Dodgy Business

Would I like to have breakfast with Jackie Stewart? Is the Pope catholic?

JYS might be coming up to 69, he might have retired 35 years ago, but he's got a sharp mind and his take on matters of the moment is always interesting. And so it was in Melbourne.

I was a big fan of Jackie when I was 10, but I have to admit to being slightly surprised when a copy of JYS's autobiography popped through the letterbox just before Christmas. At the time when there were no less than eight books on Lewis Hamilton doing the rounds, I wondered if the publishers hadn't missed their slot a little with JYS.

Silly me. Jackie is doing book tours in Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. In the UK he did 96 events in 41 locations in 14 days. And has sold just over 200,000 copies of his book. So that's put that one to bed.

So the first thing to know, given the topicality, with Melbourne under threat and Silverstone too, is it important where F1 goes, or is the TV show the be-all and end-all?

"I think where we go is very important for the integrity of F1," Jackie shot back straight away. "Money is not that important because it's so rich in any case. Abu Dhabi will pay anything to have a GP. They will certainly be paying more than twice Silverstone.

"But actually Abu Dhabi is a good idea and Bahrain was a good idea because it brought it into that region. And they did it well. Bahrain is a lovely looking facility. Abu Dhabi saw it and they wanted one. Now, Abu Dhabi , 10% of the entire world's production of oil and 5% of the world's entire production of natural gas - the cost of a GP is like washers for them, and so you have it.

"But, look at Moto GP in Qatar last weekend. There was nobody there. I saw it out here in Australia, their boy Casey Stoner won it, all the big stars were there and there was nobody watching. That makes it look like a Mickey Mouse event. If there were no people at Wimbledon they would say it can't be a big event. And we need big events in our portfolio.

"We can take the odd one that isn't ... But this night racing, I think it's a gimmick. It could be anywhere. You won't identify it with that nation and so it's not good for tourism. Take Australia. You see Albert Park, the lake, the skyline, but put it on at night and it could be The Gorbals of Glasgow.

"In Singapore you'll see all the lights and the big high buildings but could it could be New York, Chicago or Johannesburg. And Monaco - would you not want to see the Mediterranean, the harbour and the Maritime Alps?"

Jackie is adamant that you need to protect historic races such as the British GP.

"It would be completely irresponsible not to have a GP in the UK," he says. "Not only was it the first Grand Prix 50-odd years ago, it's probably the most sophisticated market place in the world per head of population per square mile. Much bigger than America, much bigger than China. It's very valuable for the nation.

"Some might say that the nation has got nothing to do with it and it's about being a money maker, but you are selling F1 short if you do that. You are selling for today and not tomorrow, making a fast buck today rather than investing for tomorrow."

And the $64 million question: is the threat real, does Bernie have the nerve to bin Silverstone?

The 2007 United States Grand Prix © LAT

"He likes the speculation, he likes being provocative. Has he got the nerve to actually carry it through? Yes, I think he has. But I think the loss of America is a big error of judgement too. One of the arguments he would give you, and CVC might give you, is that we want to go to China and India and places like that.

"Even American sponsors like Philip Morris (Marlboro) want to be in India but that's not correct. Most of the names you see in the paddock are American-based companies. AT&T for example don't want to be without America and certainly not the UK."

Turning to what was happening on the track, what did Jackie think of the first competitive running without driver aids?

"There will be more accidents because there will be attempts to pass, and that's not saying it's a bad move because it's actually good. But every single car went off the road on Friday and Saturday in Melbourne. Now they are going into the braking area and getting weight transfer and pitch change. That gives turn-in oversteer and you lose the back of the car.

"So what's going to happen? You are going to interlock wheels. And when you interlock wheels cars go into the air. And everybody went off the road because of the new technique required to avoid the loss of traction control on throttle off, which the general public don't understand. They think it's traction on acceleration that was why they were all going off."

The other topic that came up in Australia was the fact that Lewis Hamilton, set to become sport's biggest mega star, had not joined the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA). Stewart, of course, was a GPDA leading light and safety crusader.

"I just don't see why people say there is no need for a GPDA," Stewart says. "I just think it's dumb. Good communication never hurt anybody."

"There's no particular reason I haven't joined," Hamilton said. "I had so much going on last year and the same is true now. It's time as much as anything. If you are part of an important organisation you have to be committed and I really don't have time for that at the moment."

GPDA committee man Mark Webber took a rather dim view of that.

