As he walked across the paddock, up the stairs and into the media centre for this interview, Jacques Laffite was stopped and greeted more times than either of us wanted. It was a hot day, not comfortable to stand and swelter, but it is a measure of this Frenchman's enduring popularity with all nationalities that he has so many friends.
Not perhaps the greatest French driver of all time and maybe not the most handsome, he nevertheless remains a figure held in great affection by the English in particular, and has a sense of humour to go with his great status after many years spent living on the wrong side of the channel that divides England and France.
The son of a Parisian lawyer, affable, generous and blessed with a grin that can melt cold hearts, Laffite is now a well-established television commentator and has retained not only a deep interest in Formula One, after more than 30 years of close association with the sport, but also a massive knowledge base.