My Saturday with Bernie Collins: F1 is a busy and noisy life, my new Scottish home is a lovely antidote

Bernie Collins is an F1 analyst and commentator

Sat, 16 May, 2026 - 01:00

Ruth O'Connor

07.30

If it’s a working Saturday, the time I get up at will depend on the time of the first sessions. It’s usually around 7.30 or 8am. If I’m not working I’ll get up later, make a cup of tea, bring it back to bed and get up at around 9am. We moved last September to a place about an hour north of Glasgow and Edinburgh. We were looking at new-builds and modern houses with access to the airport but then we found this 150-year-old stone house with views of a loch.

We’ve done the first cold winter in the house which was a baptism of fire, so we’re looking forward to the summer coming in and over time we’ll do a bit of work to get it where it needs to be. It’s such a lovely antidote to the busyness of life — normally with F1 there’s a lot of travel, you’re usually in a city with a lot of people and there’s a lot of noise. This is a world removed from that.

09.00

I’m trying to work harder on my fitness so I’ll have eggs on toast or if I’m travelling for work I’ll have yoghurt and granola.

11.00

If I’m at home I’m probably running the washing machine and doing housework — there’s always a bit of catching up to do. I might be out in the garden now that the weather is improving.

If I’m abroad with work we would generally meet before the first session to talk about what happened the night before, what happened overnight or how we think the day is going to go. Then we’ll get into the F1 Paddock to find someone interesting to talk to –someone that might have information you’re trying to find out.

12.30

If I’m at home I’ll try to eat lunch around 12.30 or 1pm but in the Paddock lunchtime is when the first session is on so I won’t be eating then. I might walk back to the TV compound or try to grab something in the hospitality tents. Because I’m ex-Aston Martin and I know the chefs I might try to sneak in there and have something to eat between the two sessions. I don’t do well without food — lots of people will push through without eating but I know if I don’t eat I’ll crash in the afternoon and be really grumpy.

14.00

The afternoon session will be a bit of a rinse and repeat of the earlier session. Sometimes you’re in commentary or at the pit wall — recently the qualifying sessions have been really busy. Directly after that you spend time on the track so it can often be quite late before we leave. If I’ve been at home for the afternoon I might have gone out for lunch or done some hill walking. My nephew and niece might come over and do some kayaking. We might take the opportunity to go into Edinburgh or Glasgow to enjoy the city atmosphere.

My little brother lives in Chester with his kids — occasionally my parents will be there and I’ll pop down to visit them. Myself and my partner are getting married this year so there’s been a few trips home recently.

19.00

Generally we leave the track at 6.30pm or 7pm. It could be an hour to the hotel depending on where we are, so we’ll get back, drop our bags, and decide where we want to go for food. Sometimes we’ll have booked but invariably we’ll be walking around looking for somewhere to eat or we’ll eat in the hotel. I’ll usually eat with my on screen team — the difficulty is that there are about nine of us and if we add in all the crew it turns into a 30 people operation so we don’t all eat together all the time – it depends on who’s around or what type of food people want. I love Melbourne — it’s a great city for food as is Budapest. The Canadian Grand Prix is coming up soon and there’s a restaurant there that I’ve already decided I want to eat in . Some places are more difficult to eat in on a Saturday night than others because of the timing of the races — Qatar and Bahrain for example.

21.00

If we’re at home we’ll cook and then sit in front of the fire with a bottle of wine and watch something on TV or we might meet some friends for a couple of drinks. If I’m on my own I’ll be watching Bridgerton but if I’m with my other half I’ll be watching some sort of crime or investigative series.

23.30

Midweek I’m probably in bed at around 10.30pm but on a Saturday it’s probably more like 11.30pm. If I’m at the track again the next day, I’ll have an early start time again. If I’m working on a Sunday we’ll usually leave the track and fly out straight after the race so I’ll have to pack on Saturday night and bring my suitcase to the track on Sunday.