Although the narrow streets of Monte Carlo offer almost no chances of overtaking, the Monaco GP has usually offered a lot of entertainment due to safety car episodes and costly mistakes made by drivers. However, today's GP was an exception to that, as it turned out to be quite a boring race with no real drama. Nothing dramatic or thrilling happened, not even at the start. Ricciardo on pole took a perfect start and held on to his lead. Sebastian followed his ex teammate closely, with Hamilton and Kimi behind him. Actually the order of the whole top ten remained unchanged at the start. It was amazing, how clean a start the whole pack took, as there were no first-lap collisions! Verstappen, who had started to the race from the very back of the grid, managed to gain two positions right away. The Dutchman seemed determined to climb up the pack position by position. By lap eight, Max had already made his way up to P14.
Hamilton was the first driver in trouble with the hyper-soft tyres, and the Briton pitted already on lap 13. He switched to the purple-marked ultra-soft compound. At this point it really seemed, that Hamilton was on a two-stop strategy, as the early pit stop would have meant driving 60 laps on the ultra-softs, had the Briton been on a one-stopper! Hamilton re-joined the track in P6. Sebastian pitted three laps later, opting for the ultra-soft compound as well. The German Ferrari ace re-joined the track in P3, ahead of Bottas. The race leader Ricciardo pitted as well, for a fresh set of ultra-soft Pirellis and re-joined the track in the lead. Both Finns drove into the pits, too. Kimi opted for the ultra-soft compound, similar to his teammate. Bottas, however, switched to the red-marked super-soft rubber, after struggling massively on the softest compound. After re-joining the track, Bottas' pace on the fresh super-softs was extremely convincing and he was rapidly closing the gap to Hamilton and Kimi.
Around the halfway point of the race, Ricciardo was suddenly hit with a technical issue, and the Australian was losing power. Sebastian had closed the gap to Ricciardo, making it within DRS distance from the "Smiling Avenger". However, overtaking in Monaco is extremely difficult, even though the driver ahead of you has technical issues! In spite of Ricciardo´s technical woes Sebastian was unable to make a move on the race leader Ricciardo.
Verstappen pitted after completing 45 laps on the ultra-softs, and re-joined the track in P11. Ricciardo's pace in the lead left a lot to hope for, and his teammate was four seconds a lap faster on his fresh hyper-softs! With 25 laps to go, the top five drivers were all within five seconds! Verstappen was driving a brilliant race with no mistakes. He had a tight battle with Renault's Sainz for P9, the Dutchman finally getting the upper hand on the Spaniard.
The most dramatic moment of the race happened six laps before the chequered flag. Sauber's Leclerc was suddenly hit with a brake failure, which made the Monegasque to crash into Hartley's Toro Rosso. The crash destroyed the New Zealander's rear wing, and both drivers were out of the race. Virtual safety car was deployed. In spite of the virtual safety car, the top drivers stayed out despite their extremely worn tyres.
Virtual safety car ended with five laps to go. Ricciardo pulled out a five-second gap to Sebastian, who was struggling badly with his out-worn tyres. The Australian got his redemption, as he crossed the finish line as the race winner for the first time in Monaco! Sebastian finished the runner-up, with Hamilton completing the podium. It was amazing, that Hamilton was able to make the one-stop strategy work. Kimi finished fourth and Bottas fifth; this was the first time this season, that there were no Finns on the podium. Ocon finished stunning sixth for Force India, and Gasly made it a brilliant P7 for Toro Rosso. Renault's Hulkenberg, Red Bull's Verstappen and Renault's Sainz rounded out the top ten. Finishing in the points was an excellent result for Max, who had had a catastrophic Saturday due to the mistake of his own.
Sebastian decreased the gap to Hamilton in the drivers' championship standings, but by three points only. Hamilton now has 110 points to Sebastian's 96. Thanks to his victory, Ricciardo moved third with 72 points. Bottas is fourth with 68 points and Kimi fifth with 60 points. Mercedes' lead shrank into 22 points in the constructors' standings. With Ricciardo's superb win, Red Bull strengthened their position as the third best team.
Two weeks ago in Barcelona Mercedes was the team to beat. In Monaco the tables turned again, and Red Bull was the dominating team. In a fortnight the F1 circus will move to Canada. What might be the pecking order of the top teams at Montreal? Hopefully it will be the start of the season-lasting red empire!
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
sunnuntai 27. toukokuuta 2018
Monaco GP / Qualifying: Second career pole for Ricciardo with an epic new track record!
