Flying in Turkey with Vodafone

I apologise for being late with an update from beautiful, downtown Istanbul where it's actually quite cold and even rained briefly this afternoon. As I write I am in a traffic jam....

It's surprising how even a piffling two-hour time difference combined with a delayed late-night flight and then an early Turkish start, can knock the stuffing out of you. By the way, for those of you who haven't been to Terminal 5 at Heathrow yet, I can report that it is a real pleasure. The building is spectacular(very similar to Shanghai airport) and feels airy and spacious, though there is perhaps a little too much open space in the area where you first arrive and maybe not enough when you go airside. We'll see how this pans out as the years progress. The lounges upstairs into which I managed to blag myself, courtesy of ITV's very own James Allen, are excellent. I could go on etc.

Anyway, as usual Formula One continues to amaze and surprise in equal measure. I get to Turkey with a strange invitation in my computer asking me to a tented theatre in downtown Istanbul where Lewis is going to take part in a play on Thursday morning. Just for the record, I sent a reply to the Vodafone PR before I left England expressing puzzlement and incomprehension at what we were being asked to attend. This looked like a turkey from the word go and, in the event, it proved a cast iron one as most of you have no doubt seen by now.

Lewis is eager to please and does exactly what he is told and what's more in good humour, but he should never have been asked to do what he did on the set of the "Fire of Anatolia." It was embarrassing to watch and he knew immediately afterwards that it was a weird one. Today he was pretty outspoken about it(and understandably so), saying the pictures were some of the worst things he'd seen. At Vodafone, responsibility for this balls-up is being laid firmly at the door of the local Turkish Vodafone officials but the British PR team must have seen it coming and could have stepped in. The episode underlines again that Lewis needs his own media advisor to make sure his own interests are catered for when they diverge from those of McLaren, Vodafone or any of the other sponsors involved. This is how Michael Schumacher handled matters and Ayrton Senna before him.

At the track, the place was almost deserted in large sections of the stands, another case of an impressive stadium for a sport which barely interests the locals. Friday practice reminded us that the Red Bull cars fall to pieces when someone sneezes - that is probably a little harsh but Mark Webber's not exactly high speed driver-error-smash in the morning saw big damage to his chassis and suspension which will keep his mechanics busy all night.

At McLaren, Lewis looks to have his work cut out to keep up with Heikki and only beat the "Niceman" at the end of the day with a new set of tyres. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. Heikki is back in all senses and could outqualify Lewis for the second time this season. At Ferrari the dominant theme looks to be continuing with Felipe quickest in the morning and Kimi(whose car had a gearbox fault which stopped him after just three laps in the morning) fastest in the afternoon.

Felipe remarked on the low temperatures which look to be set to continue through the weekend. "The track is very fast, even if it's still a bit dirty, which means it's quite easy to make mistakes," he said. "The low temperatures mean it is difficult to get the most out of the tyres on a first timed lap, especially on the harder ones. We tried various settings and now we need to look at the data from everything we have done over these three hours to be as well prepared as possible."

Tonight the Force India mogul Vijay Mallya is giving a party on his massive superyacht, the Indian Empress, which yours truly has been invited to. Last time off Bombay the dance music was so loud, I lasted only 20 minutes before retreating ashore. Maybe this time the charms of Constantinople at night from the Bosphorus will tempt me to stay a little longer. It's a tough life.

Comments

[Kormak]

Wow!

Nice picture of Steve Urkel, isnt it?

LOL

[IDR]

Where are the pics, Ed? We want pics!!!!

Anyhow, nice to see you are having some fun at the yacht of Force India. Meanwhile, we, poor mortals, will try to enjoy ourselves finding the best MENU FOR TURKEY GRAND PRIX

This is starting to be a classic!

Maybe Ed Gorman’s Blog should change its name to Ed Gourmand’s Blog!

Sorry Ed but I’m afraid that my well appreciated mate D and myself, have found a better way for enjoying the races even more than you.

