Grand Prix Rejects

dr-baker wrote:

Laurinaaa wrote:Going to Monza next month for the first time if anyone has any tips?

I went to the Italian GP myself back in 2011. Did a quick review here. There is more on Monza later in that thread, at the bottom of page 1 and top of page 2. Do you have any particular questions before you go? Do you have any grandstand tickets? Booked up independently or via an agency?

Perfect, thanks!

I'm staying just outside Milan and kind of hoping that the train system over there is straight forward to use so looking for some reassurance. My other question is when I went to Silverstone in July I bought a radio which was fab - do you know if there is anyway I can get hold of an English commentary somehow over there?

Laurinaaa wrote:I'm staying just outside Milan and kind of hoping that the train system over there is straight forward to use so looking for some reassurance. My other question is when I went to Silverstone in July I bought a radio which was fab - do you know if there is anyway I can get hold of an English commentary somehow over there?

Trenitalia is both easy and cheap. Given you'd already be in Milan, you can easily turn up and buy a ticket, Trenord from Milano Centrale to Monza for example is only a shade under 2 euros each way, takes 20 minutes and are about once every 10-15 mins. If you're starting from the south/west of the city, you can also get an ATM day-ticket, which is valid as far as Sesto San Giovanni - but you'd need to buy a ticket from there to Monza, which I think is about a euro.

Don't forget to visit the Ferrari Store in the city centre, just off the northeast corridor from the main square. All five floors of it! Also, if you want lots of decent pizza on the cheap, District 39 by the Politecnico's main campus is good.

Biscione wrote:

Laurinaaa wrote:I'm staying just outside Milan and kind of hoping that the train system over there is straight forward to use so looking for some reassurance. My other question is when I went to Silverstone in July I bought a radio which was fab - do you know if there is anyway I can get hold of an English commentary somehow over there?

Trenitalia is both easy and cheap. Given you'd already be in Milan, you can easily turn up and buy a ticket, Trenord from Milano Centrale to Monza for example is only a shade under 2 euros each way, takes 20 minutes and are about once every 10-15 mins. If you're starting from the south/west of the city, you can also get an ATM day-ticket, which is valid as far as Sesto San Giovanni - but you'd need to buy a ticket from there to Monza, which I think is about a euro.

Don't forget to visit the Ferrari Store in the city centre, just off the northeast corridor from the main square. All five floors of it! Also, if you want lots of decent pizza on the cheap, District 39 by the Politecnico's main campus is good.

Great advice thanks! Glad to hear the trains are cheap, especially if the Ferrari store has FIVE floors (although i'm sure anything in there will exceed my budget if it's anything like the one in Madrid...)

Do most people speak English there? My Italian is minimal!

Laurinaaa wrote:Do most people speak English there? My Italian is minimal!

I've never been to Milan, but speaking from experience, Italy being non-Nordic Europe, you'd be lucky to get a word of any language not Italian, let alone English

My Italian when I went was minimal, but coped with a phrase book. Having already mastered one European language helped, plus knowing the phrase L'Aquae Minerale helped in the hot weather (learnt that term from knowing some of the corner names at Imola!). Always worth learning a few basic words of any language, but I got by with very little.

Laurinaaa wrote:I'm staying just outside Milan and kind of hoping that the train system over there is straight forward to use so looking for some reassurance. My other question is when I went to Silverstone in July I bought a radio which was fab - do you know if there is anyway I can get hold of an English commentary somehow over there?

I was not aware of any English commentary while I was there, despite having a radio there. However, my grandstand was in front of a giant TV screen, which was sufficient to follow what was going on elsewhere in the race.

Just recalled that the circuit tannoys were in English (I think!), but there was so much noise from the cars that I couldn't make it out much at all. So an effective no.

dr-baker wrote:Just recalled that the circuit tannoys were in English (I think!), but there was so much noise from the cars that I couldn't make it out much at all. So an effective no.

Yes, but that was with the noisy V8's, not the quiet V6's.

Laurinaaa wrote:Do most people speak English there? My Italian is minimal!

Just use excessively much and extremly passionate hand gestures. It worked for me when i went to Italy (especially in traffic) Altough it did help i know a little bit of French, which isn't too different from Italian.

This wrote:

Laurinaaa wrote:Do most people speak English there? My Italian is minimal!