Yesterday was a perfect day to watch the qualifying. I was sitting on the porch of our lakeside sauna. My twin sister was heating the sauna, while I concentrated on watching the qualifying on my cell phone. There´s no better scent in the summer than smoke coming out of the chimney, as the sauna is heated. The weather was as brilliant as it was in Monaco; the sun was shining and there were blue skies and +25 degrees Celsius. For that moment I was able to forget all my worries, and it was all about the shootout for Monaco pole.
Because I had been swimming earlier, I had missed the third free practice session. And what a dramatic session it had been for Red Bull´s Verstappen! With only 10 minutes remaining, the flying Dutchman had crashed his RB14 into the barrier! It had been almost an identical shunt to the one he had had two years earlier. The shunt proved extremely costly for Verstappen, as his RB14 needed a gearbox change, and the team proved unable to fix the car in time for the qualifying. I can only imagine, how devastated Max must have felt, as Red Bull had proved stunning pace, having topped all free practice session in the streets of the Municipality! So Max´s mistake-filled season seemed to continue, and the Dutchman had no choice but to witness his teammate´s outstanding pace in the garage.
All cars came out on the pink-marked hyper-softs right away, as Q1 got underway. Traffic is always a significant factor in the narrow streets of Monaco, so everyone wanted to set a banker lap already at the beginning of the session. Ricciardo continued his ultimate top form in the qualifying. Ferrari turned out to be Red Bull´s closest challenger, but in Q1 Ricciardo was massive four tenths adrift! Mercedes, which had been the team to beat two weeks ago in Barcelona, was now the distinct third-best team. Bottas escaped the drop zone not until at the very end of the first segment, jumping third. In addition to Verstappen, out of Q2 were Toro Rosso´s Hartley, Sauber´s Ericsson, Williams' Stroll and Haas' Magnussen. In turn Williams' Sirotkin stood out of the crowd by being 8th fastest, as well as the other Sauber of home hero Leclerc, who made it 9th in Q1.
In Q2 Mercedes chose to fit both Hamilton and Bottas with the ultrasoft tyres, while everyone else opted for the pink-marked hyper-soft compound. However, Hamilton reported on the team radio, that the tyres were "terrible", so the Mercedes drivers were forced to switch to the softest rubber for their second runs. Once again, Ricciardo shone alongside with the sun and topped the timesheets. Kimi showed top form as well, being only a tenth down on the Honey Badger. Sebastian was third and Hamilton fourth. Renault's Hulkenberg was the first driver to miss out on the last session. Out of Q3 were also McLaren's Vandoorne, Williams' Sirotkin, Sauber's Leclerc and Haas' Grosjean.
Ricciardo smashed the track record again in the final session. The Australian was the only driver to break into the 1m 10s, taking the provisional pole by 0.45s to Hamilton! It was extremely tight between Hamilton, Sebastian and Kimi, who were all within five thousandths of a second! Sebastian improved on his second run to jump Hamilton and go second quickest. The Briton had briefly set the timing screens purple in sector one on his final run, but in the end faded as the lap went on. But the day belonged to the Red Bull ace Ricciardo, whose first time lap was fast enough to make it on pole. The gap to Sebastian was two tenths. Hamilton qualified third and Kimi completed the second row. Bottas had to settle for P5, which is the lowest grid slot for the Finn since the season-opening Australian GP. Ocon made it stunning P6 for the pink Force India. McLaren's Alonso, Renault's Sainz, Force India's Perez and Toro Rosso's Gasly rounded out the top ten.
This was only the second career pole for the smiling Australian. The Honey Badger had made it on pole in Monaco two years ago, but Red Bull messed up his pit stop in the race, robbing him of the victory. This time Ricciardo definitely wants to turn the bitter memory into a glorious victory with a shoey. Teammate Verstappen, on the other hand, will start to the race from the very back of the grid. Overtaking chances are very tenuous in Monaco, so making it on the podium seems almost like a mission impossible for Max. Safety car usually plays a major role, as there´s no room for mistakes in the Municipality. The walls are close everywhere, and you have to keep up your concentration 100 %... Ferrari's only chance to beat the flying Ricciardo is to have more genius pit stop strategy than the Austrian team. But I believe in the red team from all my heart. I'm sure anything is possible in the glamorous Monte Carlo!