For turkey, I have found a nice option. My suggestion is not a truly oriental menu, but takes a recipe from Huelva (west province of Andalusia community) that recover our Arabic influences.

MAIN COURSE

COUSCOUS WITH GURUMELOS AND POACHED EGG.

Gurumelos is a typical mushroom of Huelva (Amanita Ponderosa) and has an extraordinary flavour. For those unfortunate that cannot find Gurumelos, they can substitute them with Red Pine mushroom (Lactarius deliciosus) or any other.

In my case, I have made some friendship with an owner of a small restaurant in Madrid who provides me, every time I need with some of the most fresh and difficult to find selection of Gurumelos that he takes directly from Huelva. Forget it about giving you the name!

Couscous is generally served with vegetables (carrots, turnips, etc.) After cooked, cut all the vegetables in very small portions and mix them with the semolina base and make individual flans.

Serve the individual portion of Couscous in the centre of the plate topped with a poached (not steamed) egg (organic the better), with the gurumelos (previously roasted with marine salt and a bit of olive oil) around the couscous.

The Gurumelos (or Red Pine mushrooms) are little bit big don’t forget to make smaller portions before serve it in order to mix them properly with the Couscous and the egg.

For eating is better to broke the poached egg and mix it with the mushrooms not with the couscous.
Maybe one can think that is not quite strong as a main course, but I recommend you not to be so optimistic, and for those with some doubts, just try with two eggs.

STARTER.

For this reason, as a Starter, I would suggest a light VICHYSSOISE.

To give the vichyssoise some more excitement just takes three or four (depending on the thickness) green asparagus per person, use the final part, and tie them with a Ciboulette. Finally put it on the centre of the plate (in vertical) and then serve the vichyssoise around the asparagus. Will be a nice and refreshing starter.

For those living in colder countries, they can substitute the vichyssoise with a hot green peas cream. In this case substitute the green asparagus with white ones. (Just for giving some colour contrast) You can add very small portions of fried (in it’s own fat) Serrano ham to the cream if you want too.

WINES

For this menu, one can choose a white (aged one the better) or red wine (not so much strongly aged)
Well, from turkey, there are some nice wines produced at the Marmara and Aegian regions.

Doluca is one of the most known wineries and they offer not too bad wines:

White: Kav White Special Reserve. Dry and smooth in taste.

Red: Villa Doluca Red. Strong varietals character made from the "Cinsault" and "Karasakiz" grapes grown in the Marmara region. A certain amount of "Bogazkere" from eastern Anatolia is added to make it more rich and robust.

But for those a little bit more sophisticated (D, I think you should try this option) I would recommend some wines from Sicily:

Etna wines, some of the hidden treasures of Italy, much better (and complex) than Turkish, and no too far from there:

Whites: Etna Bianco “Le vigne niche 2006”.
Really wonderful wine. You can find it at a price of € 32 in Italy.

Reds: without no doubt I should try Prephilloxera 2006.

It is hard to describe just how incredible this wine really is. I'm sure it will be very expensive and difficult to find but this wine represents the essence of old-vine (120-140 years) nerello mascalese from Etna. You will pay over €65 for a bottle in Italy, but I must say that this wine deserves each € you pay for.

DESSERT

No dessert recommended, to much food up to now, then I would suggest go directly to the coffee and some Limoncello from the Amalfi coast.

Meanwhile, I'm watching F Alonso winning the race from an incredible starting in 10th position! Ups, I’m afraid too much wine and limoncello together…

[Forever Schumi]

"This is how Michael Schumacher handled matters and Ayrton Senna before him"

Well, Michael and Ayrton were multiple WDC, Lewis is just a driver with 5 race wins. I don't see the point in that comparison.

[Jordi]

I think Hamilton is a fast driver as opposite to a good driver, but he is not been well advice. Wait a minute, were did I read something similar before?

[Jordi]

I'm not superman , Hamilton dixit.

Thanks for making that clear Lewis.

Is it a crane? is it a safety car? is it a gravel trap? Nooo! is Super Hamilton!

