat seafood linguine in the sunshine by the sea. A perfect way to round off an amazing trip to Monaco.
The last couple of nights have been such great fun, not to mention the racing in the daytime. Did I say that after our steak dinner we ran into Jonny Herbert on his way home. Actually it was more like he ran into us on his Harley, but whatever. He was loving the attention from our gorgeous girls that's for sure!
Saturday night ended up another all nighter - we just can't seem to make the last train home at night. There was a bbq and dancing on the yacht of a nice guy called Les, where we stayed until about 4am. It was a really great party and we met some interesting people like Herbie, Bernie's close colleague and a really sweet man. The food and the free-flowing Bolly was amazing as well.
We'd really wanted to be in a fit state to watch the GP on Sunday, but as it turned out Tony had practically given us his yacht all to ourselves for the day, so we were able to relax even with all the racket the F1 cars were making. One of the highlights of the day was going to the yacht in the tender. I do love speeding along on the open sea, even if I was soaked at the end of it. I heard it was a good race, although we couldn't see much.
After the race we went to the biggest and by the look of it, the only party in the harbour, held on a massive, jaw-dropping boat called the Kingfisher. It was actually really nice because most of the people we'd met during the week were there, plus a few more from last year who we caught up with. I have to admit it's great to be able to walk past the hopefuls on the quay and straight onto the boat - thanks Keith!
The only problem with party's on yachts is that there is a no shoe policy, so not only are all the glitterati at risk of losing their Jimmy Choos on the quayside, but also of cutting their pedicured feet on all the broken glass that ends up on the floor. By the time we left there was an inch of ominous looking liquid covering the floor with broken glass floaters. Yes, yacht parties can get very messy.
So then it was on to Amber lounge to see if we could get one of those elusive €2000 tickets and party to the wee hours with Monaco's finest. While we waited we did a bit of celeb spotting. Nadia clocked JZ going past, but he was on the way to Jimmy'Z, which was a shame forhim as by all accounts it was a crap night there. We also saw Roman Abromovitch (not the correct spelling I'm sure) leaving, and Jenson Button looking really messy. But with a little help from our friends and our stunning girls we eventually made it inside and ended our week in style.
Lewis Hamilton was showing off on the decks and the music was cracking. The night was rounded off with breakfast at the Meridien Hotel with Lewis and a couple of his pals. He seems like a stand-up guy, if a little battle shy.
Today I'm hopefully off to Italy to eat seafood linguine in the sunshine by the sea. A perfect way to round off an amazing trip to Monaco.
Saturday, 26 May 2007
Gentlemen, start your engines ...
I'm just trying to work out how many days behind I am with this blog. I think it was Thursday and I'd just woken up after rolling in at 7am. Seems to be a running theme!
We went to the beach again on Thursday - unfortunately the weather has gone cloudy and hu,id now, so at least we got a couple of days in by the sea. The beach isn't that great in Menton but the backdrop scenery is spectacular. Coming back to London will be a bit of a let down after this.
I forgot all about Cannes on Thursday night until just now. It was a really strange trip. Firstly it took us three hours to get there on the train (instead of 1) because it was massively retarded. That's delayed to you and me, but the French word seems much more appropriate. When we got to Cannes we made straight for the party, which was a long walk along the promenade, but we got to feel the atmosphere on the way, which was buzzing. It was actually quite bizarre - hudreds of people dressed in tuxes and evening dresses, all wandering around aimlessly like something from Night of the Living Dead!
Gridmodels, on the other hand, had a mission - to crack the Oceans 13 party and steal Brad away from Ange. So off we walked, like salmon swimming upstream. Was no-one else going to this party? The reason for this was clear on arrival. This was the sort of bash you didn't walk to. This was the sort of bash to which you arrived in a chauffeur driven limo or 4x4.
Anyway to cut a long story short, the very thin door Nazi wasn't very receptive to our charming assault and refused us entry. Our faith in womanly solidarity considerably shaken, we suddenly were drawn to the back of the building where I spied a couple looking suspiciously like Brad and Ange sneaking out the back door to a lightning storm of paps. Rushing to see what the commotion was all about, we witnessed the exodus of (almost) 13 of the world's hottest men and women from their own party.
I will say this for them, they are all unfeasibly good looking. And it did lessen the allure of going to the party somewhat, knowing that there was no Brad to bump into inside. Which made the fact that we spent around 5 hours on a train, dressed up to the nines, just for a lovely pannini by the sea a bit more palatable.
So we did get an early night on Thursday, and paid for it with Keith, Mark and Matty boasting about the fun they had at the Red Bull party.
Friday was all about getting ourselves in the press, and then getting ourselves in a mess ;-)
Keith wanted to do a photoshoot, so we first went to Tony's tres posh apartment overlooking the track. On the way we were accosted by lots of photographers and made to walk up and down the street a few times in our bikinis. Being a Gridmodel is just so glamorous. At the apartment ( apparently the most expensive in Monaco - 13 million Euros or something!) the concierce thought we were doing a porn shoot and kicked us out after only a few shots. Poor Tony loved trying to explain that one away. I'm pretty sure the whole porn thing was mostly about Bridget anyway, but to her credit she certainly got us a lot of attention.