Just use excessively much and extremly passionate hand gestures. It worked for me when i went to Italy (especially in traffic) Altough it did help i know a little bit of French, which isn't too different from Italian.

French is the one other European language I said I mastered. (Yes, I've just realised English is also a European language, but I do have an island mentality at times...)

Salamander wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Just recalled that the circuit tannoys were in English (I think!), but there was so much noise from the cars that I couldn't make it out much at all. So an effective no.

Yes, but that was with the noisy V8's, not the quiet V6's.

But I imagine that the V6s will still make it difficult to hear the tannoys though. Impossible NOT to hear the tannoys over the Formula E cars, BTCC/DTM is just possible to hear the tannoys, F1 will always be difficult to hear the commentary.

Laurinaaa wrote:Do most people speak English there? My Italian is minimal!

Not much. Certain places that are used to tourists have those fluent in English e.g. the hotel staff will speak it, the staff at the Ferrari store were fluent, but elsewhere it's patchy at best. You'll certainly need to brush up on key phrases before arriving!

Biscione wrote:

Laurinaaa wrote:Do most people speak English there? My Italian is minimal!

Not much. Certain places that are used to tourists have those fluent in English e.g. the hotel staff will speak it, the staff at the Ferrari store were fluent, but elsewhere it's patchy at best. You'll certainly need to brush up on key phrases before arriving!

At the track, my dad and I went for a hog roast (in a roll) for lunch. As that was the only thing on the menu, holding up a pair of fingers helped, and knowing the price meant we had an idea how much cash to hand over. At the team merchandise stands, English almost seemed to be the default language. And I'm sure at the bars and stuff, you would know the names of beers, plus what a caffe latte was. So it probably won't be too much of a problem if you think about it.

dr-baker wrote:

Biscione wrote:

Laurinaaa wrote:Do most people speak English there? My Italian is minimal!

Not much. Certain places that are used to tourists have those fluent in English e.g. the hotel staff will speak it, the staff at the Ferrari store were fluent, but elsewhere it's patchy at best. You'll certainly need to brush up on key phrases before arriving!

At the track, my dad and I went for a hog roast (in a roll) for lunch. As that was the only thing on the menu, holding up a pair of fingers helped, and knowing the price meant we had an idea how much cash to hand over. At the team merchandise stands, English almost seemed to be the default language. And I'm sure at the bars and stuff, you would know the names of beers, plus what a caffe latte was. So it probably won't be too much of a problem if you think about it.

Cool, thanks! Do you feel safe over there? I had a dream the other night that I got mugged so now I'm feeling paranoid :-/

Laurinaaa wrote:Cool, thanks! Do you feel safe over there? I had a dream the other night that I got mugged so now I'm feeling paranoid :-/

Never had such problems in Italy. Altough i did encounter a truck driver asking for my 'services'

This wrote:

Laurinaaa wrote:Cool, thanks! Do you feel safe over there? I had a dream the other night that I got mugged so now I'm feeling paranoid :-/

Never had such problems in Italy. Altough i did encounter a truck driver asking for my 'services'

I've been to Italy twice and seen a few Ferrari shops about. One had Schumacher's 2000 Ferrari in it (It had the Tic-Tac sponsorship that Ferrari carried that year on it). I bought a Ferrari book only to find that it wasn't translated to English

Get some Ferrari merchandise while your there Laura. It'll be good

Laurinaaa wrote:Cool, thanks! Do you feel safe over there? I had a dream the other night that I got mugged so now I'm feeling paranoid :-/

Yes, I felt safe. Partly because by the time we went to the GP, we had already been in Italy about a week. We had been to Puglia (the 'heel' of Italy) on a medical conference (my dad's a GP), and the hotel, race tickets and transfers had been arranged by a tour company. You just have to take the normal, usual precautions that you normally would anywhere else in Western Europe.

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Get some Ferrari merchandise while you're there Laura. It'll be good

I bought Team Lotus merchandise instead. You know, the green-and-yellow Lotus team...

New User. Always been a lurker somewhat.

Been watching F1 since 2001 thanks to good old Ralf Schumacher. From there been a fan of Alonso and various amounts of drivers and such. Not much else to say but I basically watch every sport kind of.

Aguaman wrote:New User. Always been a lurker somewhat.

