Fast-car
ALTHOUGH the grand prix takes place on Sundays, Saturdays are our most demanding day of the race weekend. Breakfast in the West McLaren Mercedes paddock hospitality motorhome starts at 7am and we try to be there by 5.45am.
At Silverstone the traffic, even at that time in the morning, can be bad - people are already queuing to get in - so you have to allow time for that. But I'm usually up by 4.30am. Early starts are the only things I dislike about the job - I dream of lie-ins.
We operate out of two beautiful purpose-built hospitality motorhomes, which have been designed so that the top part can be elevated to create two floors. The interiors of the suites are stunning - they're decked in suede and leather - while the kitchens (on the lower floor) are made of graphite and chrome.
We cook and serve breakfast to the team between 7am and 8am, before the VIPs (West, McLaren and Mercedes senior management and partners) start arriving for their breakfast. The two drivers - Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard - have personal trainers who come and see us to discuss their dietary requirements for the day. Breakfast tends to be porridge or muesli and fruit for them, while a full English breakfast as well as healthier options are available for everyone else, no matter where we are in the world.
While some of us are serving breakfast, others are making sandwiches for the mechanics' lunch, which they eat while working in the garage.
We then start preparing the VIP lunch, which is a choice of three dishes. We always make a pasta dish, which is easily the most popular item served, a main meal, such as fillet of beef on a horseradish rîsti with a sweet red onion relish, French beans and roasted honey carrots, or poached salmon with a pesto crust, rocket and green bean salad with roasted plum tomatoes, and a salad. After the drivers have taken part in the mid-morning practice session they tend to come back to the motorhome for a light salad, some pasta or a yogurt-based drink.
Lunch for the VIPs runs from midday until 4-4.30pm during which time they would have watched the afternoon's qualifying session.
Silverstone has a lovely, homely feel and it's nice to be familiar with the local supermarket. The only thing that's a nightmare is the traffic: popping out to get shopping can be a four-hour trip, and we shop to get bread in the morning and fresh produce in the afternoon.
The team's main sponsor, West, has wine and cigar tastings in the motorhome from about 5pm to 7pm for up to 80 people and we make nibbles for that, too, such as home-made crisps and antipasti. Then, when most of the VIPs have disappeared, we start serving dinner to the team, about 70-80 people. At Silverstone we are going to cook a curry with raitas, naan bread, mango chutney, tomato, onion and garlic. Dessert will be summer fruit Pavlova.
The company is still at the embryonic stage and I feel I need to be at each event personally. We catered for a function at Kensington Palace a few weeks ago during the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix - so I flew back to London to oversee the event at the palace and then flew back out to Monaco to rejoin the team there.
Once everyone has finished eating we start to clear up and prepare for the following day. On a good night we are away by 10.30pm, on a bad night we might be at the circuit until midnight. n"
Confi
