Nigel Roebuck: Fifth Column

In terms of excitement, the British Grand Prix weekend reached its high point at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon, when Lewis Hamilton gave the crowd what it had come to see, and took pole position in the closing seconds of qualifying.

To my mind, the current 'knockout' system - originally the brainchild of Bernie Ecclestone - has been the most successful Formula 1 innovation of recent years. There may be good reasons for rules stipulating one-engine-for-two-weekends, using-both-types-of-tyre-in-a-race, and so on, but by and large motor racing's public has neither the time nor interest to assimilate endless regulations of this kind. If they're going to pay for grand prix tickets through a building society, what they rightly expect in return is to be entertained, and that they are by qualifying - the races, we know, still need work.