´óÏó´«Ã½

This blog comes to you from 39,000 feet above Australia.

I can scarcely believe it but as I write, despite having been on the flight for four hours, we're still crashing through the sky above the country.

I'm glancing out of the window at the , an undistinctive, sandy landscape as far as I can see. And I thought Norfolk was flat!

This is a true F1 flight, with every seat filled by someone who works in the sport. team principal Ross Brawn is in the first row, 's race engineer Jock Clear is to my left along with Hispania Racing driver , who is undoubtedly one of the coolest customers I've ever met.

To a man, they're either sleeping or looking like they will be at any minute. Flights shared with F1 teams are sometimes like an 18-30 holiday in the sky, particularly if a team has something to celebrate, but not this one - we're all pooped!

Read the rest of this entry

I'm writing this blog post on the sofa, having just arrived back from the opening weekend of the season.

I always feel really odd the day after a big race, a strange concoction of frustration over the little things I could have done better (like knowing the difference between !), satisfaction that people seem to think the ´óÏó´«Ã½ picked up where we left off last year, and that tinge of excitement that in little over a week I'll be back on a plane to witness another weekend of F1 action... albeit the other side of the globe.

I should start by mentioning the stacks of comments I've received on , and from emails we received during the forum, clearly stating that you all think F1 might have caused a few problems for itself with the new refuelling ban leading to some pretty sanitised action on track.

I follow Mark Webber on Twitter, his address is , and even he just remarked "no chance to overtake - again"...and despite all things that are great about the sport, overtaking remains F1's fundamental problem as far as you guys are concerned.

Read the rest of this entry

By the time you read this blog the 2010 season will be just a few more sleeps away (more exciting than Christmas, eh?) and I will be 3,000 miles from home in Bahrain, doing what I did in 2009 - sweating more than I need to!

After the winter we've had I hardly expect you to feel sorry for me as I grab some spring sunshine, but the issue is that my legs are just not suited to shorts. Even my wife Harriet's Dad reckons he's never seen ankles as big as mine, so even in the heat of the desert I tend to wear jeans in the paddock while David Coulthard swans about showing off his bulging, athletic calf muscles.

Mind you, not even 40C will get me sporting a pair of white strides like the ones Eddie Jordan wowed viewers with last year! On my last weekend at home, however, I had no such concerns about the heat.

Read the rest of this entry

Welcome to my first blog of the 2010 Formula 1 season - it's good to be back!

I was actually flicking through my F1 photos earlier on the laptop and saw a snap of myself, and clambering out of a taxi in Melbourne as we arrived at Albert Park for the opening race of the 2009 season. How on earth was that a year ago?

I'll never forget that first weekend. The heightened emotions that we were all feeling as F1 made its return to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ were like nothing I've ever experienced before - and will certainly live with me for the rest of my career.

Hearing through my earpiece as I stood in the pit lane preparing to welcome F1's hardcore fans - and my parents, who were up at 5am for an F1 race for the first time - particularly stands out!

I've actually missed my regular blast of , as I suspect has EJ, who never fails to do a little air-drumming as the track reaches its crescendo, while David Coulthard also allows himself a little air guitar every now and then if he's feeling especially rock and roll!

Working in F1 has a strange effect of warping time, it honestly feels like five minutes ago that we heard the tune last, in the Abu Dhabi desert.

Read the rest of this entry