I fully expect to see drmikki's name here on the thread before too long
I'd hate to disappoint then
Whilst the V8SC is far more bogan than the F1 races (likely price, access and 'prestige' related, although if you get enough drunken Finns at a European F1 race the only thing missing is Holden and Ford flags...) it's certainly a very family-friendly event.
The VA deal is interesting - I guess a few QFF WPs I know will suddenly go back to NB! The only other overseas event this season is the Abu Dhabi F1 race, where the V8s are also running, so I wonder if there is a corresponding Etihad deal for that race?
As for F1, the posters above are both correct - there are a FEW private/charters, but it's largely commercial. The decadence of the 90s/00s is largely gone - the only drivers with their own private jets are Schumacher and Barrichello (I think). Button and Couthard used to share one but sold it, heck, even Frank Williams sold his to buy a wind tunnel (which is one reason why he hardly ever comes to the flyaway races anymore).
In one of the most atrociously poorly thought out risk management strategies ever, there is usually a charter back to the UK in the evening after a race, with the bigwigs of F1management and the teams, and sometimes some drivers on it. Yes, I disagree with this policy completely - if the mining companies can work out that losing all your executives at once in the event of an accident is bad, I fail to see why Mr E doesn't adhere to the same policy... anyway...
On the whole, most of the teams and drivers are flying commercial - I spent an evening in the GRU lounge after Brazil with double world champion Vettel and Rosberg, Webber found out about Dan Wheldon's death when he bumped into Karun Chandhok in Changi after Korea, and woe betide anyone who has to join the checkin queue behind the 40-odd travelling members of the team... (There's always one name confusing the checkin girl and there is ALWAYS excess baggage!)
Although Webber may on occasion jump on the evening charter, he's more than likely in J on commercial - he flew QF SYD-SIN before India and apparently was happily posing with fans as they boarded past his seat!
Of course, the team owners are a different kettle of fish - although I know Tony Fernandes flies commercial (not just AirAsia!), I am not sure how Vijay Mallaya gets around
His superyacht may be somewhat more reliable than flying KingFisher....
Finally, the glamour of commercial travel for F1 drivers is the pinnacle -when Heikki Kovalainen was the test driver for Renault he used to be put on EasyJet with a massive bag of spare parts to get to the test dates in Spain