[David Doughty]

Traveling around the world to all the grands prix. Partying on VJ's yacht...what a rough life! Can I have your job, please?

[Johnny P-)]

I'll rather cook a neat and tasty "arroz a banda" which everyone out there would really appreciate to share, and a bottle of Marqués de Riscal. This one's such a fine & straight Rioja it can combine with almost any dèlice you may think of.

I don't know a lot about Turkish food, but I could relish thin-sliced lamb with veggies in some yoghourt dressing as a starter.

Then for dessert, a cup of coffee and this blog describing some interesting points on the GP itself could be perfect to enjoy a short but deep siesta.

Bye. Hope for Alonso! Fear for the rest!

[Anon]

Aww, poor Mr. Gorman, a party! Don't overwork yourself. =D

[teamwork-toronto-ON]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bn7i6KMtYJk

that could happen to anybody!!
Mats Sundin is the Toronto Maple Leaf's Captain - Hockey! - the most prestigious game in North America, and the team most lovevable in the world! . . of course the Captain was embarrassing in a "ballet" situation!

it was just for fun! . . period!
so Lewis was in a play, so what?
good for Lewis! . . **grin**

[AFO]

"Forever Schumi | 9 May 2008 21:08:56"

Exactly what I was thinking while reading. Ed, I really like your blog and articles, love the insight into a GP weekend from someone with an all-clear pass, but you really need to stop doing those kinds of comparisons. Your precious wonderboy (yeah right) has won nothing in comparison to Senna or Schumi, or many, many other GP drivers. So please, no more of that unless he actually does win a championship some day, and maybe not even then.

LOL, I hope he doesn't get a PR agent anytime soon and keeps doing these embarrassing things. ;)

[Henkka]

It seems the blog is going to be about food and leisure time, fine with me.

IDR you asked for this: now that it is inevitable that is is going to be a Finnish one-two
(although the SON (4 yrs) knew that "Kimi wins and Massa will be second.") you, IDR, have the
honour to prepare the dinner to celebrate the occasion.

You can specify the location, I will borrow the money for the airline tickets from Ed.

Good race to everyone!

[AndyG]

AFO, SchumiForever

What is your problem? The piece says: Lewis needs a media advisor, it's a tried and trusted model. Because this is a newspaper, the piece gives examples of why it's tried and trusted (Senna, Schumi).

You guys are so obsessed, why don't you stay on topic and keep your hate campaigns for somewhere else.

[Tim]

I think the Senna and Schumacher comparison with Lewis Hamilton was in respect of their arrangements for handling PR demands, rather than their driving talents and/or achievements in F1.

It's serious point, though. In modern F1 the demands for PR and media engagements from any driver's time are considerable. These demands need to be properly managed if they are not to distract the driver from the real business of racing.

Hamilton currently has a very high profile and, until now, he seems to be willing to agree to most of the PR requests that come his way.

It's not a question of letting him look daft, it's a question of keeping his mind on the day job.

[LAK]

Maybe it wasn't one of the best performances nor a show worthy of his appearance, but maybe he did it to increase his popularity among the people? He's "eager to please" as you said, and probably did it out of generosity. Oh well people live and learn. Maybe next time he'll be more picky and take his self image into account.

[Mark]

Eager to please?? Common why does he not join the GPDA then, that would please Trulli and Webber among others... ohhhhh wait that would actually cost him money and not make money! It would also cost a lot of time going to all those boring safety meetings meetings, better to spend them hanging from wire like Peter Pam... hahaha

[IDR]

@JOHNNY P

You have chosen a classic! Marqués de Riscal. Nice wine.

But you should try some others Riojas little bit newers. Allende (Crianza, but excellent) or his "older brother" Aurus 2004 Reserve One of the very best of Rioja.

This last one is at the same level of Baron de Chirel Reserve 2004 (from Marqués de Riscal winery) one of the most acclaimed Riojas.

Enjoy your Arroz a Banda.

Bon appetite!

@HENNKA

This time, your wise son is wrong.

I see as you a Finish One-Two. But my hope is 1st Kova and 2nd Kimi.