Chris de Burgh Q&A
Long time racing fan Chris de Burgh is a regular visitor to F1 races, and can count the likes of Eddie Jordan and Nigel Mansell among his close pals. However, a hectic touring schedule of late meant that until Hockenheim he had not been able to fit in a trip to a Grand Prix for nearly a year. Adam Cooper spoke to the 51-year-old musician
"I have been very busy. I released an album in the autumn of last year in Europe, and in spring this year in North America. And I've just been doing a lot of touring and a lot of travelling. I've been unable to fit in a weekend at a race - Saturdays and Sundays are the prime days for us entertainers! I was in Canada just before the Canadian GP and I had to come back, and I was close to the European GP, but had a concert in Leipzig that night, and just couldn't fit in it. It's kind of a summer recess at the moment. I did a solo show in Berlin on Friday night, and then I've got some more shows in Germany in August, then Lebanon and Turkey and a few other odd places, and then back in the UK in September."
"Enormously. It's like a club, a party. It's been a real thrill seeing so many familiar faces. Bernie gave me a hug!"
"I was just telling Murray Walker how disappointed my kids were a few weeks ago when the French GP was on. They were saying wait a second - what's wrong with this? He adds so much excitement. I was delighted to see him well. He is, as far as I'm concerned, the voice of Grand Prix motor racing. When I'm away and I have to listen to it in German or something it's very dull. A lot of these guys are not excitable."
"It's extraordinary isn't it? I've spoken to Jean Todt, and Ferrari are obviously very happy. I think it was a bit of a surprise the way things went. The domination of the two lead cars until that fellow walked across the track was outstanding. I was watching from the top of Bernie's motorhome, and you could see them pulling away lap by lap."
"I must admit I'd love to see Ferrari winning it, but I can't actually see that happening. But then there's a lot of emotional outpouring for David Coulthard. He has had to say the least an extraordinary season. He seems to have become a man this year. I don't mean to put him down with that, but I think you know what I mean. I think that incident must have really shaken him to the core, and maybe he did what a lot of people in near death situations do - realise that every day is for living and maybe threw himself even harder into his work. He's a very talented man. So I'd support Ferrari for the emotional appeal of the 21 year wait since they last won it - but David is a fellow Celt!"
"I thought one of the drives of the race here was by Heinz-Harald Frentzen. As you can imagine they're really, really upset. I'd love to have seen Frentzen winning here, or even finish a good second. But I seem to recall it took them a while to get going last year, but they had a storming finish to the season."
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