The winning circle for Monza - impressions from the grandstand
“TOTAL formula” campaign organized in Belgrade, Nis and Subotica definitely marked the spring of 2017. All those who were interested had the chance to prove their skills in driving a virtual formula while at the same time having loads of fun at our stand. The fastest contestant, Stefan Smiljkovic, achieved a remarkable result and won a trip for two to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. Upon his return from Monza, Stefan shared his impressions with us:
Heavy rain and low temperatures made an ideal combo to ruin that Saturday, even more so if one just had a 15-hour trip. Hard to stay positive, no doubt. But all the “torment” disappeared upon hearing and seeing what a real Formula 1 looked like and how it ran on track. The pleasure didn’t last long as the qualification race was postponed due to rain, so we went to the hotel hoping that the weather would be better tomorrow. The atmosphere began to warm up in the evening in a nearby pub with other formula fans who were also on this trip with us.
The day of the race begins with no cloud in the sky. Ideally. Rivers of people flow in miles towards the racetrack entrances. Every other visitor wears something red with a Ferrari mark, which clearly indicates on whose terrain we are stepping. As we approach the tunnel going under the start-finish straight we hear the Formula 2 race beginning. The sound that breaks through the trees is the most beautiful and at the same time most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard. You cannot describe something like that with words or capture it in a video. You need to be standing there to experience it. The grandstand is slowly getting filled up as the Porsche Supercup begins, after which the race of the day is due to happen. A lot of pushing, hitting and quality racing in the Porsche Supercup already bring us enough pleasure, and the mere thought that the best is yet to come makes us feel that we wouldn’t change the time and the place we are at for anything in the world. The race begins, everybody's on their feet, everybody’s cheering, the sound of the formula breaks against the grandstand and dissipates all over us, they pass the first curve carefully, Ferrari's heros are advancing, the crowd is thrilled and we are a part of this spectacle.
In a calmer part of the race we begin to pay attention to the details, how Mercedes’ formula is superior to the others as Hamilton allows himself to “cool” the formula, which is clearly seen by the way he brakes and shifts gears down, how a formula slows down from 300 km/h to 50 km/h in just 110 m distance accompanied by visible sparks on the discs, how Mclaren's formula is falling behind from the very start, how braking one meter too late results in widening the curve and losing the ideal trajectory that can cost you very much. How an ongoing advancement of technology of braking, speeding etc. happens right in front of your eyes...
It’s been a great pleasure to be part of this story and this is definitely something that everybody should add to their “to do” list. We’d like to thank TOTAL and SmartPoint for such a great gift and for showing us the world of races beyond the TV screen, and because of this we will definitely visit more races in the future.
Watch this video for a sneak peek of the atmosphere at our stand and the excitement on the contestants’ faces:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWa9qV5KH7s
TOTAL would like to thank you all for being with us! We hope to see you again in another exciting adventure!