Because I had been swimming earlier, I had missed the third free practice session. And what a dramatic session it had been for Red Bull´s Verstappen! With only 10 minutes remaining, the flying Dutchman had crashed his RB14 into the barrier! It had been almost an identical shunt to the one he had had two years earlier. The shunt proved extremely costly for Verstappen, as his RB14 needed a gearbox change, and the team proved unable to fix the car in time for the qualifying. I can only imagine, how devastated Max must have felt, as Red Bull had proved stunning pace, having topped all free practice session in the streets of the Municipality! So Max´s mistake-filled season seemed to continue, and the Dutchman had no choice but to witness his teammate´s outstanding pace in the garage.
All cars came out on the pink-marked hyper-softs right away, as Q1 got underway. Traffic is always a significant factor in the narrow streets of Monaco, so everyone wanted to set a banker lap already at the beginning of the session. Ricciardo continued his ultimate top form in the qualifying. Ferrari turned out to be Red Bull´s closest challenger, but in Q1 Ricciardo was massive four tenths adrift! Mercedes, which had been the team to beat two weeks ago in Barcelona, was now the distinct third-best team. Bottas escaped the drop zone not until at the very end of the first segment, jumping third. In addition to Verstappen, out of Q2 were Toro Rosso´s Hartley, Sauber´s Ericsson, Williams' Stroll and Haas' Magnussen. In turn Williams' Sirotkin stood out of the crowd by being 8th fastest, as well as the other Sauber of home hero Leclerc, who made it 9th in Q1.
In Q2 Mercedes chose to fit both Hamilton and Bottas with the ultrasoft tyres, while everyone else opted for the pink-marked hyper-soft compound. However, Hamilton reported on the team radio, that the tyres were "terrible", so the Mercedes drivers were forced to switch to the softest rubber for their second runs. Once again, Ricciardo shone alongside with the sun and topped the timesheets. Kimi showed top form as well, being only a tenth down on the Honey Badger. Sebastian was third and Hamilton fourth. Renault's Hulkenberg was the first driver to miss out on the last session. Out of Q3 were also McLaren's Vandoorne, Williams' Sirotkin, Sauber's Leclerc and Haas' Grosjean.
Ricciardo smashed the track record again in the final session. The Australian was the only driver to break into the 1m 10s, taking the provisional pole by 0.45s to Hamilton! It was extremely tight between Hamilton, Sebastian and Kimi, who were all within five thousandths of a second! Sebastian improved on his second run to jump Hamilton and go second quickest. The Briton had briefly set the timing screens purple in sector one on his final run, but in the end faded as the lap went on. But the day belonged to the Red Bull ace Ricciardo, whose first time lap was fast enough to make it on pole. The gap to Sebastian was two tenths. Hamilton qualified third and Kimi completed the second row. Bottas had to settle for P5, which is the lowest grid slot for the Finn since the season-opening Australian GP. Ocon made it stunning P6 for the pink Force India. McLaren's Alonso, Renault's Sainz, Force India's Perez and Toro Rosso's Gasly rounded out the top ten.
This was only the second career pole for the smiling Australian. The Honey Badger had made it on pole in Monaco two years ago, but Red Bull messed up his pit stop in the race, robbing him of the victory. This time Ricciardo definitely wants to turn the bitter memory into a glorious victory with a shoey. Teammate Verstappen, on the other hand, will start to the race from the very back of the grid. Overtaking chances are very tenuous in Monaco, so making it on the podium seems almost like a mission impossible for Max. Safety car usually plays a major role, as there´s no room for mistakes in the Municipality. The walls are close everywhere, and you have to keep up your concentration 100 %... Ferrari's only chance to beat the flying Ricciardo is to have more genius pit stop strategy than the Austrian team. But I believe in the red team from all my heart. I'm sure anything is possible in the glamorous Monte Carlo!
maanantai 14. toukokuuta 2018
Spanish GP: Mercedes bounced back by taking 1-2!
After the first four races of the season I believed strongly, that Ferrari was the team to beat this season. Having said that, Mercedes bounced back massively at Barcelona. The Silver Arrows took their first front row lock-out of the season in qualifying, with Hamilton edging teammate Bottas by four hundredths of a second only! Ferrari had topped the timesheets in Q2, where all top three teams had opted for the yellow-marked soft Pirellis. But when it came down to the shootout for pole, Mercedes had the upper hand on the red team. Pirelli had renewed the tyres for the Spanish GP weekend, which led to an interesting tyre strategy in the final segment. Both Ferrari aces had had a tame first attempt, and both Kimi and Sebastian opted for the soft compound on their last run, as did Red Bull´s Ricciardo, too. Sebastian pipped teammate Kimi to 3rd, by a clear margin of three tenths. Red Bull locked down the third row, with Verstappen edging his Australian teammate by two thousandths of a second only! It was confusing, how small a margin there was between the soft and super-soft compound. Magnussen made a convincing job by finishing 7th for Haas, and Alonso qualified 8th for McLaren. Renault's Sainz and Haas' Grosjean rounded out the top ten.
