I know breakfasts in the Mercedes motorhome are good but I'd never thought of sitting down to a Full English at seven in the evening.
That culinary detail was revealed in a video released by Mercedes-AMG F1 on the morning of the second day at Barcelona. The film highlights the unsung heroes working through the previous evening to have the W08 ready for Lewis Hamilton to drive the moment the track opened. Having slept through the day on Monday, the guys were ready for bacon and eggs to set them up for the long night ahead.
Daybreak in Barcelona...
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) February 28, 2017
And as Lewis Hamilton hits the track...
The night shift finally hit the sack...#Teamwork #F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/T3jVoSxbbl
Apart from discovering more about how F1 teams tick, the key here is that fact that the video has been aired without fear of a Formula One Management jackboot marching into the Mercedes enclave and threatening to close the place down. Being helpful to the paying public was viewed as a crime against the F1 State. But, thankfully, no longer.
The release of this video (and others from rival teams) indicates a long-awaited and desperately needed sea change in...well, simply being supportive and advancing the sport. Until now, F1 has gone out of its way to remain select and secretive by charging untold amounts for the rare privilege of filming and then making the experience downright unpleasant.
I witnessed this at first hand a few years ago when working with a film crew in Abu Dhabi. This may have been on behalf of the organisers to help promote the Grand Prix but the obstructive reception from FOM had the hallmark of a shady operator receiving a surprise visit by the tax inspector.
From demands for the immediate removal of our car from an empty FOM car park (this was on the Tuesday before the race) to crippling restrictions on the number of crew and cameras over what could be filmed, when it could be filmed and how it could only be shown in Ulan Bator between 02.30 am and 02.34 am on a Wednesday (I exaggerate, but not by much), the process was a nightmare from beginning to end.
Our producer, even though he had become familiar with the ways of F1 back in the days of ITV coverage, was on the verge of a meltdown throughout and has not been seen in F1 since. In the end, there was no point in making civilised requests because the answer was inevitably 'No!' - with a capital 'N'. Had we dared to show a clip on social media, there was a joke (and an unspoken fear) that we would have our credentials ceremoniously cut off outside Bernie's office at dawn. It was that absurd and openly hostile.
Given their vast experience in this field, it probably took Liberty Media a nano-second to realise such an attitude is counter-productive. Hence the sudden release of clever little insights such as the Mercedes video. Plus the smart move of sitting down and talking to Lewis with a view to utilising his following on social media. Given the former champion's habit of occasionally putting a wheel in the digital dirt, that may not work every time. But it's worth pursuing.
F1 appears to be finally moving forward in the promotional sense. It may be titillating to learn about the consumption of British bacon and eggs but it's part of Liberty Media showing they know on which side their global bread is buttered.