Been watching F1 since 2001 thanks to good old Ralf Schumacher. From there been a fan of Alonso and various amounts of drivers and such. Not much else to say but I basically watch every sport kind of.

Ralf Schumacher eh? Klon, I've found you a new buddy.

Welcome mate!

About time I do an intro

So hai. I'm Ant. I have been following F1 since 2010ish. My favourite drivers are Ricciardo, Webber, and Bottas, and my favourite teams are Red Bull, Force India and Williams.

So far I have watched around 4 full races this year. Australia (I was in the grandstands ), Malaysia (Recorded), Hungary(Recorded) and Singapore (Live).

I follow V8Supercars, Indycar and NASCAR, but mainly the V8's. I have attended the Bathurst 1000 3 times (2009-2011, though I only stayed Thursday and Friday for 2009), and will also be attending next year's Aussie Grand Prix.

I also race go-karts in the Rookie class. I have won 2 rounds, but overall I don't have the fastest kart so I'm around the midfield range.

So that's it from me

EDIT: Also, I'm 13 years old. Don't judge me, I know what I'm doing. I think.

TheFlyingCaterham wrote:So hai. I'm Ant.

No way! My name is Ant too! Anyway, you seem to have made yourself at home here in the past week or so. I also support Williams, Ricciardo and Bottas so there's a positive. Right, there's not much more for me to say as you seem to know your way around and I will instead refer you to the post I made directly above yours.

TheFlyingCaterham wrote:About time I do an intro

So hai. I'm Ant. I have been following F1 since 2010ish. My favourite drivers are Ricciardo, Webber, and Bottas, and my favourite teams are Red Bull, Force India and Williams.

So far I have watched around 4 full races this year. Australia (I was in the grandstands ), Malaysia (Recorded), Hungary(Recorded) and Singapore (Live).

I follow V8Supercars, Indycar and NASCAR, but mainly the V8's. I have attended the Bathurst 1000 3 times (2009-2011, though I only stayed Thursday and Friday for 2009), and will also be attending next year's Aussie Grand Prix.

I also race go-karts in the Rookie class. I have won 2 rounds, but overall I don't have the fastest kart so I'm around the midfield range.

So that's it from me

Good to have another Williams fan, there's a fair few of us.

Simtek wrote:

TheFlyingCaterham wrote:So hai. I'm Ant.

No way! My name is Ant too! Anyway, you seem to have made yourself at home here in the past week or so. I also support Williams, Ricciardo and Bottas so there's a positive.

I, on the other hand, support all the drivers you dislike so be careful, be very very careful...


Naaah, just joking! Welcome aboard aguaman and TheFlyingCaterham!

dr-baker wrote:At the track, my dad and I went for a hog roast (in a roll) for lunch. As that was the only thing on the menu, holding up a pair of fingers helped, and knowing the price meant we had an idea how much cash to hand over.

Mmmmmm porchetta...

Newly joined the forum after years lingering in the shadows. Have followed F1 since late 1994 and been visiting the F1 rejects website since 2005.

I don't tend to support specific teams or drivers, but inevitably have a soft spot for the various minnows of the sport.
Beyond F1, I have a general interest in Motorsport, but don't follow any other series religiously and have little interest in other sports.

Beyond Motorsport, I work in an office, I write for a local music blog, live with my girlfriend in a two up, two down terrace in Yorkshire.

Tank wrote:Newly joined the forum after years lingering in the shadows. Have followed F1 since late 1994 and been visiting the F1 rejects website since 2005.

I don't tend to support specific teams or drivers, but inevitably have a soft spot for the various minnows of the sport.
Beyond F1, I have a general interest in Motorsport, but don't follow any other series religiously and have little interest in other sports.

Beyond Motorsport, I work in an office, I write for a local music blog, live with my girlfriend in a two up, two down terrace in Yorkshire.

You've picked a dark time to join the forum given the recent troubles, but you are welcome nonetheless.

Tank wrote:Newly joined the forum after years lingering in the shadows. Have followed F1 since late 1994 and been visiting the F1 rejects website since 2005.

I don't tend to support specific teams or drivers, but inevitably have a soft spot for the various minnows of the sport.
Beyond F1, I have a general interest in Motorsport, but don't follow any other series religiously and have little interest in other sports.

