The longest season in the history of Formula 1 came to a close in Shanghai, China on Sunday evening as the Red Bull Racing team hosted a full-on end of season party.
It took 200 people, working round the clock for four days to build a temporary bamboo village as the party venue on the bank of the Huangpu River that runs through the centre of the city. Over sixteen thousand pieces of bamboo were used to create an authentic Chinese feel. F1 drivers, bosses, officials and personnel from all ten teams made up a crowd of fifteen hundred who sauntered up the red carpet to tackle an evening combining the best of old and new China; the old represented by demonstrations of traditional skills such as martial arts, Ming dynasty drumming and calligraphy, the new by the ultra-modern Shanghai skyline.
Then, close to midnight, came the big moment of the evening when the overall winner of the Formula Una Awards 2005 was announced. There were 20 finalists – one from each country that hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix – plus one Una from Austria, home of Red Bull – who made the trip to Shanghai. The girls were picked for their feisty nature, elegance and humour and their willingness to step into the unknown world of grand prix racing.
To announce the winner Red Bull´s Dietrich Mateschitz was joined on stage by several F1 celebrities, including the team´s number one driver, David Coulthard. Amazingly, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. So, in a fit of generosity, Red Bull Racing decided to award the winning prize to all twenty girls, who will now be going on a once-in-a-lifetime around the world trip.
“I can´t believe we are all going together,” said Hungary´s Kitti Kellemen, speaking on behalf of all the girls. “We have all got to know each other so well over the past few days in Shanghai, that it will make the prize even better sharing it with everyone.”
Press release
Red Bull Racing
