Early on Thursday morning, while right-minded people were still enjoying their pillows, I found myself standing in an almost empty press room thinking about fried chicken and missed opportunities.
Watching Campos wheel one of their GP2 cars down the pit lane, it was hard to miss the team's new sponsor - they're finger-lickin' good, and fairly world famous. Jagonya Ayam may not ring many bells in Europe, but the translation -- KFC -- is something of a household name.
The two-year title sponsorship deal between Campos and KFC is a boost for the GP2 team's coffers, but also gives Jagonya Ayam the opportunity to show their Indonesian customers that they are supporting Indonesian talent on the global stage -- local boy Sean Gelael has a full-time Campos seat.
So why has the GP2 win-win not translated into a win for both Manor and Rio Haryanto in F1? Where are the Indonesian brands -- or the Indonesian arms of global brands -- that should be clamouring to plaster their logos all over a car that can sell their wares in 21 countries spread across five continents? Instead, Haryanto has pinned his income hopes on an SMS-based crowdfunding initiative that asks his fellow citizens to fund their countryman's F1 dreams.
While the rates for F1 sponsorship are higher than those found in GP2, the dramatic difference in return on investment between the two categories would certainly cover the added cost of choosing the pricier option with greater global reach.
Formula One is a niche sport, but it's a niche sport watched by around half a billion people each year. GP2 is a successful championship, but can't claim anything like the same audience share -- even when the series is bundled in with F1 broadcasting deals, it still struggles for airtime.
In recent years F1 has been something of a hard sell for big-name sponsors, thanks to a combination of factors including but not limited to Bernie Ecclestone's German bribery trial, the regular "Ratner-ing" the sport is subject to from Ecclestone, and concerns at board-level over the sport's involvement in countries with questionable human rights records. Add to that the falling global TV audience, the move to subscription-only access, and the negativity that has surrounded the sport in recent years and it's not hard to see why F1 has been kept at arm's length from the big bucks.
But Bernie's bribery trial ended without any black marks on Ecclestone's name, FOM last year introduced a "Statement of Commitment to Respect for Human Rights" which can be found on the formula1.com website, and the mood around the sport in 2016 has been positive, helped in no small part by the close-fought action on track (from second place down, at least).
And Formula One this week received something of a seal of approval from one of the world's best-known brands: Heineken.
While the name makes most people think of green-bottled lager, Heineken International sells more than 250 different beers under its umbrella, producing local, regional, and international brands in more than 120 breweries spread throughout 70 countries. Their reach is greater than that of F1, but when it comes to publicity, every little helps.
One factor that won't hurt Heineken is their current -- sleeping -- involvement in Formula One, through Force India. Since 2008, Heineken have had a stake in Vijay Mallya's United Breweries, giving the company direct access to one of the world's fastest-growing beer markets. The initial stake was for 37.5 percent of UB, and in the intervening years has boosted its share to 42.4 percent. In March, reports that Heineken were looking to increase their stake in United Breweries to over 50 percent started to circulate, but no sizeable deal has yet been done.
There is nothing to suggest that Heineken's F1 sponsorship deal is linked to their interest in United Breweries, but it will not have escaped their attention that Mallya's race team was also one of his most effective sales tools in a country where alcohol advertising is banned.
The banning of alcohol advertising in sport is going to be one of the next great public health battles. After the success of the tobacco advertising ban, the World Health Organisation has its sights set on alcohol, junk food, sugar, and all of the other nasties contributing to growing public health crises around the world.
The likes of KFC and Heineken are operating in a limited window when it comes to taking advantage of F1's global reach to secure a new generation of brand-loyal customers, and it will be interesting to see if other brands in WHO-targeted industries follow suit while the opportunity remains.