Due to the teams' Q2 tyre strategy, Alonso was the only top ten driver to start to the race on the red-marked super-soft compound. The most exciting moment of the Spanish GP was the start. Hamilton on pole took an excellent start and maintained his lead. Sebastian in P3 took a rocket start and passed Bottas, who had started on the dirtier side of the track. Kimi maintained his fourth place, and the Iceman was followed by the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo. Turn 3 was a true action zone further down in the pack. Haas' Grosjean lost control of his car and spun. But instead of hitting the brake pedal, the Frenchman kept his foot on the throttle, trying to spin his car back on the track. This led into a dangerous-looking situation, as both Gasly's Toro Rosso and Hulkenberg's Renault crashed into recklessly spinning Grosjean. All three were out of the race, and safety car was deployed, as there were loads of debris on the track. Sauber's Leclerc had had a stunning opening lap, as the Monegasque had gained five positions and was already in 9th.
The re-start took place on lap 6, and the pecking order of the top eight drivers remained unchanged. Hamilton started to bang amazing lap times, which no one else was able to match. Circuit de Catalunya is known for very limited chances for overtaking, so Bottas, either wasn't able to challenge Sebastian for P3. Hamilton's pace was in a class of his own. The Briton was half a second faster than his rivals, so Mercedes really had found their missing pace!
Sebastian opened the pit stop roulette on lap 17. He pitted for a fresh set of white-marked medium Pirellis, and re-joined the track in P7. Bottas drove into the pits a couple of laps later, opting for a similar tyre choice to Sebastian, but the Finn's pit stop took 1.5s too long. Due to Bottas' delayed pit stop, Sebastian managed to stay ahead of the Finn. However, black clouds started to gather upon Ferrari on lap 25, as Kimi's SF71-H was hit with a technical failure. Kimi's superb P2 turned into a bitter DNF, and the Iceman had no choice but to drive into the pits and retire. Meanwhile, Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis, re-joining the track in P2. Red Bull's Verstappen was now leading the race.
The Red Bulls pitted on the sequential laps, Ricciardo on lap 35 and Verstappen on lap 36, both opting for the hardest compound. Hamilton was back in the lead, with Sebastian second and Bottas third. Lap 42 saw a surprising turn, as Sebastian pitted for the second time, for another set of medium Pirellis. Everything didn't go to plan in terms of the pit stop, and it cost the German a couple of extra seconds. Virtual safety car had been deployed due to Ocon's power unit failure. This strategic call with the delay made Sebastian drop down to P4, behind Bottas and Verstappen. Ferrari seemed to have expected Mercedes to make second pit stops as well. However, Mercedes didn't call their drivers in despite the virtual safety car!
By that point it had seemed, that Verstappen was finally driving a clean race after the mistake-filled first four races. But on lap 43 there was an inconceivable situation, where the Dutchman crashed into the rear of Stroll's Williams, causing an end plate damage on the Dutchman's front wing. This looked like an open opportunity for Sebastian to get past the flying Dutchman. However, in spite of the front wing damage, Verstappen´s pace remained amazingly competitive.
With ten laps to go, Hamilton had very a dominant lead of 17 seconds over his Finnish teammate. Verstappen was third and Sebastian fourth. It seemed impossible to get within DRS distance from the driver ahead, so there were no tight battles for positions at Circuit de Catalunya, which made the Spanish GP quite boring honestly. Ricciardo, who finished 5th for Red Bull, was the last driver on the same lap with the race winner Hamilton. Magnussen (Haas), Sainz (Renault), Alonso (McLaren), Perez (Force India) and Leclerc (Sauber) were all a lap down already. This was the first 1-2 for Mercedes this season, and it came in a dominant way. I was happy to see Verstappen on the podium, because he really needed a great result! But I would have wanted to see Sebastian there as well...
