Road - Wind power

Vroom with a view

I mentioned yesterday that the base for the 'autotest' driving the new Mercedes-Benz Citan, which was launched to the UK press on Tuesday, was at Silverstone. This is where the former McLaren F1 mobile HQ has now been erected as a permanent structure at the home of the British GP and was used by our hosts as the test venue and where we had lunch.

That's it in the background of the photo with one of the Citans getting a serious birl from one of the commercial vehicle journalists.

And here's another useless, but fascinating, snippet of pointless information. I had a good look round the trophy cabinet in the Merc HQ at Brackley, which hosted the press conference, and which can trace its roots back to Williams F1 ownership. This same three storey building houses the Mercedes AMG Petronas team wind tunnel and even if you don't know it's there, you know when it starts up.

Check out the wee anti-slide pegs!

It sounds like a giant air conditioning system, but you feel it through the soles of your feet and can also feel it through your butt if sitting on one of the stools upstairs having a cup of coffee. You can even see when it's switched on, because the coffee starts radiating rings like that shot of the water glass in Jurassic Park when the T Rex starts lumbering through.
But here's the thing. All of the trophies which are placed in the display units have small pegs on the shelves - to stop them vibrating, sliding off and smashing to bits destroying valuable heritage.

Isn't technology wonderful?