I was lucky enough to be invited by VW Commercial Vehicles along to the F1 Testing at Monza in August 2006, courtesy of Red Bull Racing

We flew out to Milan the day before and enjoyed a few big beers in the evening while watching the beautiful people in the Plaza del Duomo

Then in the morning it was off to Monza. As guests of the Red Bull team we had access to the paddock, Red Bull garage and into the pit lane by their garage, which is where this photo of David Coulthard was taken. We also had the run of the Red Bull Energy Station, where I had lunch next to Tonio Liuzzi. I have been to F1 races before but nothing prepares you for the experience of standing this close to an F1 car as they accelerate away!

Although there is obviously a speed limit in the pit lane it proved rather difficult to get a decent shot as the cars roared past. These were about the only 2 where I managed to get the car in the picture!

Pedro de la Rosa	Michael Schumacher

At lunchtime we were free to roam the pit lane, though the teams were all very secretive (especially Ferrari) and worked on their cars behind screens so no-one could see what they were up to. These were taken holding my camera over the screens

Ferrari	Midland

During the lunch break I also walked out onto the grid through a gap in the pit wall

Looking down the grid	Pit lane exit from the Red Bull garage

As it is so rare to get this close to F1 cars and teams I spent most of the day around the pit lane and paddock, though in the afternoon I did wander through the park in the centre of the circuit to Ascari and watched from the grandstand there for a bit. The 2 photos below were taken from the grandstand there

Fernando Alonso	McLaren being recovered

Thanks Nigel and the rest of the group for an incredible couple of days!