The turning point in the race was the second pit stop, which was costly for Sebastian. Hadn't it been delayed, Sebastian would have made it on the podium. But obviously it was a wrong tactical call from the red team, as Mercedes managed to make the one-stop strategy work. By winning the second successive race, Hamilton increased his lead to Sebastian into 17 points in the drivers' championship standings. Bottas in 3rd is now 20 points down on Sebastian, and Kimi in 4th is 10 points down on his fellow countryman. Mercedes now seems to be back on top form and the team to beat, as the Silver Arrows have a 27-point gap to Ferrari in the constructors' championship standings. The red team definitely have some home work to do before going to the legendary Monaco!
Due to the teams' Q2 tyre strategy, Alonso was the only top ten driver to start to the race on the red-marked super-soft compound. The most exciting moment of the Spanish GP was the start. Hamilton on pole took an excellent start and maintained his lead. Sebastian in P3 took a rocket start and passed Bottas, who had started on the dirtier side of the track. Kimi maintained his fourth place, and the Iceman was followed by the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo. Turn 3 was a true action zone further down in the pack. Haas' Grosjean lost control of his car and spun. But instead of hitting the brake pedal, the Frenchman kept his foot on the throttle, trying to spin his car back on the track. This led into a dangerous-looking situation, as both Gasly's Toro Rosso and Hulkenberg's Renault crashed into recklessly spinning Grosjean. All three were out of the race, and safety car was deployed, as there were loads of debris on the track. Sauber's Leclerc had had a stunning opening lap, as the Monegasque had gained five positions and was already in 9th.
The re-start took place on lap 6, and the pecking order of the top eight drivers remained unchanged. Hamilton started to bang amazing lap times, which no one else was able to match. Circuit de Catalunya is known for very limited chances for overtaking, so Bottas, either wasn't able to challenge Sebastian for P3. Hamilton's pace was in a class of his own. The Briton was half a second faster than his rivals, so Mercedes really had found their missing pace!
Sebastian opened the pit stop roulette on lap 17. He pitted for a fresh set of white-marked medium Pirellis, and re-joined the track in P7. Bottas drove into the pits a couple of laps later, opting for a similar tyre choice to Sebastian, but the Finn's pit stop took 1.5s too long. Due to Bottas' delayed pit stop, Sebastian managed to stay ahead of the Finn. However, black clouds started to gather upon Ferrari on lap 25, as Kimi's SF71-H was hit with a technical failure. Kimi's superb P2 turned into a bitter DNF, and the Iceman had no choice but to drive into the pits and retire. Meanwhile, Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis, re-joining the track in P2. Red Bull's Verstappen was now leading the race.
The Red Bulls pitted on the sequential laps, Ricciardo on lap 35 and Verstappen on lap 36, both opting for the hardest compound. Hamilton was back in the lead, with Sebastian second and Bottas third. Lap 42 saw a surprising turn, as Sebastian pitted for the second time, for another set of medium Pirellis. Everything didn't go to plan in terms of the pit stop, and it cost the German a couple of extra seconds. Virtual safety car had been deployed due to Ocon's power unit failure. This strategic call with the delay made Sebastian drop down to P4, behind Bottas and Verstappen. Ferrari seemed to have expected Mercedes to make second pit stops as well. However, Mercedes didn't call their drivers in despite the virtual safety car!
By that point it had seemed, that Verstappen was finally driving a clean race after the mistake-filled first four races. But on lap 43 there was an inconceivable situation, where the Dutchman crashed into the rear of Stroll's Williams, causing an end plate damage on the Dutchman's front wing. This looked like an open opportunity for Sebastian to get past the flying Dutchman. However, in spite of the front wing damage, Verstappen´s pace remained amazingly competitive.
With ten laps to go, Hamilton had very a dominant lead of 17 seconds over his Finnish teammate. Verstappen was third and Sebastian fourth. It seemed impossible to get within DRS distance from the driver ahead, so there were no tight battles for positions at Circuit de Catalunya, which made the Spanish GP quite boring honestly. Ricciardo, who finished 5th for Red Bull, was the last driver on the same lap with the race winner Hamilton. Magnussen (Haas), Sainz (Renault), Alonso (McLaren), Perez (Force India) and Leclerc (Sauber) were all a lap down already. This was the first 1-2 for Mercedes this season, and it came in a dominant way. I was happy to see Verstappen on the podium, because he really needed a great result! But I would have wanted to see Sebastian there as well...
