by Peter D
As my half-empty flight from Munich made a harrowing descent into Madrid Barajas, the green flag dropped on the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix and the drivers were off. I was back in Spain, not two years after my last visit, and I was arriving just in time for the nation to cheer on its most successful product in F1 history from 4th on the grid. Little did I know that after the first turn, the very same Fernando Alonso would be in 1st place. Surely, this would galvanize Madrid into a furious spectacle of uniquely Spanish exuberance, despite being 600km away from the race.
My expectations of the atmosphere were higher than Yuri Gagarin’s expectations of the atmosphere. I envisioned Ferrari and Santander banners festooning Gran Via with Nando’s chiseled mug slapped on everything from coffee mugs to t-shirts to billboards. Confetti would be snowing down from rooftops, fighter jets ripping by overhead, fireworks illuminating the sky – it would be absolutely over-the-top in a way that no F1 celebration in Canada could ever be.