Bravi Tutti

“Bravi ragazzi, bravi tutti,” (well done lads, well done everyone) was the final message over the radio from team manager, Massimo Rivola, as Scuderia Toro Rosso ended its first ever grand prix with both cars seeing the chequered flag.

No points, but you have to walk before you can run. The team’s interesting new livery certainly drew plenty of comments over the weekend and one man in the paddock with medical experience reckoned it looked like a human placenta! Not exactly what we had in mind.

Neel Jani enjoyed his first weekend as our third driver and rather than sit around doing nothing during the race, he found himself another job. He sat in with TV commentators for not just one, but two Swiss broadcasters, switching effortlessly from German to French. Although his F1 career has only just begun, it seems another one is already waiting in the wings.

The old boys in the press room were getting all nostalgic as they watched the race on television in the Media Centre – at their age, going out in the desert heat to watch at the side of the track could be bad for their health. At one point the message on the screens popped up, “Fastest Lap, Rosberg, Williams-Cosworth.” Yes, blonde bombshell Nico Rosberg did set the fastest lap on his race debut, something previously achieved by Jacques Villeneuve in 1996 and of course, Nico’s father Keke Rosberg took a Williams-Cosworth to the Championship win back in 1982.