We’re going slightly off-piste here this month by moving into the world of fiction. Rather like the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson seemingly being tasked with writing and arranging a new album every few weeks during the early 1960s, English-born, Canadian-based playwright and journalist Cat Delaney is releasing a trilogy of novels entitled Faster! (not to be confused with the Jackie Stewart autobiography of the same name covering his 1970 season) in a similar timeframe. This is the first of them, subtitled Risk vs Reward – a Formula Racing Novel.

The Formula Racing series is a thinly disguised Formula 1, with the tale beginning as main protagonist Enrico Ciaro prepares for the 2018 stop-off at Silverstone. Ciaro is an old-school Italian racer, heading rapidly towards his late thirties. He’s a two-time world champion, striving for years to add a third crown, and has the admiration of (almost) everyone around him in the paddock. And if that sounds familiar, it’s because the character is clearly strongly based on Fernando Alonso – even down to an ill-fated romance with a TV presenter from his homeland.

The parallels are only just starting. Ciaro, who you get to like more and more because of his love for his cats and appreciation of a good bottle of wine, is mourning the death of the talented young Julian Blackwood, who has just passed away from injuries sustained in the previous year’s Suzuka round when he hit a crane under yellow flags. The guy who is dominating the era, on his way to wrapping up seven titles, is a non-Caucasian – but in this case a Native Canadian by the name of Nashland Ste Simone. There’s a reticent Finn called Jussi Simoneinen who can become champion in the right car and is nowhere without it. And arriving on the scene is the take-no-prisoners, divisive Belgian Joachim Keja – offspring of two karting parents, massively pushed by his dad. Get the picture?