[Charles-P]

I’m flying down to Barcelona tomorrow to watch the second day of F1 testing, anyone recommend a good restaurant near the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya ?

[MartynSinclair]

If you consider 16 miles ‘near’, there is a small fishing town called Mataro on the coastal road. There are plenty of very good restaurants to choose. You wont find table cloths and silver service, but you will find plenty of very fresh and delicious food options and fabulous service… I usually pass through in the summer months so not sure how seasonal the place is..

[Charles-P]

Thanks Martin. Have taken your advice. For F1 fans the Ferrari here looks very quick and the Mercedes to. McLaren not so much

[Charles-P]

Interesting to talk with some of the F1 team personal here as they of course do a massive amount of travel. Most crew fly economy with the private jets reserved for drivers and team principles. Big emphasis on hand baggage only and keeping everything to a minimum.

[Charles-P]

During the lunch break in testing here in Barcelona I was a guest of the Mercedes team and spoke with some of their staff about the large amount of business travel they do.

The team has a sponsorship agreement with TUMI and so each person gets one of their nice cabin size roller bags which I am told are big enough for a GP weekend. DHL is the official logistics partner of F1 as a whole so they will ship extra kit in behalf of the teams and the guys were really enthusiastic about this with some saying they even do this now for private travel as it can work out cheaper than excess luggage fees from airlines. Hotel accommodation is also linked to sponsorship with Mercedes having a deal with Starwood Group who provide 100 rooms to them for each race or test session. They all referred to the ‘country book’ which the team maintains, which I am told goes right the way back to the days when the team was BAR, this is the accumulated knowledge of everyone about the each country where they race and includes info such as best routes to the circuit, time to get to the airport after the race and even local cultural notes. I’ve asked for a copy !

[Charles-P]

Just heard my Air France flight is cancelled because of ATC strike in France. Went straight to the British Airways website, great customer service, getting me back home without drama.

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