So I’m off to Dubai today, and have upgraded myself with my miles so that I can get some work done on the flight. Life is so much easier when you’re upstairs on an Emirates A380, planes with wireless Internet relieve the stress of needing to be in contact with the world, although I still hate people using mobiles on planes, it ruins the sanctuary of airplanes. Miles come and go and this week I was happy to be alerted to the fact I have just become a gold card holder with two different airlines, which is a pretty mighty achievement if one only ever travels in economy and one does not have the flexibility to use multipliers and other such tricks. I’m looking forward to the weekend. There is bound to be a lot of bull in the paddock given the cluster f*ck that the sport currently is, but the racing should be good. Onward and upward…
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joeblogsf1 
Joe, enjoy the space upstairs, from the crush downstairs! Looking forward to an exciting weekend…
Tim
Sent from my iPhone
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Heia Joe currently on Pearlclass with that dude Kai with the colorfull clothes from German tv I believe 😉
Have a safe and productive flight, I’ll just be drinking seeing I’m on holiday 😀
Pearl Class is Etihad, Kai is obviously flying direct!
Although it’s not a long hop by car for Joe from Dubai
Great to be you. Be Safe Joe!
Safe travels, Joe. Don’t forget to bring us the full report on the bull and the cluster f*ck. That’s what we come here for! 😉
Fully agree, Joe. Upstairs in business class on an Emirates A380 is our favourite way of travelling longhaul.
Go get ’em Joe. Give them hell. If you see Bernie can you tell him what an arse he’s being and can he please get the sport that we love back on track. Otherwise I think its Le Mans series for me next year. Good luck in the crazy paddock. Very much looking forward to reading the up coming posts in the next episode of soap opera F1.
I try to be tactful and friendly on all occasions.
Nice to see clusterf*ck used in such an appropriate context.
For the uninitiated here is a definition.
clusterf*ck
Military term for an operation in which multiple things have gone wrong. Related to “SNAFU” (Situation Normal, All F*cked Up”) and “FUBAR” (F*cked Up Beyond All Repair).
In radio communication or polite conversation (i.e. with a very senior officer with whom you have no prior experience) the term “clusterf*ck” will often be replaced by the NATO phonetic acronym “Charlie Foxtrot.”
I always thought the R in FUBAR was for “recognition”.
Joe,
I will wave to you on my way through Dubai airport tonight, en route from Taipei to the UK.
Wilson
Looking to a good weekend on the track despite the chaos off it.I might have missed something but is it double points in the constructors championship as well.Go Lewis!.
Oops, Didn’t see your previous post before commenting on this one re. accreditation. PLEASE delete both this comment and my first one as they don’t catalyze this discussion. Still desire to talk w/ you though.
Fuster cluck is an appropriate way to describe things at the moment, unfortunately.
I hope you enjoy(ed) your flight!
Quoting the theme song from 1970’s comedy “The Jeffersons”: Moving On Up!
It seems to me that there are a growing number of F1 fans (myself included) that have gone from passionately caring about the sport to being apathetic to actually wanting to see it sink into the lake of s**t it has made
Enjoy the flight (and airport lounge) Joe!
While I can understand, as a journalist, why you may enjoy remaining in contact with the world, as a business flyer myself – I must profess to avoiding carriers offering wi-fi on their planes. Its the one chance I get to NOT have to constantly be checking emails and doing work etc.. Sometimes its nice to be able switch off and de-stress ;0)
you can always turn it off or put it on silent……I know its hard in the 24/7 bullsh.. world of connectivity but..
…completely agree however try telling that to a US employer where the culture is to be checking emails even on your days off…
100% agree. After many years working like mad in airplanes I took the decision not to do any work. My excuse is that people may see / read what I’m doing and I can’t afford to give away info that should be confidential. Now I enjoy the onboard entertainment, listen to music or just enjoy the Bose noise cancelling headphones my wife gave me for my birthday. This included my latest 6 hours trip to Dubai on the top floor of the A380 as well. And get to my destination much more refreshed and ready to do work!
Those A380s are unnaturally quiet for such big planes aren’t they? When I took one to Oz, I could hardly tell we had gone from taxiing on the runway to cruising at 30k ft in the air – amazing technology.
Clusterf*ck appears to be the most apt description for F1 at the moment 🙂 Happy flying!
