After a glass of Babycham, F1 team principals allow a smile to cross their faces as they watch some of the disasters that affected their opposition

As I headed west, I was beside myself with glee at having got out of the UK with no delays at the airport during the recent Significant Weather Event – all thanks to better winter weather preparation at Gatwick than Heathrow. I’d always questioned the wisdom of selling some of our airports to a country still smarting from the days of the Armada.

But back home, all was not well on our roads. Even the four-wheel-drive brigade tends to expect too much from regular road tyres, which have the equivalent practical advantages of a chocolate teapot. It’s all very well having that super drive system but, with the tyres normally supplied as standard, it’s all too often a case of very limited grip, and brakes that are no better than anyone else’s. ABS is usually of limited effectiveness in snow, and that can be demonstrated easily in expert fashion by the over-optimistic driver cannoning into the rear of some poor sod at the back of a line of insurance claims.
 
I still don’t understand why dealers don’t offer a set of winter tyres when they sell you the car in the first place. It’s a perfect opportunity to engineer a customer service medal by doing something really helpful – as well as making a fast buck. Usually the punter has bought the car with a set of fancy wheels, and there are the original ones skulking about behind the waste oil drums. These could be re-sold to the same customer, along with a nice set of chunky tyres for the snow season. Add a fitting charge in early December, another in March, as well as a ‘winter check’ (when your dealer looks out of the window at your car, looks at the calendar, concedes it’s winter and charges you a few hundred quid) and the traders will be laughing.

And don’t forget to fit security locks on your wheels. In one of the very smartest parts of London a friend recently came down one morning to find the wheels gone from his Bentley. Even the thieves are now recession-hit, and have had to cut back on the bricks on which they used to leave the car jacked-up. Now they just leave it sitting on the brake discs, which means you now need new discs as well as wheels. It’s only a matter of time before they take the suspension as well.

Onto a happier subject. Can anyone think of a better ending to the F1 season within living memory? I mean, if Bernie had written the script it couldn’t have been better. Ah, now I come to think of it he probably did, in which case all credit to the actors for remembering some quite complex choreography when it came to stunt driving, and even more to the pit crews who had to remember when to do it right or wrong. I loved it. I have enormous respect for all the drivers who had the possibility of being Champion in that final race. Some may be more lovable than others, but they all would have deserved the title, and Sebastian Vettel is a more than worthy winner.
 
There was the usual end-of-season frolicking to celebrate the GP year. In-between mounting the inevitable hunting safaris to bag new sponsors (or hold on to the existing ones), the team principals and drivers brushed off their penguin suits and headed to the awards. These events really can be rather fun. There’s usually an excellent turn-out of the great and the good, and after a small glass of Babycham tight-lipped team principals are known to allow the hint of a smile to cross their faces as they watch the screen that shows the golden moments of the year and some of the disasters that affected their opposition.

I was lucky enough to sit next to Adrian Newey at the BRDC awards. He’s not only one of the truly great racing car designers, but someone with a real interest in how they did it in the old days. The fact that he is also a really competitive racer himself makes him second only to Cheryl Cole as best neighbour at the table. Another award recipient was Dario Franchitti, who collected the special BRDC gold star awarded for outstanding success (second Indy win, as well as third Indy series Championship winner). What is particularly wonderful about these guys is that it is their club that owns and runs motor racing at Silverstone. In an era when circuits are increasingly forced to be state-run operations, it really is good news that we do not yet have the threat of government ownership, followed by a sale to foreigners, to contend with.

NICK MASON

Pink Floyd’s drummer and a great car enthusiast, Nick has raced classic and modern cars for the last 30 years and has written two books: one on cars, Into the Red, and one on his version of the history of Pink Floyd, Inside Out.