We’ve told everyone we’re at a conference in Albert Park in Melbourne, so hush hush. We’re here for (at least most of) the long weekend and aim to focus on covering the bits of the Australian Grand Prix that don’t make it to the TV screens or Netflix’s Drive To Survive.
Queues to get in. Bright sunshine poking through storm clouds. Conditions: perfect for a GP.
Police car number what now?
Entrance through gift shop. Well one of them, anyway. There’s a lot of hats. We’re thinking of having a contest. How much do you think the most expensive hat is and which team has it? Have a guess…Caillac – the Cadillac of hats. Yours for just $130! Move over Ferrari, there’s a new price leader in town. We may have to have a Best F1 cap competition. There are so many of them.
Casa Ferrari in Melbourne.
Casa Audi is next to it but it looks a bit like a car showroom…… I don’t think you can buy the car that it’s showing-off, though.Erm, Casa Porsche? There’s lots of Porsche racing at the track (and classic cars and Supercars) which is why they’re here.You’ll be needing a map if you want to get anywhere.One of the highlights of the GP is the Melbourne Walk where the drivers sign a few autographs outside the Paddock. I arrived a bit late for it though.When you ask security as a joke if your pass will get you into the main Paddock area… and they say, “Yes.”So… I guess I can do the Melbourne Walk, with the drivers, now. Hi Carlos (we’ll be seeing more of him).McLaren were suddenly all there, too.But, homeboy Oscar was the most popular.Grid Girls might have gone. But, these guys raised some cheers.Needed somewhere to do a review of the new, Intel Panther Lake, HP OmniBook 7 laptop review. This table had the best shade and the best breeze from a piercing sun that’s apparently set in for the next few days.Kept getting distracted by people photographing this guy who kept walking past. No sign of his new squeeze, Kim K, though (yet).I tried to get Angela Cullen to react to her famous Reddit cosplayer, but she had her hands full.
While all this was happening we heard a few F1 cars start up. Jeez they sound bad. A Ferrari sounded like a lawnmower when idling. It’s not their fault, but you can see why so many people want V10s back.
The F1 Paddock is a good place for people watching it turns out. You might expect VCARB’s Liam Lawson to be there but…
There was almost a fight when this guy goosed that guy. Pardon the thumb, but these photos come with one second’s notice.
We’ve heaps more to post later or tomorrow. That will include Carlos Sainz talking about cybersecurity, the best F1 hat competition, the best trackside team booth competition, the best trackside team booth seats competition and, of course, the winner of the prestigious 2026 Best F1 Boom Gantry Award. And let me tell you… things have been shaken-up significantly since we published the 2025 awards.
Darren’s story is quite interesting. He formed a business with David Coulthard and the first race he went to was DC winning at Monaco. It’s all downhill from there, right? Actually, Darren is the first sponsor I’ve heard from who raves about how much business he’s got from sponsoring Formula 1. Many of the sponsors in the sport are now customers, including Atlassian. If you look on the screens on Williams’s’s’ pitside booth thing, Keeper is the screensaver. He met the CEO of the NBA at one race and they became a partner too. They’re all about cybersecurity and we’ll be covering that in a more techie article.
Anyway, DC rudely interrupted our interview to hug him. That’s pretty cool in my book. Mind you, Coulthard was absolutely everywhere today. He’s like the new Jackie Stewart.
The problem with snatched photos on multitasking phones is that stupid filters keep applying themselves at the worst times.Carlos Sainz is gorgeous in every respect. I don’t often get distracted by a man’s hair, but I almost lost my train of thought regarding the discussions we were having about protecting race team data from breaches.
Alex Albon is behind his head. He’s very tall for a driver.
A couple of big crates arrived late in the day with big chunks of Ferrari F1 car wrapped up inside. There also seemed to be a box for Cadillac?!
This puts me in mind of a similar event many years ago. We heard of the ‘Last man out’ phenomenon. Nobody wanted to be the last engineer to leave the team factory as they’d have to courier the last emergency parts for the car for race day. These might be massive and the excess baggage charges from flying commercial could be off the scale. But, this is F1.
Though unedifying, it’s worth noting that the teams, drivers, engineers, VIPs and guests all get to use the same bog-standard toilets. The only upgrade over normal dunnies are the occasional cushions, a little posy of flowers and some face cream next to the soap.
When the track events are done, Albert Park takes on the vibe of a music festival for the next few hours before dark.
… and it looks like one too.
On the way home we met an epic Hulkenfan. Her mission: get that big head signed! Good luck! We’ll help if we can.
Long day. Possible sunstroke. But, the night has just begun.
And finally… excellent dry martini in Fitzroy while catching-up with work at midnight.
Still heaps of content to post. But, that’s all for Day 1.
Nick Ross is a veteran tech journalist. He is Editor in Chief of SMBtech, an Australian-focused website for technology and business, and High Performance Laptops.
Love the behind-the-scenes details! I never realized how much the Melbourne Walk and paddock access add to the experience—it really makes you feel like you’re part of the action. Your description of the queues and atmosphere makes the whole day come alive even for someone watching from home.
Sounds like an exciting behind-the-scenes mission! 🏁 Being at Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park over the long weekend is the perfect opportunity to capture the moments fans rarely get to see. From the atmosphere around the paddock to the stories in the grandstands and fan zones, there’s so much that doesn’t make it onto broadcasts or shows like Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Looking forward to hearing about the hidden gems and off-camera moments from the race weekend! 🏎️🎥 https://asianigaming.com Real Talk on the Asian Gaming Market Asian iGaming is an independent source for gaming knowledge.
Love the behind-the-scenes details! I never realized how much the Melbourne Walk and paddock access add to the experience—it really makes you feel like you’re part of the action. Your description of the queues and atmosphere makes the whole day come alive even for someone watching from home.
Sounds like an exciting behind-the-scenes mission! 🏁 Being at Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park over the long weekend is the perfect opportunity to capture the moments fans rarely get to see. From the atmosphere around the paddock to the stories in the grandstands and fan zones, there’s so much that doesn’t make it onto broadcasts or shows like Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Looking forward to hearing about the hidden gems and off-camera moments from the race weekend! 🏎️🎥 https://asianigaming.com Real Talk on the Asian Gaming Market
Asian iGaming is an independent source for gaming knowledge.