Beyond Motorsport, I work in an office, I write for a local music blog, live with my girlfriend in a two up, two down terrace in Yorkshire.

Welcome Tank! I hope you will do the right thing and make your brother Dozer join in too!

DanielPT wrote:Welcome Tank! I hope you will do the right thing and make your brother Dozer join in too!

Screw you, Cypher.

Klon wrote:

DanielPT wrote:Welcome Tank! I hope you will do the right thing and make your brother Dozer join in too!

Screw you, Cypher.

Hey, at least I am not Apoc.

DanielPT wrote:

Klon wrote:

DanielPT wrote:Welcome Tank! I hope you will do the right thing and make your brother Dozer join in too!

Screw you, Cypher.

Hey, at least I am not Apoc.

Fair point.

...And the last few posts have gone right over my head. Some kind of in-joke from elsewhere on this new-fangled internet thing?

dr-baker wrote:...And the last few posts have gone right over my head. Some kind of in-joke from elsewhere on this new-fangled internet thing?

You mean to say you've never watched the Matrix?

East Londoner wrote:

dr-baker wrote:...And the last few posts have gone right over my head. Some kind of in-joke from elsewhere on this new-fangled internet thing?

You mean to say you've never watched the Matrix?

Not in the past 10 years or so, no... Not since I was at uni first time round.

Thank you for the welcome folks . To be honest I never made The Matrix connection - it was just an amusing nickname I gained a while ago!

Tank wrote:To be honest I never made The Matrix connection - it was just an amusing nickname I gained a while ago!

Come one Tankee lad, what did you do to earn that nickname?

Not much of a story really. I'm a chap of medium height with a 48" chest and I spend my leisure time rambling the pathless moorland near where I live. A colleague encountered me up there one day and decided that I was in his words, "Like a unstoppable small hairy tank". During the rest of my time working in that office I was only known as "Tank".

Still, it's better than "Captain SnazzyPants" I suppose.

Tank wrote:Still, it's better than "Captain SnazzyPants" I suppose.

People don't use the word 'snazzy' anywhere near enough these days.

deleting ancient messages

Hi everyone:

Longtime visitor/podcast listener, finally registered; been following F1 and McLaren since the late 1970s.

Also been a Minardi fan since I visited the factory in 2002 and was given a plant tour (I tagged along with a group of local high school students who had scheduled the tour)

Hope the site comes back soon, as it was very entertaining.

Bummed about the Enoch announcement. This was the absolute best F1 podcast in existence.

Saludos

swooperproop wrote:Hello! I've just joined!

What else am I supposed to say?

That you swear allegiance to the church of HWNSNBM of course. Welcome!

ubesa1 wrote:Hi everyone:

Longtime visitor/podcast listener, finally registered; been following F1 and McLaren since the late 1970s.

Also been a Minardi fan since I visited the factory in 2002 and was given a plant tour (I tagged along with a group of local high school students who had scheduled the tour)

Hope the site comes back soon, as it was very entertaining.

Bummed about the Enoch announcement. This was the absolute best F1 podcast in existence.

Saludos

Welcome fellow Minardi fan! And I think it's safe to say that all of us here share your sentiments regarding the site. Let's hope all will be well soon.

swooperproop wrote:Hello! I've just joined!

What else am I supposed to say?

Say whatever you like, without trolling and remembering that this is a family forum. What is your favourite team (reject or otherwise)? Favourite driver? Other interests. Or just go ahead and join in the conversations in the other threads on this forum, and make yourself at home in this madhouse. In short, welcome!

ubesa1 wrote:Hi everyone:

Longtime visitor/podcast listener, finally registered; been following F1 and McLaren since the late 1970s.

Also been a Minardi fan since I visited the factory in 2002 and was given a plant tour (I tagged along with a group of local high school students who had scheduled the tour)

Hope the site comes back soon, as it was very entertaining.

Bummed about the Enoch announcement. This was the absolute best F1 podcast in existence.

Saludos

Welcome to you too! And yes, I agree with your assessment re: Enoch. And that's probably all that there is to say on the matter. Other than to wish Enoch all the best for the future, of course.

swooperproop wrote:Hello! I've just joined!

What else am I supposed to say?

If you happen to be female, never, ever mention that. It's for your own safety.