A cluster f*ck ! ha, love that expression. It’s such a mess, but to be expected when the sport is run by an octogenarian who is *way* past his sell by date. We’ve had such good racing this year, then it gets ruined by the inability of the whole organisation to play fairly.
I just hope the racing is as good next year, as it has been this year.
Greetings from Dubai, and well done on the upgrade Joe – with the A380 it seems that going upstairs has now replaced turning left when boarding the plane!
The big story here at the moment is that there are loads of tickets left for the race. There’s been a massive marketing campaign over the last couple of weeks, with radio and billboard ads everywhere. Music radio stations are advertising the evening concerts (Pharrell Williams on Sat and The Who on Sun, since someone will ask!) to sell tickets to non-F1 fans.
The organisers say that they upped the capacity from 50k to 60k but it seems they are struggling to come close to selling out as they have done for the past couple of years – even when the championship was decided a long time before the AD race. It seems that the locals here prefer racing cars that are noisier than their own Porsches, Ferraris and Lambos!
Are you planning to attend any events over here, or is there the opportunity to buy you a very well deserved end of season beer at some point in the next few days?
I will look into that when I get there tomorrow. I am in Dubai tonight
Got my ticket yesterday. Checked today again, all sold-out.
LOL re the brief vent in your post….
Perhaps the best way out of this mess is for the promoter to fail to deliver the guaranteed minimum grid in order for the commercial rights deal to be void so a new deal can be struck and the teams that make the sport what it is can get a greater and more equal share of the revenues the sport generates. Of course that could also make things far worse (be careful what I wish for).
When you look at the money players are traded for in European Football it seems to me that their models of revenue sharing is something that the F1 power brokers should review.
Surely a vibrant a growing F1 is a better asset for any owner as opposed to a once powerful but now declining golden goose….
Marussia is reported to be on its way to race. If the staff are gone, is sending the cars enough to claim the prize money.
Anyone on the flight with you?
Marussia do not fly from Paris.
Marussia back for this weekend it would seem…
Congrats re upgrade. Hope you have an excellent weekend. Agreed re mobiles and planes.
Joe, we hear that Caterham and Marussia are bound for ABu Dhabi.
If you find Mr F O’Connell among your fellow passengers, might you be good enough to suggest that he runs Simona de S and Suzi W for this weekend?
Bernie may be happy to cover costs in return for the massive publicity this would get. If he wills it licenses and so on, and lawsuits from Merhi, can be sorted out with a waive of the hand.
If F O’C is upstairs with you, he will most likely be concealed behind a newspaper.
I doubt he is flying from Paris
Absolutely!
Surfeit of flustered clucking from the F1 PR people at present.
Here’s to the racing.
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the great coverage of all the trials and tribulations in F1 this year. I will be ordering my copy of GP+ as soon as the 2015 version becomes available, and I urge anyone who hasn’t tried it to try for a year, if you enjoy this blog you will love GP+
Hopefully the cars will be reliable on Sunday so we can have a straight fight for the championship.
Joe,
I tried doing the travel that you seem to love for a few years but I’m afraid I did not have the fortitude to survive. At times I could not sleep and at other times I could not wake up.
I envy what you do but more than that I envy that you can.
beers,
BTW, do you take copies of the books, Crippen, Saboteurs to the chats? And is Melbourne at the Angling Club on next year? I’m hopeful of getting there unless a bushfire interferes again.
No, I think we will be at a different venue, but in the same area. I have been known to take books but it is a lot to carry with me and it is really easy to buy them from Amazon
Joe,
I hope to be in touch with you re a Sydney event shortly. I know you have been busy and travelling, hence thought it best to wait until the year end rush had calmed down.
Thank you.
BTW a cynic would suggest that Mr E paid for Caterham to attend in order to guarantee that there were enough entrants.
Joe,
Off topic. I’m a fan of the Force India team however not much a fan of the owners and I fear for the teams future. The major sponsors are unlikely to be supporting the team next year and I fear the owners are running out of rabbits to pull from hats. Would you have any info on how they might survive?
Thanks in anticipation,
build
Good travels, Joe. The flight status awards are nice, but to me scant recompense for the travel endured. Hopefully, the finale awards us all, in double fashion, as the fascinating and fractious 2014 season ends in WDC deciding fashion.
Many thanks for your continued commitment.
