Sunday 10 July 2011

Hammond shy at Silverstone Grand Prix

This, amazingly, from the late Denis Jenkinson, legendary correspondent of 'Motor Sport'...

I though Eye readers would like the inside gen on why Transport Secretary Philip Hammond looked so surprised when it came to presenting the second prize.

Aside from the fact that there was no envelope to open, he was also expecting to present the cup to the Chairman of Bombardier - rather than some Australian who had been going round in circles for an hour and a half.

Still, going nowhere fast must have made a pleasant change from watching his Rail Directorate going nowhere slowly.

And following the Thameslink debacle he no doubt shared the annoyance of Jenson Button, who also had a wheel come off.

UPDATE: This from 31154...

Hammond didn't actually present the cup to "some Australian", he presented the cup to German driver Sebastian Vettel, so the second time in a month he's presented a prize to the Germans!


What I found most amusing was when Hammond was a bit slow moving off the podium and said Australian gave him a blast of Mumm right in the face, turning Petrol-head into Champagne-Head!