I try to avoid being on holiday during a Grand Prix weekend. That’s not always easy once the European season gets underway, as you will appreciate.

Looking at the diary in February I quickly came to realise that the summer was going to be busy, Motor Sport having put my name next to a most encouraging number of events, some of them Grands Prix. An early holiday, or no holiday, were the options.

The latter option did little to improve the atmosphere at home so here we are, in Corfu, and the Spanish GP in Barcelona is not exactly headline news in the local newspapers. The Greeks are a great deal more concerned with football than they are with motor racing. And it is Easter weekend – well, Holy Week to be precise – and access to British newspapers and broadcasting is, to say the least, limited.

Easter Sunday found us with friends in the mountain village of Skripero, slowly roasting a large lamb over an open fire, and easing into the day with an ouzo. To receive the race coverage on ITV requires the installation of a satellite dish the like of which you would expect to find atop GCHQ or some similar secretive government establishment. This is clearly not an option in an area of such outstanding natural beauty. And nor should it be. We therefore break away from the Easter celebrations to watch the Grand Prix unfold on Antenna, a Greek channel with, naturally, a Greek commentary.

As the Ferraris lead the field round lap after lap the commentator doesn’t sound very excited but there is much discussion amongst our international party about what might, or might not, happen over the duration of this first European encounter.

The Italians are pleased, but not surprised, to see the red cars out in front. The Americans want to know what Michael Schumacher is doing these days and why did he stop at the top of his game. (The Italians glance across at Kimi who, through the interference, appears to be cruising to victory). The Brits want to know if Lewis really has what it takes and whether he is truly as cool and charming as he appears? The Greeks, understandably, are more concerned with the lamb slowly turning on the spit.

I mention these things this week because distance delivers a little perspective upon the matter. If you have not seen practice or qualifying, and you do not understand the grid, the race somehow loses some of its intensity. If you have just recently joined the throng around a TV set in a café to watch a most enthralling football match, joining in the general hullabaloo, then the Grand Prix seems somehow not to bring you to the edge of your seat.

In the days following the race at Barcelona I have come to appreciate that there was some excitement, some intrigue, and possibly some measure of the margin that the red cars appear to have over the rest of the field. And it’s interesting how the team from Maranello has a following wherever you travel, in the same way that Manchester United clearly had plenty of support in the cafes of Corfu when they strode onto the pitch at Stamford Bridge last weekend.

The village of Arillas, from where I am writing, seems a world away from fast cars, let alone racing cars. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. I am tempted to start to believe that I could wean myself off the drug that got into my bloodstream all those years ago at Goodwood. But I know that such a process is not going to happen. As the grid forms up for the next one I know I will not wish I was here, whatever I may have written on post cards this week.

Incidentally, the internet connection through which you will have received this brief report is not so easy to find. So thanks Dimitris at Brouklis where I have perched to satisfy the terms of my contract. I guess that Jenks would have simply walked down to the post box by the sea and dropped his envelope in with fingers crossed. Those were the days.

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For the first time I decided to watch the two practice sessions on the ITV site with their ‘live feed’. This was, without a doubt, my worst Formula 1 viewing session ever. The fact that there isn’t any commentary is brilliant. An hour and a half of unrelenting, unmolested noise is wonderful.

However, as soon as it lulls you into a V8-induced slumber the sound is taken over by what can only be described as ET on speed. The picture then decides to pack up its bags and go home, leaving you in a suspended state, watching… well… nothing. Everyone in the office thought that I had finally lost the plot and was lost in a photo of the F1 ITV logo.

At first I thought it was something our end but with the latest Macs, this is utter rubbish. I understand that a ‘live stream’ is never going to be perfect but this was an utter waste of time. Raikkonen lost it at one point, and someone else did but I can’t for the life of me tell you who. They were using Bridgestones though. That was what the screen decided to freeze on anyway.

There is something quite eerie about the Bahrain circuit. There are no landmarks to speak of on track and the tarmac is so wide it looks like the cars have all been bought by Corgi. A fascinating place as Rob Widdows will tell you in the next issue of the magazine.

As for the racing, the Ferraris look like the ones to beat with Massa finishing the second practice nearly a second quicker than his team-mate Raikkonen. However, the Ferrari garage isn’t all sunshine and smiles as Raikkonen lost it in both practice sessions, needing to return to the pits in the first to get sand removed from his car. The dusty nature of the circuit does seem to be causing problems as many drivers were struggling for grip in the opening laps of the first session. If Massa can keep his pace throughout the weekend and stay on track it will certainly silence a few of his critics.