Joe,
How much did it cost you (from where you’re based) to attend all the Grand Prix weekends this season?
Travel safe!
About $40K
At first glance that is a lot of money…
But when I think about it, you must be a master of frugality.
That is a lot of money however you look at it!!! Although not entirely unsurprising given the odditites of the F1 calendar. Funny thing that billionaires like Bernie don’t think about that when organizing their private jets!
Exactly mate , I hate people using the phone on the bus ………….
In the absence of Todt to make any statement, I have been on the FIA website trying to find a listing of vice presidents, one of whom may have the gift of speech. However I have drawn a blank, all I can find is in the Statutes, the requirement for the election of a Deputy President for Sport and Seven (yes 7) Vice presidents for sport from various world regions.
Whilst we have to suppose that the FIA is doing something, there is no indication of it. A policy of total silence from Todt is infuriating, what are we intended to deduce from his reticence? A “god like, infinite wisdom” which is so advanced, that we mortals could not possibly comprehend it’s intricate meaning? Or simply that he does not know what to do or say?
At least Max would have been on tv twice a week explaining the FIA point of view, what was happening and what he intended to do about the situation.
(No I haven’t forgotten his part in creating the current conditions, but he did not leave us in the dark without a “********” candle. )
All VPs are there for a reason.
VPs are there for Todts world journeys.
Should he drop dead in a VPs neck of the woods, that VP will get his 10 seconds of fame. Simples……
No, there are Deputy-Presidents before the VPs get a look in
Looking forward to hearing about the the cluster f#€£$ and the races themselves as always Joe! Bon Voyage!
Saw Mr Silt (SIC) is having an issue with your comments about media passes.
So what? Its true.
With regards to Mr. It’s (sic) article about the press being mostly business oriented and not journalists, isn’t Mr. PP the pot calling the kettle black?
My question is; Can BE take back the press accreditation rights easily?
Mr. Silt… damn autocorrect.
He cannot take back something he has never had. The FIA knows that if they sign the media over to BE the sport is dead.
That’d be a given Michael.
It’s always funny to read Mr Sylt’s comments. Writing in the third person is always hilarious.
Quoting your own stories is another trademark of his…
“Quoting your own stories is another trademark of his…” I am always amused by how many times this occurs.
Has Mr. Silt (sic) been to any of the races this year? What about Mr. Balph? (sp?)
I would love to know who the regulars are in the paddock.
No and no
To protect yourself from the phoners, I suggest using foam ear plugs and shooting ear muffs. Added benefit: seatmates will see you don’t want them talking to you.
A380 is very nice – taking an inflight shower is a surreal experience to be sure!
Hi Joe, Mr. E claims to have hepled ferry the Caterham freight for free. Is that true? Softening his stance on smaller teams?
No idea. I will look into it
Freight and a charter flight for team personnel. Wonder if the Marussia chaps got a similar deal (and if not, why not).
It is by no means certain that Marussia will be in AbDab. I have tried to get an official comment from the administrator but it is a bit like pulling teeth. However I suspect that he is very busy… we will see what happens
Safe travels Joe. Thanks for your posts as always, especially your recent flurry of really insightful posts (in particular the F1 revenue distribution post). I will be renewing my subscription to GP+, which is always a great read with so much quality information and history as well as the race reports themselves. Keep it coming.
Emirates allowes phone use during flights ?
I thought most airlines don’t permit it due to the annoyance it creates, even when the technology is in place .
Not only phones but also skype and facetime. Some people are kind enough to go to the bar at the back to talk but, with an aircraft of this size you’ll always find a dozen that just don’t care and talk from their seats.
You can see what the airlines will do…pay an extra £25 to be seated in a dedicated quiet zone.. Not a bad business model, create a problem, then charge people for you to solve it.
Paris to Dubai, that’s not long haul it’s only 7 hours!!! 🙂 Enjoy Ab Dab Joe
Hi Joe, I’m flying from America to Dubai for the race by myself. Do you have any special tips for things that F1 fans should do during the weekend? Also, do you know of any places where a lot of English-speaking F1 fans hang out?
Thanks!
I don’t get time to go out!
Gold card with Emirates and ?
US Airways (for going west)
US Airways? Why not United? LOL
Are US Airways ‘cost effective’? I’ve not many people who choose them over BA/Virgin based purely on the quality of the service?
Standards going west are lower than going east