(outside The Fullerton Hotel)
A few months ago, Chris Hull (formerly of Freshjive) hit me up on behalf of Alpinestars regarding some new stuff in the pipeline from the brand, namely new footwear in the form of the Shibuya. The footwear was pretty good, but on the whole and depending on what part of the world you’re from, Alpinestars has differing perceptions and branding. If you’re in the US, no doubt Alpinestars is strong in the “action sports” market but the associations that come with are not necessarily the best or a direction that falls in line with Hypebeast. In Europe on the other-hand, Alpinestars is a respected motorsports brand with probably a lesser lifestyle segment to it. Nevertheless, I was personally a bit hesitant but as Chris had sort of explained, Alpinestars was turning the corner and bringing forth a new dynamic to the brand’s lifestyle aspect. As Chris concedes, a massive part of Alpinestars does come from the commercial aspect of the brand and something he simply can’t over-looked. But that’s not to say there are a wealth of options before him in creating some interesting and innovative products.
With Formula 1’s only night-race and motorsports’ biggest stage, I was pretty excited to get the invite out from Chris to the Singapore F1 Grand Prix. The goal was to sort of witness first-hand the best of the best in the world of motorsports. Cars in general more so than motorsports was something I was probably a bit more into when I was younger, around the time I started driving as a 16-year old drifting an old piece of shit 1984 Chevy Blazer on snow-packed residential roads back in Canada haha, good times in that truck. But as I moved on to school, I really had no reason to drive cause I lived pretty close to everything so I essentially lost the connection with the automotive world and of course too poor to afford a shitty car let alone something fun. However, in terms of design, I always equate commercial performance automotive design as one of the greatest examples of design, embodying both a sense of aesthetic and performance.
Beyond just a weekend filled with the world’s greatest automotive engineering, Chris give me a solid run-down of his plans for Alpinestars including his upcoming early 2010 debut of the new Apex Initiative. Touching back on where Alpinestars stands within the United States, it is ultimately still a very important part of the business and not necessarily one that Chris wants to shut the door on. However, with projects such as the more fashion-forward Apex Initiative, expect more from a perspective that can really showcase elements of Alpinestars’ great technological innovation as they fall into the hands of some competent collaborative designers. In terms of Alpinestars in high-performance motorsports, they help outfit drivers with everything from footwear to suits and gloves. Their participation on the F1 circuit comes courtesy of Eddie Torres who’s goal is to ensure that every piece of gear is up-to-spec in fit so driver’s can concentrate on driving… not an easy feat as I imagine every little distraction multiplied exponentially when you’re ripping at few hundred km/h.
Back to the F1 and it’s behind the scenes… throughout the weekend, there is some massive prep that goes into running and maintaining an F1 car. These are bar-none the most complex pieces of automotive engineering on the planet, and the testing grounds for what will eventually become technologies that will make their way into commercial vehicles. Such new developments include the KERS Braking System which essentially translates kinetic energy derived from braking into stored energy for later use. As for right now, the technology is more performance based in F1 but down the road this could be something along the lines of improved fuel economy. One thing you quickly realize is that this is a huge-money sport. The execution, quality and detailing is outstanding. Everything from the programs to the passes just scream quality.
In terms of the set-up, the compound or paddock as they call it features a walkway that separates the pits/garage from the hospitality suites. The hospitality suites involve three rooms or so, two for the drivers and one for management as well as some dining tables, refreshments/food and a TV. Throughout the weekend, Chris’ passion for motorsports was contagious and he fielded an endless array of questions I had. So many big companies maintain these huge disconnections between the people masterminding the product vs. their business unit and their demographic, that is people that are in whatever sporting unit probably have little experience with that sport to begin with which leads to some difficulties in the creative process. I really don’t see any of this with Chris at the helm.
