Sonia Irvine: career memories as Team Physio and as party organiser

After initially working in London for the NHS on qualifying as a physiotherapist, I set up my own sports physiotherapy clinic. When my brother, Edmund, signed for Ferrari in 1996, I joined him initially as his personal physio, but in time, extended my role to physiotherapist for the whole Ferrari team.

I clearly remember being at his first race for Ferrari in Melbourne in 1996. They had hired two-time defending world champion Michael Schumacher, who had brought with him Ross Brawn as technical director. Jean Todt recruited my brother to drive the Ferrari F310.

As part of the Ferrari team I was stationed in the pit garage for all practice, qualifying and the race itself. I remember the feelings of real excitement as the weekend progressed. Edmund qualified ahead of Michael, taking 3^rd place on the grid, with the Williams Renaults of Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill on the front row.

It wasn’t easy to stop thinking what might be and to get ahead of myself imagining just what Edmund could possibly achieve in the race, however, no matter what emotions I may have been feeling, I had to remain focused and professional in my role as part of the team.

The race itself started dramatically, with Martin Brundle having a huge accident, his car actually splitting in half, fortunately he was okay and as the race had been stopped he was even able to re-join in the spare car, which both David Coulthard and Johnny Herbert also did as they had been caught up in the crash.

I was on edge throughout the whole race, counting down the laps, just hoping all continued smoothly as he looked on for a podium finish.

As he crossed the line, he took 3^rd place. In his very first race for Ferrari, Edmund had beaten his team-mate Michael Schumacher and finished ahead of the likes of Alesi, Hakkinen, Berger and Coulthard.

Looking up to the podium, as Edmund received his trophy, I just recall feeling an immense sense of pride and a release of emotion in celebrating such a memorable first race.

My professionalism was truly tested at Spa in 1998 when there was a huge accident in the rain right in front of the pits, involving at least 10 cars. It looked truly horrific and because of all the rain, smoke and debris, I couldn’t see what had happened to my brother. Just thinking back to that moment and what may have happened fills me with emotion, it was one of the biggest pile ups seen in F1. I only knew Edmund was okay when he came running and limping up the pit lane to get ready to jump into the spare car.

We fixed him up with an anti inflammatory patch on his knee to get him through the pain during the race and off he went again!

Away from the race track, whilst the F1 paddock is a highly competitive arena, we are just one big family, however it was rare that we ever all got together in one venue. I found this somewhat frustrating and eventually decided to create an event where people from the Formula One community could all come together and have a good time. I thought there was a need for a VIP nightlife experience where the teams, drivers, sponsors and guests could all enjoy together. I wanted it to be stylish and different – a fun, lively party rather than a formal black-tie affair.

In 2003 at the Monaco Grand Prix the very first Amber Lounge was held. Our first event proved to be a great success. It attracted a fantastic number of celebrities as well as the Grand Prix drivers and team sponsors; everybody had an amazing night. Afterwards quite a few people said I should take Amber Lounge to other races.

That particular Amber Lounge will always be a memorable one, not only because it was my first but because everyone, literally everyone, kept coming up and telling me what a good night they were having and why hadn’t I done this earlier – Rod Stewart, the F1 drivers, Prince Albert II of Monaco… It certainly was the start of something great.

The Amber Lounge fashion show, which takes place on the Friday evening of race weekend in Monaco is now world famous. The F1 drivers kindly and very generously give their time to support our charity event , taking to the cat walk to help raise funds for our Official Charity which, the Special Olympics. All the drivers that have taken part over the years have said that they enjoyed and had fun modelling on the catwalk.

I mean, it is certainly very different from their usual role as an F1 driver!

Sonia Irvine