"One day," he said, "I'm pretty confident he'll see the benefits of joining the GPDA . It's helping him in that one day he might be in the barriers at Jerez and needing someone to help him - and that goes for any young driver. We're not trying to reinvent the world, we're just trying to improve safety and I think it's a little bit naïve not to want to support our push. You don't have to be a totally active member - we're asking for 20 minutes of his time per fortnight."

Stewart lends support to Webber's argument: "Lewis is one of the most powerful voices in the paddock and for that reason he should be in the GPDA. Not the president because he's not ready for that, but he should be in it. The press talks to him more than anyone else and the reason I got more done in the GPDA was because I was in the same position after Jimmy Clark died.

"People asked, I spoke and journalists wrote. So it became a sharing of knowledge and observations. I think the GPDA has been suffocated for some time now. The powers that be say, let us deal with it, it's technical, a science, not a matter for drivers. But these people haven't been in racing cars!"

Lewis Hamilton leads Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen in Melbourne © LAT

Generally, though, Stewart is a huge Hamilton fan and, through his book tours, has been in a position to gauge the impact Lewis has had on the sport. Whoever you mention - Palmer, Nicklaus, even Ali, Jackie thinks that Lewis's global reach at a similar stage is even greater.

Looking at last weekend Stewart saw nothing to change his mind that Hamilton is The Man.

"He drives really well, the McLaren car must be very good because there is very little hand movement and he doesn't overdrive the car. Both Ferrari drivers were using the steering wheel a lot more. Kubica, I think, did one hell of a qualifying lap. He's a very good racing driver but it is very clear that the McLaren is just better than everything else. I was surprised. I expected the Ferrari to be the pace setter. I think it will find its way.

"Kovalainen, I think, is very good but in a way it's unfortunate that he's come in at the same time as Lewis because Lewis is just awfully good. He's so well rounded."

Lewis's impact, Stewart thinks, is far in excess of his achievements so far and but he questions whether he will become as big as he could be within the McLaren corporate environment.

"The one weakness is that the McLaren machinery doesn't allow that. There's quite a strong rulebook about what you comment on. He might mature out of that, with knowledge and a few years experience, but in the medium term, when have you heard him comment on anything that's controversial? They can't because Ron doesn't allow that."

So, is it inevitable that Hamilton will end up in a Ferrari?

"I don't know about that. He could end up staying at McLaren, like Jim Clark stayed with Lotus or I stayed with Ken Tyrrell. The confidence it gives you, having the trust and the intimacy with the team, is important. You would have to go and live in Maranello if you were going to have that at Ferrari.

"Living in Switzerland is going to be slightly abstract from what he previously did because every morning he was in the McLaren factory or in the gym. And every day he was with his mechanics or engineers and that communication was responsible for building a bond. Being in Switzerland has not allowed that to continue but he will still keep a good human relationship with them. I don't think it's inevitable at all that he goes to Ferrari. Why would he? Unless McLaren turns uncompetitive."

JYS, of course, knows all about living in Switzerland. It's obvious why high earners go there and it's about pounds and pence, not unbearable attention. Stewart thinks all that was badly handled last year, but he thinks it was the right move. But Alistair Darling has just made it harder for Non-Doms.

"He'll be very careful with it and he'll do his 90 days in England. I lived there since 1968 and until 1997 I was hardly in England. And it's a fantastic place to live in if you want to get away from the world. Nobody bothers you. I occasionally got a bunch of Germans, Italians or Austrians outride my gate but it didn't happen very often. And from that point of view it must be very nice for him.

Max Mosley © Reuters

"I don't know whether the Labour Party are going to bring in higher taxes but being a racing driver is not the same as being a banker. There is going to be a big shunt. Somebody is going to die. It's like an air crash or a train crash. You do so many miles but then sooner or later, unfortunately, that happens.

"If I hadn't gone to Switzerland... I mean, Graham Hill didn't die with very much money. Jimmy Clark didn't die with much money because somebody did a naughty on him. But that's all part of the business. You live somewhere or you bank with more than one person and you manage the downside risk, exactly the same as being a member of the GPDA. He was removing a downside risk for his future and as a racing driver he did the right thing."

And finally, what about being labelled a certified halfwit by the FIA president?

"I got a handshake from Max the other day, and almost a cuddle! And I mentioned Max in my book.... Once! He said, 'let's forget all that. It's the past. He ran into me and he was his gushing self. There's no conscience there..."