Grapevine: Ramirez Bows Out in Style

The United States Grand Prix was the final event for McLaren's veteran team co-ordinator Joe Ramirez, after a forty year career in Formula One, and the team's first and third place finish gave the popular Mexican an almost perfect send off.

Despite their hectic weekend schedule both McLaren drivers found time to express their feelings towards a man they both hold in high regard.

"He is the enthusiasm at McLaren, and obviously it is infectious," said David Coulthard. "So when we are successful he is the first one to do the cheering, and when we are not he is there to say, 'ok, let's keep working. We can achieve our goals through working hard, and not by feeling sorry for ourselves'."

Race winner Mika Hakkinen remembered how Ramirez had taken him under his wing when he had first joined McLaren way back at the beginning of the 1993 season.

"He was the person at Mclaren that took me to my first test with the team," Hakkinen recalled. "He took me in very well, very openly and he always talked about the team very positively. He really explained to me just what the McLaren team was all about. He is a great man, a great character, always smiling, always positive, and of course he is crazy about motor racing. He is very definitely a man who has his heart in the right place."

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, the two drivers had presented Ramirez with a Harley Davidson motorbike on the occasion of his 60th birthday, and at Indianapolis Hakkinen explained the reasoning behind the gift.

"Well, Joe is sixty years old," he said, "he is going to retire, what is he going to do? You are going to ride your Harley on the street. When you have been involved in the hectic world of Formula One for so long you can't just sit at home and watch the TV all day long. Now he can go out and ride his Harley and enjoy his life."

Click here to read Atlas F1's exclusive interview with Jo Ramirez