Ask Jonathan Noble: June 6

Dear Rex,

Jean Alesi has indeed made a terrific transition to touring car racing and gone much better than many people (excluding the man himself) expected. I just hope that he is given a chance to go for the title and does not have to give way to the traditional favouritism shown towards his team-mate Bernd Schneider.

As far as the current crop of F1 stars go, I personally cannot see any of them following in the Frenchman's footsteps. The one obvious candidate who may not be racing in F1 next year is Eddie Irvine, but I doubt he would be interested in racing in another category for a while - he has too much partying to do.

I could not even see Michael Schumacher wanting to jump into a tin-top when he eventually decides to hang up his helmet. What Alesi has that many of the current crop of drivers do not is an absolute love for motor racing at all levels. I remember seeing him turning up at the Chamonix ice race that Nigel Mansell contested - itching to have a go in one of the ice cars. Petrol runs through Alesi's veins.

What would be fascinating however would be to get the entire current grid, line them up in identical DTM cars and let them loose over a weekend on a track that none of them have experience of. With a £5 million winner takes all prize, it would be the race weekend to beat all race weekends...



Dear James,

F1 is a very cut-throat business but I personally don't think that any decision has been made for definite about who will be Mika Salo's team-mate next year. The Cristiano da Matta test, which came the day after Tora Takagi drove the car, was nothing to do with looking for drivers next year but more a way for Toyota to generate a bit of worldwide publicity.

Allan McNish does have a contract only until the end of this year, but if he continues to make the improvements he has shown over recent races then there would be little reason to replace him with a big-money star. McNish's strength has always been in racing, rather than explosive out-and-out qualifying speed, so it is a little unfair to judge the fact that he has been behind Salo on the grid in all seven races this season as an embarrassing failure.

In the races, McNish has always been solid (despite that mistake in Monaco) and do not forget that a team error in the pit-stops in Malaysia cost him an almost certain point. The team will certainly not forget that McNish did not rant and rave to the press afterwards.

McNish is an excellent team player, he is a hard worker and he complements Salo well. It would be very sad for him, as well as many British fans, for him not to be given a chance next season. I for one think he deserves it.



Dear Peter,

Takuma Sato has certainly had a baptism of fire in Formula 1. His first few races were incredible - with accidents, penalties and incidents aplenty. And things have not got any less dramatic in recent races, with that horrific crash in Austria and then the mistake in the tunnel in Monaco.

But it would be a mistake to judge Sato solely on his headline grabbing events. When Eddie Jordan signed the Japanese he knew he was getting an explosive driver - someone who was definitely quick but someone whose edges just needed smoothing off a bit.

If you look back at Sato's junior career the traits we are seeing now in Formula 1 are exactly those he has shown in the past. When he jumps into a new category, he pushes to the maximum, makes mistakes and has crashes. But over time, and usually before the start of his second season, those errors have gone and you are left with the speed.

What Sato does not need to do now is to let the pressure of speculation get to him. EJ is adamant that he can bring the Japanese ace on - and just look at the way Ralf Schumacher has evolved into a superstar from those early days in the Jordan when he appeared to spend more time in the gravel trap than actually racing.

Give Sato time. He is an exciting talent for the future, he is going to give fans plenty of spectacular action for the rest of his career and, yes, there may well be a few more accidents along the way. But whoever criticised Gilles Villeneuve for having those same traits.



Dear Simon

I wish I could say that it was as fun-filled as it sounds - although I cannot say that it is a bad job. Like any occupation, there are good days and there are bad days, and it's a case of reminding yourself in the dark days that the good times will come soon.

On the good side, you get to see a lot of the world and meet some truly fascinating people. Working in the Formula 1 paddock is an immense thrill - with all the politics and intrigue. Nothing can also beat seeing a Formula 1 car at full speed through the tunnel in Monaco or at close quarters as it goes through Eau Rouge at Spa-Francorchamps. And yes there are the parties, the special dinners where you can chat with drivers about any subject in the world, and a chance to make friends with people from every country.

But on the downside the job is incredibly hard work. The cut-throat nature of Formula 1 on the track is echoed in the press room where there is intense competition to beat your rivals to a story. That puts intense pressure on your shoulders not only to find the stories, but to make sure no-one else finds out about them before they are published.

The travelling may also sound fun, but after a while it too can be a chore. Airport departure lounges all blur into one, jet lag becomes regular and it is absolutely shattering. There is also the problem of being away from friends and family for long periods of time.

And all that is before I have even picked up my keyboard. On Sunday nights after the race, as everyone else is partying and reflecting on a great afternoon's racing, my work begins in earnest. Having had four or five days of chasing news, interviewing people and late nights of writing, things only really begin to take shape on Sunday nights. I usually work through until about 2am, get about four hours sleep and then work until mid-day - before jumping on a plane and sometimes having then to go into the office!



Dear Charles

I too was at the Silverstone test and noticed the return of the screens. You were right about them being banned in Monaco (bizarrely on safety grounds) but that ban does not extend to test sessions.

The use of screens has steadily grown over recent years and it was one of those typical things in Formula 1 that as soon as one team did it then everyone had to copy them. If you spoke to any technical director they would tell you that there was nothing the screens or covers hid that could not be photographed while the car was sat at the end of the pit-lane waiting to join the track or was actually out on the track.

Walking down the Monaco pit-lane was fascinating, seeing all the cars with no covers and bumping into no end of leading technical figures taking a close look at their opposition's machinery. It was quite amusing, however, to see Ferrari employing a wall of people to block out the view from its cars.

I also heard a great story about the Monaco Grand Prix from one of the drivers - whose identity I will not reveal. He said he spotted one of the new members of his team getting changed out of uniform and being dispatched down the pit-lane during a public walkabout to get some close-up shots of rival cars - without any suspicion from the teams that he was taking pictures of. A few minutes later he returned to the team's motorhome with a camera full of pictures, got changed back into uniform and then carried on his normal duties.

All is fair in love, war and Formula 1.