29 October,2011 06:46 AM IST | | Ashwin Ferro
That Formula One is an expensive sport is common knowledge. But to learn that the inside of the cars is literally lined up with gold, was astonishing. Yesterday, during a Red Bull Racing team garage walk for select mediapersons, between the first and second practice sessions here, a distinct glitter inside the car caught the eye. The RBR spokesperson accompanying the bunch revealed it was in fact a gold lining. "We use special 24 carat gold tapes to line the outside of the exhaust as gold serves as the perfect insulator. On one hand, it ensures the hot air is released faster and on the other, it prohibits excess heat from entering by reflecting it off. Most F1 cars use it," said the technician. As it turned out, all that glitters is gold after all.
JPSI go ga ga over radio frequencies
In an event like an F1 GP, the radio or walkie-talkie is the most important means of communication, not only between teams and drivers, but for a host of other people working at the venue toou00a0-- security staff, administration teams, race marshals, volunteers, etc. And every different team needs to operate on a unique frequency. One of JPSI officials here explained the complexity of the process. "All the radio frequencies need to be first approved by the Indian Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry as it is a security issue. We needed not just 10 - 20 but 500 different frequencies here, so we were a bit apprehensive at first considering this is the capital city and radio frequencies is a sensitive matter. But thankfully, kudos to the government for approving the same quickly."
Middle-class segment crucial to sponsors
McLaren Mercedes communications head Matt Bishop minced no words yesterday when he said that the team's sponsors are keenly eyeing the billion-plus strong Indian market. "Our sponsors are very very keen on India. In fact, this is the most important race for us - the inaugural Indian GP - because our sponsors are aware of this massively growing country and its massively growing middle-class segment and the lifestyle they lead," he said.