Then on to the boat, where after a few interviews and more shots on the way, even I was persuaded to have a few pictures taken in a Gridmodels bikini.
That was the start of a very long night. We had a nice steak frites dinner in town, followed by champers on a couple of yachts, followed by more champers with Matty's Italian mates at Amber Lounge. Amber lounge is at the Meridian Hotel this year, with the club set up around the pool. Of course on a humid night in the Med, what can be done except junp in the pool? Well, Nadine wasn't shy, having had the foresight to wear her bikini to the club. Unfortunately the bouncers weren't as enthusiastic about the dip as all the clubbers, and she was soon evicted.
After some embarrassing attempts to speak Italian with Matty's friends, we saw the sun coming up and decided it was high time to go on somewhere else, so off we went to Jimmy'Z again until the daylight came in earnest and we exited into a mother of a thunderstorm.
As today is a race day, it was so hard getting anywhere, even at 7am. Nadine managed to persuade the rather self-important gate man to let us through so we could get to Trevor's yacht for a snooze. When we got there quite a few other people had had the same idea and sleeping space was limited. Trevor and his wife are real gems though, and didn't even bat an eyelid when they woke up to find their nice yacht had turned into a homeless shelter. Thanks for the hospitality guys.
Now, after a couple of hours sleep, I have to go back to the apartment and get ready for yet another night out. Not all night though this time. I just can't cope!
We went to the beach again on Thursday - unfortunately the weather has gone cloudy and hu,id now, so at least we got a couple of days in by the sea. The beach isn't that great in Menton but the backdrop scenery is spectacular. Coming back to London will be a bit of a let down after this.
I forgot all about Cannes on Thursday night until just now. It was a really strange trip. Firstly it took us three hours to get there on the train (instead of 1) because it was massively retarded. That's delayed to you and me, but the French word seems much more appropriate. When we got to Cannes we made straight for the party, which was a long walk along the promenade, but we got to feel the atmosphere on the way, which was buzzing. It was actually quite bizarre - hudreds of people dressed in tuxes and evening dresses, all wandering around aimlessly like something from Night of the Living Dead!
Gridmodels, on the other hand, had a mission - to crack the Oceans 13 party and steal Brad away from Ange. So off we walked, like salmon swimming upstream. Was no-one else going to this party? The reason for this was clear on arrival. This was the sort of bash you didn't walk to. This was the sort of bash to which you arrived in a chauffeur driven limo or 4x4.
Anyway to cut a long story short, the very thin door Nazi wasn't very receptive to our charming assault and refused us entry. Our faith in womanly solidarity considerably shaken, we suddenly were drawn to the back of the building where I spied a couple looking suspiciously like Brad and Ange sneaking out the back door to a lightning storm of paps. Rushing to see what the commotion was all about, we witnessed the exodus of (almost) 13 of the world's hottest men and women from their own party.
I will say this for them, they are all unfeasibly good looking. And it did lessen the allure of going to the party somewhat, knowing that there was no Brad to bump into inside. Which made the fact that we spent around 5 hours on a train, dressed up to the nines, just for a lovely pannini by the sea a bit more palatable.
So we did get an early night on Thursday, and paid for it with Keith, Mark and Matty boasting about the fun they had at the Red Bull party.
Friday was all about getting ourselves in the press, and then getting ourselves in a mess ;-)
Keith wanted to do a photoshoot, so we first went to Tony's tres posh apartment overlooking the track. On the way we were accosted by lots of photographers and made to walk up and down the street a few times in our bikinis. Being a Gridmodel is just so glamorous. At the apartment ( apparently the most expensive in Monaco - 13 million Euros or something!) the concierce thought we were doing a porn shoot and kicked us out after only a few shots. Poor Tony loved trying to explain that one away. I'm pretty sure the whole porn thing was mostly about Bridget anyway, but to her credit she certainly got us a lot of attention.
Then on to the boat, where after a few interviews and more shots on the way, even I was persuaded to have a few pictures taken in a Gridmodels bikini.
That was the start of a very long night. We had a nice steak frites dinner in town, followed by champers on a couple of yachts, followed by more champers with Matty's Italian mates at Amber Lounge. Amber lounge is at the Meridian Hotel this year, with the club set up around the pool. Of course on a humid night in the Med, what can be done except junp in the pool? Well, Nadine wasn't shy, having had the foresight to wear her bikini to the club. Unfortunately the bouncers weren't as enthusiastic about the dip as all the clubbers, and she was soon evicted.
After some embarrassing attempts to speak Italian with Matty's friends, we saw the sun coming up and decided it was high time to go on somewhere else, so off we went to Jimmy'Z again until the daylight came in earnest and we exited into a mother of a thunderstorm.
As today is a race day, it was so hard getting anywhere, even at 7am. Nadine managed to persuade the rather self-important gate man to let us through so we could get to Trevor's yacht for a snooze. When we got there quite a few other people had had the same idea and sleeping space was limited. Trevor and his wife are real gems though, and didn't even bat an eyelid when they woke up to find their nice yacht had turned into a homeless shelter. Thanks for the hospitality guys.
Now, after a couple of hours sleep, I have to go back to the apartment and get ready for yet another night out. Not all night though this time. I just can't cope!
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