Laurence Andrews

Off to London today for a Date Day with Victoria and The Bean. Very excited because we’re having a picnic at Buckingham Palace. ☺️🇬🇧 Spent all morning rustling up all sorts of fancy picnic food!!

We’re on week 32 and Victoria’s app is telling us that the baby is the size of a Honeydew melon.🍈 youtu.be/hYAKQ5Cre…

I love that the emojis in new Drake album cover move in Apple Music. Super cool. 😎

It’s a bit foggy today! There’s a river over there somewhere. Happy Monday ☺️

The pram has arrived!

Hello, Dover!

Right, so this was the procedure for getting out of Calais (long post)… #BelgianGP

First stop was French border control, where they checked and stamped our passports and we showed NHS vaccination certificates. Owen is only 1-jab, but that’s fine for France. The woman got bored of waiting for Kelly so we only showed three 😂 There was no French or Belgian PLF check. No scanning of Vaccine information, some just showed the credit-card sized paper form.

We (probably stupidly) didn’t actually do a French or Belgian PLF, but probably should have done so.

Then the UK border where it was again just a passport check (no stamp). I was put under additional scrutiny for my brand new passport (the moustache and hat probably wasn’t helping), all fine in the end.

Third stop was P&O where they required three things…. 1. a UK PLF which also requires a ‘Day 2’ test booking, 2. an entry PCR test (which we did at the track on Saturday) and 3. a ticket… The UK PLF and Day 2 test we didn’t have, so spent 40mins or so doing it before they let us through. Of course, that was more money on testing (we were just searching online 🙀) They guy in the booth was just reading the forms on our phones not actually scanning or logging the information.

Bit of a hassle, to be honest…. But after all that we got on the ferry and are now having a beer. Ferry (Pride of Kent) is very quiet, the main restaurant is closed as it was on the ferry out. I’d say less than 10/15 % of full capacity. Staff said the ferry only came back in service on Saturday.

In short, I’m a bit angry and disappointed about it all. Here’s my take… #BelgianGP

The weather was consistent for the whole day and it was far too bad for racing. It wasn’t inconsistent heavy showers it was just a constant medium rain that didn’t let up. Visibility was bad and I assume so bad that the helicopter wouldn’t see anything. The track may have got better in places but it wouldn’t have dried. It seems really odd to me that the F3 and Porsche series all raced in the morning, it was not better for them.

The decision not to abandon the race or let the clock expire was wrong I think. Instead, 75k fans all sat in the wet and cold for hours on end in genuine hope that we’d actually see something, despite knowing that the weather wasn’t going to improve.

To instead take the drivers out (every one was really excited to get going) and to then only perform two absolutely pointless laps under safety car was the real kick in the teeth. Lewis’s words on Instagram were on point. It was a box tick and a real injustice.

I’m glad we saw a podium (especially with two brits!) but it was very different to what it should have been. I’m really pleased for George, he finally got up there but it can’t be how we wanted to achieve it. Watching him and Lewis look at each other on the podium was a moment in history. Getting a wave and a thumbs up from them both was pretty special.

Lots of talk about refunds, we paid €590 each for our weekend ticket plus €160 for camping and €160 each for testing. Of course we accepted the (reasonably unlikely) risk of it not happening and also balanced us not actually even being able to get there because of COVID…. And while it’s not the organisers fault the weather was terrible it’s fair to say I feel a bit out of pocket. At the end of the day, we didn’t see a race. 👎

It is what it is though, we’ve all had a fantastic boys weekend away, we’re broken, tired, hungover and muddy but we’ve got some moments we’ll never forget. It’s been great being able to travel again and meet new people.

We’re halfway to Calais now, keeping our fingers crossed for an earlier ferry! Can’t wait to get home, have a shower and Mrs A, the bump and the doggo. ❤️

It’s certainly not boat shoe weather today 😂 Rained all night and the field is now a proper mess! Luckily we’ve managed to get the van out with a bit of pushing. Lot easier than many folks, the tractor has been doing overtime 🙀 #BelgianGP

Looks like Checo is back in the game!!

Medical car just back in. Talking amongst the FIA. Not looking good. James from Mercedes talking too. #BelgianGP

That’s a red flag! 🚩 #BelgianGP it’s really, really wet tbf. 🌧😂

Perez’s car is back in the garage. Not the cause for the delayed start though. Weather just as bad as 20mins ago! 🌧😂 Now delayed again. #BelgianGP

After putting everything away, the teams have now put it all back again #BelgianGP Still no sign it Perez’s car. Weather is still lots of rain, doesn’t look like it’s going to ease up. Start at 15:20 local #BelgianGP

It’s now raining a lot! Drivers getting ready. #BelgianGP

Perez’s team now dismantling their equipment since he’s crashed on the outlap!! #BelgianGP

Tents are up! Feels like there’s more rain in the way too. #BelgianGP

Lots of confusion as the teams don’t know where they’re supposed to be 😂🌧 #BelgianGP

Would not want this job! Looks like the suspended camera had to have its batteries replaced. Getting ready for the race here, drivers are doing the track parade. #BelgianGP

Seems to be a lot of activity in the Mercedes Bottas garage. Very busy engineers with the engine covers off. #BelgianGP

Here’s our view into Bottas’ garage. We brought the binos today! Hopefully we’ll spot some drivers later. #BelgianGP

At the stand now. Watching the second #Formula3 race on a wet track. All good so far. F1 teams are getting ready. #BelgianGP

We’re all a bit tired and exhausted. Also hungover. But in the queue for the track. Big queue today but moving. Kelly and Lomas had to go back for the payment card that we topped up yesterday 🙀 #BelgianGP

This morning is the wettest yet. Good news is that there is a tractor because I don’t reckon there’s any chance that we’re getting the van out otherwise. #BelgianGP

It’s kind of a long story but basically we took a long-cut home. There were some injuries and a bit of wetness. Boots are now drying #BelgianGP