Formula One News

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Morning guys,

This blog comes to you from my front room at 6am. I can’t sleep so I’ve left Harriet upstairs in bed. I’m down here with my dressing gown, cup of tea and my new read: Senna Versus Prost, a new book by the Daily Mail journalist Malcolm Folley.

I am a big fan of history and loved getting the chance to float over Silverstone with Eddie Jordan in a hot air balloon a couple of months ago, seeing the runways and imagining the place as it used to be when Maurice Geoghegan and his mates got together and first raced cars around there in 1947.

I know that the history of the Hungaroring can’t even attempt to match Silverstone’s past, but when I landed in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend I was keen to get down to the track and relive some more recent motor racing memories. For me, Hungary is one of a number of settings where Senna and Prost’s rivalry played out during the 1988 season, in which Senna eventually took the title from his bitter rival. It was a time when I first became aware of what a special sport this can be.

So, how best to get to see the track and relive some of those memories? Well, some bright spark decided we should go for a run! Brilliant, I said! Only one problem – no kit.

Being the resourceful bunch we are, though, a pair of overly tight shorts were soon found, and I decided my work shoes would be OK.

Unbelievable. I was keen to see the corners where history was made in 1988. Suddenly I was transported straight back to one of my PE lessons from the late 1980s, wearing borrowed kit and ’school shoes’.

After much mickey-taking from the guys that my mega-tight shorts didn’t actually look out of place in Eastern Europe, we set off along the circuit.

All was going swimmingly until I realised my shoes really weren’t designed for running. So, by the time we’d covered half the track I was in real agony with bleeding feet. There was only one solution – to go Zola Budd style (only with white socks for added padding).

Can you imagine the sight? A very exhausted lanky bloke who wasn’t designed for running, wearing tight shorts, no shoes, and doing a good impression of a drunk Herman Munster. Still, I managed to sprint like Usain Bolt for the final five metres and it was great to get that close-up look at the circuit.

I was so buoyed by my running efforts on the Thursday evening that I ran the track again on the Sunday night after the race. This time the mood was a little different.

It was just me and producer Matt Roberts, and as we ran up the hill towards Turn Four we were both pretty quiet, reflecting on the events from the previous day’s qualifying session.

At this point the latest news we had was that Felipe Massa was still in a critical condition in hospital and to stand on the track, in between the two dark stripes of rubber his car had left, was actually very moving.

Television honestly doesn’t do justice to how far he travelled or the ferocity with which he hit the tyre barrier. Standing there, however, left us under no illusions as to how lucky he was just to have survived such an impact. In a season full of intense and emotional moments, that was one of my most sobering.

Massa gave his first interview since the crash on Tuesday. Having spent a fair bit of time with him this season it’s good to see his vigour, vim and personality already returning in spades. It may still be a while until he’s back in the car, though, and I wish him all the best with his recovery.

All in all, qualifying in Hungary was quite a broadcasting test for us. We were aware that Massa may have been seriously injured and we didn’t want to replay the crash again until we knew he had survived, so while Mark the editor was getting info from the circuit and telling the athletics team who were standing by at Crystal Palace that we may be delayed coming to them, I just tried to keep things moving along with the guys in the paddock, without jumping to conclusions or being salacious.

There’s always a dearth of information in those situations but rest assured that as soon as we got any developments we quickly passed them on.

And the drama wasn’t over!

To finish qualifying and have no way of knowing what times the cars have done is the latest incredible turn of events in a season that just keeps on providing the unexpected. For F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to be scurrying around telling the drivers who was where on the grid and to hear pole-sitter Fernando Alonso trying to decipher the situation himself was hilarious – if not the easiest thing to deal with when you’re broadcasting to a live audience in the millions.

All in all, it was quite a Saturday, and then Lewis Hamilton went and did just what McLaren had been threatening he and they might do and won the race.

While the champagne spraying was happening on the podium, I was chatting to David Coulthard about the points we’d try to cover before getting to the news conference, and DC looked at me and just said: “This is remarkable, a genuine victory and with Brawn struggling… what a turnaround.”

One moment that really summed up McLaren’s systematic and focused approach to turning this season around was after the race outside their garage. The whole team donned the ‘Rocket Red’ tops that are reserved solely for victory weekends, and posed for a snap with the drivers and the trophy – for about 20 seconds! There were no prolonged speeches and celebrations. They took the photo, had their moment, then immediately it was back to work, minds already fixed on getting packed up, getting the cars back to the McLaren Technology Centre and doing all they can to make it a double in Valencia on 23 August. A snapshot of the effort needed to succeed this season.

So now all eyes turn to Spain in a couple of weeks’ time. And by the time we all arrive there we’ll all be desperate to go racing again I’m sure. Who wants a break when a season is this dramatic?

There will not be a certain N Piquet after he was dropped by Renault, and then lambasted his former team via a quite remarkable press release. I wonder what his “executioner” Flavio Briatore made of that. And will we see Nelsinho in a Sauber-Piquet car next season?

BMW have also decided enough is enough. Interestingly, after their ignominious qualifying display EJ immediately said: “Munich will be taking a look at this and deciding if they should continue.” What was it about EJ over the Hungarian weekend? He called Alonso on pole, Hamilton for the win and foresaw BMW’s big call… Interesting!

I remember interviewing Mario Theissen, the BMW F1 boss, on the red button F1 Forum a few weeks ago and when I asked him if he wished he’d continued to race for the title in 2008 he flatly refused to answer the question and just said “Thank you.” How they must rue that call now.

And finally, just to really tease us during this mid-season break, a certain M Schumacher is back in the game! One of my regrets is that I wasn’t able to present F1 during his era and now my wish comes true. Just like the young drivers who get to race against him, I can’t wait to see how he performs. What do you think? Will we see him on the top step of the podium again?

And remember that you can follow my tweets from race weekends at www.twitter.com/jakehumphreyf1.

Incredible, isn’t it? Driver changes, big team decisions, mindboggling press releases – it’s almost gone unnoticed that the Concorde Agreement’s been signed! Hurrah!

Long live Formula 1!