Hamilton ran well but lost it at turn 7 late in the second practice sending him sideways into the barrier. His car is badly damaged but we have heard that he is fine. As he said on Top Gear, he does occasionally enjoy a “good shunt”.

The Williams are back on form after Malaysia and the McLarens are biting at the heals of the Ferraris. What will happen in qualifying? Well, as long as everything goes according to plan, I suggest Massa will get pole, with Raikkonen making up the front row. Hamilton may well be able to beat Raikkonen to it but looking at the speed of the Scuderia’s cars he will have to carry much less fuel. Time will tell.

The rest? Well, the Toyotas don’t seem to be as fast here as they were in Malaysia. And five teams have finished with times that put their drivers next to each other on the time sheets. You may well ask; how much difference does the driver make? Quite a bit I think and that’s why I am sure that Kimi is going to push Massa all the way, even if his time sheet does look as good as the Brazilian’s so far.

Practice 1

Practice 2

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My Editor has asked me to approach my weekly blog in a different way. He’s the Boss, so I will. He wants me to be more controversial, nothing too extreme you understand, but just a bit more opinionated, perhaps. Also, he would like me to keep it shorter. So here goes.

My background is in commercial television so I am at least a little qualified to have a view on the news that the BBC is to renew its association with Grand Prix racing from 2009. On first hearing the news – I was not in bed at the time like my friend Murray Walker – I was not so very surprised. Not because I thought ITV was doing a bad job but because I knew the BBC was keen to get its hands on a major international sport at a time when almost all other sport seems to be slipping from its grasp. I was aware too, that ITV was determined to capture as much top line football as it could afford in the knowledge that the big European games are very popular with both advertisers and viewers alike. So, the news that the BBC had done a deal with Mr Ecclestone and that ITV had beaten its rivals to the best of the European football pretty much confirmed the rumours that have been swirling around in recent months.

I look forward, as most people do, to watching a Grand Prix without the tiresome interruption of mortgage and mobile phone advertising. I am not, however, convinced that the BBC, as it is today, will do a better job of the actual race coverage than ITV is already doing. I say this because – apart from their irritating obsession with Lewis Hamilton – I think ITV has done a generally excellent job of televising Grand Prix racing to the general public. Of course the real racing aficionado will never be entirely happy because he or she probably knows as much about the sport as those who front the programmes. The coverage is not primarily created for us real, long-time enthusiasts – it is designed to appeal to a far wider audience and this, I believe, it has succeeded in doing.

I simply wonder if the mooted ‘Top Gear’ approach to Grand Prix racing will work. The Clarkson/May/Hammond take on life does work for ‘Top Gear’ and its loyal audience. But the complex business of GP racing requires, in my view, a more studied approach. We get this on ITV from both Martin Brundle in the commentary box and Ted Kravitz (above) in the pits. Martin knows his stuff and delivers it in pithy and humorous style while Kravitz gives us the facts and figures we need. When he doesn’t know something, he finds the answer. Commentators are always in the firing line and I know from experience just how hard this job can be. James Allen may not have the populist appeal of Murray Walker but that is not the point any more. He, like us, is an enthusiast and his partnership with Martin Brundle may well be a safer bet than the rather more tabloid approach of Messrs Clarkson and Hammond, should that come to pass. Call me contrary, but I also think Louise Goodman does a great job behind the scenes. Tell me when she last missed getting hold of a driver just retired from a race.

I prefer Steve Rider on my football coverage but whatever he does in front of a camera, he’s totally professional. If I had to knock the ITV F1 show, I would only ask for less news on Hamilton and more news about the other 21 cars and drivers. Yes, I know Lewis is a remarkable new discovery – and a refreshingly raunchy racer – but even Manchester United is so much more than Cristiano Ronaldo.

But it’s a done deal, a deal that Mr Ecclestone finds to his liking. Let’s just hope the BBC brings something really special to the party apart from the largely unwanted “added value” of podcasts, mobile phone updates and Internet streaming. Most of us watch on telly. And I do know that throwing the ‘Top Gear’ format at Grand Prix motor racing will not be the answer.

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