The whole world of motorsports is so complex. Traveling with massive hundred-something teams, the smooth operation of a team is far from a singular entity in the driver but a true team-sport from the back-end people analyzing data to the people ensuring minimal time spent in the pits. With various elements of performance always coming under analysis, one of the cool things about F1 isn’t so much about slapping a high-powered engine and just assuming that will make things faster. It is really a delicate balance of aerodynamics and power. I don’t think I really grasped the full-nature of the important of aerodynamics. As well, the cars are literally walking a very fine line when it comes to running. The cars can’t sit for too long or drive too slowly otherwise the airflow isn’t significant enough to cool down the car. Coming away from the weekend and seeing things up close and personal really created a lasting impression. While the whole realm of motorsports may be a bit hard to justify in terms of its actual premise of burning fuel and making obnoxious amounts of noise, there’s something inherently exhilarating and fascinating regarding it. It’s not for everybody, but if you take the time to educate yourself, rest assured you’ll come back with a new perspective on the sport.
Some interesting topics came up during the weekend. With last year’s F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton taking home the victory, he has brought a great deal of exposure to the sport thanks to being the F1’s first black champion (2008 winner). Yet one of the underlying issues that both Chris and I spoke on was the massive barriers to entries in getting involved in motorsports. Serena and Venus Williams came from the hood in the sport of tennis which isn’t all that far-fetched… but can you imagine a go-kart track in those parts? Motorsports is a rich-man’s game and with that being said it’s unfortunate. I threw something out… what if a nation’s greatest athletes were partaking in motorsports (with the US as an example, imagine them getting into a kart before swinging a bat, shooting hoops or throwing a football). How would the sport change and how so for the better? Another one that was pretty interesting was to see how the general reaction to F1 was on a regional level. Many countries that are far from traditional automotive producers maintain some pretty huge roots in the sport such as Brazil. It hasn’t been as strong in the US in recent times but there are hopes of bringing a race back to the States, there is afterall a huge racing culture.
Coming away from the weekend, I actually think I appreciated the back-end behind the scenes stuff more so than the actual racing aspect haha. I’m more interested in the process that goes into everything. In terms of a spectating sport, sometimes it can be tough without a monitor nearby to see the subsequent race details. If you’re nestled at one curve, you basically watch cars come around every minute or so in what is approximately the same way each time around. Oh and the sound of high-pitched F1 engines can be a bit difficult to handle even with earplugs haha. Thanks to Chris and Eddie for being unreal hosts, the whole experience as I mentioned was next level. There’s no way anybody can check this out and not walk away with an awesome respect.
Chris and I both agreed… this was probably the best Cobb salad ever.
Chris Hull
Bullshit I couldn’t bring my Segway.
Lewis Hamilton’s girlfriend and pops I believe.
So necessary.
This was in practice… during the race I was watching the driver’s perspective as they enter the pits… dudes are ripping! Seems like a pretty dangerous job and you always have to be on your toes. Often your back is to the cars as well so that’s pretty scary.
Some custom joints for Force India drivers.
Team Alpinestars: Eddie on the Left, Chris on the Right. Eddie’s job as mentioned as to work very closely with Alpinestars’ athletes to get their feedback to help ensure that fit and comfort are non-issues. The guy absolutely loves his job.
This is the back-end diagnostics stuff, there’s also another one in the pits as well.
Got Headers?
Brawn driver’s helmet… ANNNNNND Jenson Button’s girlfriend Jessica Michibata in the background.
An F1 car/garage is virtually clean enough to eat off of. It’s like a surgical room in there, after all the cars are done they are always cleaning and scrubbing down all the equipment.
Custom K-Swiss joints.
This guy is worth a few billion or something.
Carbon Fiber errrrwhere.
It’s pretty hot and humid in Singapore, Camelbak is much needed.
David Coulthard, former F1 driver does stuff for BBC now.
Tires as you would imagine are everywhere.
Pit helmets are pretty dope.
Laser guns… pew pew.
On the walk over to the end of the paddock where the podium was… it was inevitable not to get smoked by some huge telephoto lens. Mad photographers rushing over and jockeying for position, some guys had ladders.
Alsono (dude with the bottle on the right) seemed to have some technical difficulties.
“Take that cameraman”
-Alonso
Racing shoes don’t really translate well outside of the race-course… pretty much all of Puma’s Speedcat range is a testament to that. But dope colorway.