The turning point in the race was the second pit stop, which was costly for Sebastian. Hadn't it been delayed, Sebastian would have made it on the podium. But obviously it was a wrong tactical call from the red team, as Mercedes managed to make the one-stop strategy work. By winning the second successive race, Hamilton increased his lead to Sebastian into 17 points in the drivers' championship standings. Bottas in 3rd is now 20 points down on Sebastian, and Kimi in 4th is 10 points down on his fellow countryman. Mercedes now seems to be back on top form and the team to beat, as the Silver Arrows have a 27-point gap to Ferrari in the constructors' championship standings. The red team definitely have some home work to do before going to the legendary Monaco!
keskiviikko 9. toukokuuta 2018
This time next year: The dream of interviewing the F1 champion Sebastian Vettel
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| Me (in the right), Laura and Ellen Jokikunnas, who was the hostess of This time next year. The photo was taken during the first filming day in February 2017. |
You, who read my blog, already know that I had a unique chance to sit down with the F1 champion Sebastian Vettel and interview him for my blog during the 2017 Russian GP. In case you've missed the interview, you can read it here http://inlovewithf1wrc.blogspot.fi/2017/05/an-interview-with-sebastian-vettel.html?m=1 But here's the story behind the dream!
I was one of the 80 Finnish people to take part in the TV programme named This time next year. This time next year is an international TV format about ordinary people making their dreams come true. Dreams vary from losing weight to learning to walk again. I heard about this TV programme in December 2016, when the ITV Studios started to search people for this programme. My identical twin sister sent an application for the programme, and I followed her example almost right away! As, for eight years, I had had a dream of meeting and interviewing the quadruple F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel! My desire was not to be a part of a TV programme but to get a chance to make my dream come true. I had tried to turn my dream into reality already a couple of times before but it hadn't worked out. I heard my heart tenderly whispering to me, that this time my dream was going to come true for real.
It was a bizarre moment, when I decided to write the application for the TV programme. Me and my twin sister Laura were to attend a gig of Antti Tuisku, who is said to be the biggest pop star in Finland. Since Laura is a huge fan of Antti, we were sitting in front of the stage already a couple of hours before the gig started. I surfed on my cell phone, and since I had two hours to "kill", I decided to fill in the application form!
I got a phone call from the ITV Studios later on in December, when I was wrapping up Christmas presents at home. The caller was absolutely thrilled about my dream. I had a hunch, that not many people in Finland dreamed about meeting the F1 driver Sebastian Vettel... Actually it turned out, that I was the only participant with an F1 related dream. The official confirmation of being selected as one of the participants in the TV programme came at the beginning of January 2017.
The first filming day took place in February 2017. It was a memorable day indeed. I headed to the studio with Laura, and we both had our stomachs filled with butterflies. Apart from my wedding day, I have never had a make-up done on me. It was really exciting to sit in front of a live audience and say the dream out loud: This time next year I have met and interviewed the F1 champion Sebastian Vettel! Me and Laura, we've always had our heads in the clouds and dreamed big. Laura's dream, too, was everything but a modest one: she wanted to become one of Antti Tuisku's official show dancers!
Things evolved much more rapidly than I had expected in my wildest dreams. On April 7 I was sitting in the waiting room at the dentist with my youngest son, and I decided to check my e-mail. And what an e-mail there was! I had received a message from Sebastian's PR manager Britta Roeske. She wanted to know, if I'd be able to make it in the Russian GP in two weeks! That was the moment, when it hit me: my dream was really about to come true! There were many things to arrange: apply for the visa (which was a lot more complicated than I had thought), book the flights and the hotel, write down the questions for the interview and buy the tickets for the GP! You can read all about my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Russia here http://inlovewithf1wrc.blogspot.fi/2017/05/russian-gp-when-dreams-met-reality.html?m=1
The second filming day took place at the end of January 2018. An awful lot had happened in those 12 months between the two filming days! It was amazing to sit in the studio in front of the live audience and look back at that fairy-tale like trip. But the year hadn't been only about dreams coming true. The very same year had seen my worst nightmare come true as well, as in October 2017 my 11-year-old son had been diagnosed with cancer. However, making my dream come true has given me a huge amount of positive energy and strength to face all the difficulties in life.
The TV programme was aired last Thursday here in Finland. I have to admit it was kind of awkward to see myself on the TV screen! Without the passion for making my dream come true, I wouldn't have decided to take part in a TV programme. However, by taking part in This time next year, I hope to have set an example, that dreams are there to be chased. There's no dream too big! It's amazing what kind of dreams can be turned into reality, if you have the passion to throw yourself into them. So dream big! And get inspired by persons you look up to!
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| Me (in the middle), Laura and the wonderful hostess Ellen Jokikunnas in the studio on the second filming day in January 2018. |
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