Grapevine: Paddock Life: Hockenheim edition

And although the circuit may never again see the packed-to-the-rafters numbers that were witnessed during the peak of Michael Schumacher's career, there were still plenty of ways that Hockenheim remains a special place for F1 to be.

On Thursday evening at the circuit's museum, there was a celebration of Hockenheim's 40-year involvement in F1 - which included highlights from a new 90-minute documentary film that has been made on posthumous world champion Jochen Rindt, who won the German GP in 1970 shortly before his death at Monza.

But nothing makes you realise just what a real magical place Hockenheim was than a quick walk past where the current track turns right at Turn 2.

Head straight on instead of where the track goes and you are greeted with the Jim Clark memorial stone, which appears to sit in front of a strip of trees.

This strip of trees is not just a pretty backdrop though, for it marks where the old track went before the asphalt was ripped up many years ago.

Trek down the side of the trees and head off through the bushes into the forest for several hundred metres and eventually you come to a massive clearing that used to be the first chicane.

A little beyond that and to the left and three small trees standing alone in a clearing are all that remain of the spot where Clark lost his life in that Formula 2 race in April 1968.

Standing there, where the noises of the past are long gone, it's hard to imagine all the famous names that used to blast past at more than 200mph.

It's so true that we often only realise how good things really are when they have gone forever.

Karun Chandhok may have been forced to sit on the sidelines at the German Grand Prix, with HRT handing his seat to Sakon Yamamoto for the weekend, but that did not mean the Indian driver just moped about twiddling his thumbs.

Chandhok has become a bit of a legend in the F1 paddock - and earned tremendous popularity for his enthusiasm for life, racing and anything that makes people laugh. He's also added to that with some pretty good performances in the cockpit too - even though his HRT will never be a race winner.

His bubbly character also helped him earn a bit of charity money at the weekend when BBC pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz threw down the gauntlet about Chandhok's knowledge of the sport when he joined BBC Radio 5 in the commentary box on Friday.

Kravitz said he would donate £50 to the charity of Chandhok's choice if the Indian could answer a question about F1 - and that was more than enough for the challenge to be accepted.

Kravitz started by mentioning the 1997 European Grand Prix and the fact that three drivers set identical pole position lap times.

Quick as flash Chandhok replied: "Frentzen. Schumacher. Villeneuve."

But oh no, the question was not about which drivers were involved in the incident, but exactly what lap time they had set. Kravitz thought he was sitting on a winner with that one.

But just as quick as Chandhok provided the identity of the drivers, he reeled out: "1m21.072s."

He had got it spot on - and a crest-fallen Kravitz was left kicking himself that he had not known Chandhok is a walking encyclopaedia of F1 knowledge!

Formula 1 drivers spend most of their life trying to be as smooth as possible and keep things all neat and tidy.

So when they are allowed to let things rip a bit, like on the Saturday at Hockenheim, it was no wonder that they end up with big grins, burnt out brakes and worn out tyres.

As part of the German Grand Prix entertainment programme, the race organisers put together a taxi ride event on the night before the race - allowing lucky fans, media and sponsors' guests the chance to witness a Formula 1 driver at work close -up - from the passenger seat.

Of course letting F1 drivers loose in cars that are not theirs, and being asked to be as spectacular as possible, was always going to produce dramatic results - especially when drivers like Fernando Alonso, Vitaly Petrov, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi are involved.

So for nearly two hours, fans stayed in the grandstands watching drivers getting totally sideways in the stadium section, laying down long lines of rubber out on track - and even getting it wrong with a few trips across the gravel trap. Magical!

You can read more about what it was like from inside the car alongside Kovalainen on AUTOSPORT.com later this week.

Rubens Barrichello may not yet have added to his win tally at Williams this year, but that has not stopped him milking his latest triumph as much as possible.

After the British Grand Prix, the world found out that Barrichello had become a bit of a cult hero after setting the fastest ever time on the BBC Top Gear programme's slot 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.'

The Brazilian had not been allowed to talk about his success at Silverstone, so Germany was his first chance to rub in his achievement against some of his rivals.

He thus turned up in the paddock wearing an 'I beat the Stig' T-shirt. And then he made sure to make the trip down to see some of his friends as he had a gift for them.

So he knocked on the doors of Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton - whose best times he had beaten - and handed them all a little bag. Inside was a T-shirt for them adorned with the logo: "I didn't beat the Stig."

It's now official - one of the romances of the Formula 1 summer has come to an end.

Shortly after Jenson Button split with former girlfriend Jessica Michibata earlier this year, he had rebuffed questions about it from the media by jokingly suggesting that he was now moving on to his boss Martin Whitmarsh.

In Germany, word got out that Button was however getting back with Jessica - which prompted some fun and games between him and the press in McLaren's regular Saturday afternoon press conference.

The first question thrown at him suggesting that Jessica had told the world that she was back with Button was greeted with a smiling: "I didn't know she had your number!"

The journalist then asked if the reasons for it were that he had realised Martin was not the man for him: "Wow, you got me on the backfoot now. I don't want to put Martin down. That one is a private one, but you will see her, she will be in Hungary."

When put to him to confirm they were back together then, Button carried on in his joking fashion: "Me and Martin? Or me and Jessica? Not at the moment but I will be in Hungary..."

So keep a close eye as to whose hand Button holds on his way to the car at the Hungaroring!