Five Top Tips to Avoid F1 Flyaway Fever

Bye-bye Europe, hello seven flyway races in 11 gruelling weeks. It’s a properly mind-bending thought, but just in case you haven’t got to grips with the prospect yet, here are some top tips for making it all bearable…

Just say no – oh yes, it always seems such a good idea to have one for the road, a small nightcap just to help you adjust to the time zone. Then, all of a sudden it’s 7am you’re chained to a lamppost and wearing nothing but a traffic cone on your head and a sticker marked ‘MAIL ME TO GUAM’ over your delicate bits. Just Say No – you know it makes sense, kids.
The eyes have it – OK, OK, we know no one will pay any attention to Top Tip #1, so in the event that you make it back to your hotel in time to peel off the sticker and drag on some work kit then take an extra 10 minutes to paint a pair of bright and alert looking eyeballs on a pair of spectacles. We swear, no one will ever notice you sleeping it off during those really dull meetings about how to set-up the car and stuff.
Patience is a virtue – The guys and girls you hang with are the best, funniest, most attractive people on God’s green earth – in March. By October, however, personalities are starting to grate a little. When for the fourth time this week one of them does that ‘charming’ little snort when they laugh, resist the urge to smash a front wing over his or her head.
Keep your powder dry – Don’t jump the gun with the movie selection on your first long haul leg in five months. Oh yes, you know you want to watch all those summer blockbusters in one SFX-laden splurge but you know that by Austin you’ll be reduced to 10 straight hours of Jennifer Aniston rom-coms and that’s the sort of back-to-back no one enjoys.
It could be worse – Just keep consoling yourself with the fact that compared to the calendar we’ll be up against in 2016, this is child’s play.