Ann Bradshaw, a journalist and press officer with three decades of experience in motor racing, and one of the most respected workers in the F1 paddock, follows the 2002 season in her post-race column, offering F1 fans an insight into the life of those who spend the GP weekend inside the paddock

Montreal is without doubt one of the most beautiful cities to host a Grand Prix and I was quite sad not to be there this year. Having said this, I never had much of an opportunity to explore the countryside surrounding the city and the two excursions I made outside the city limits left me wet and cold.

Before visiting the race for the first time in 1986, I never had a great desire to go white water rafting, but the stories I heard from the journalists and my fellow team press officers were enough to make me want to give it a go.

Unfortunately, my first scheduled trip didn't happen as on the day I arrived in Montreal for the first time I was whisked off to a party somewhere in the student quarter of the city, and despite jet lag and a five hour time difference I didn't go to bed until 4am - over 24 hours after I had got up in the UK. Mind you, the party in itself was an education as being a bit naive about 'sex, drugs and rock and roll' I never understood why this young lad was going round all night with a rolled up twenty dollar bill... Having said that, this is nothing compared to my faux pas a few years later when I was given a small, cuddly, stuffed animal by my friend Allard Kalff, who was then Eurosport's Formula One commentator, and I kept asking people if they would like to see my beaver. I had never seen the film Naked Gun and so had no idea my offer could be taken two ways until my mate ITV's F1 pitlane reporter, Louise Goodman, took me to one side and explained!!

But I digress.

My first wet trip was in a jet boat on the Lachine rapids in the St Lawrence Seaway. I envisaged a bumpy ride but was not at all prepared for just how wet we would get and neither were the Japanese tourists sharing the boat, as they ignored advice to put anything not firmly attached to our bodies in waterproof bags and as the first wave engulfed us ended up with their sun glasses flying off into the water.

The second watery trip was proper white water rafting about two hours drive from the centre of the city and this time we knew we would get cold and wet, but you are never quite prepared for the first time you are tossed out of the boat. Before embarking on the adventure you are briefed about what to do if you end up in the water. The big problem here was the person explaining the safety features told us what to do IF and not WHEN.

The first time the boat tipped up over a sheer drop into a frothing pool full of large boulders we all literally flew in the air and ended up in the drink. There was no way anyone could have stayed in the boat, but sadly one of the girls who obviously was still working on the IF theory hyperventilated and had to be carried the two miles back to the start of the rapids up a very narrow, rocky path. At the end of the day it was an exhilarating experience and I am delighted to have done it, but think if invited again I may have a previous engagement.

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On the subject of water, one of the events leading up to the Canadian race is a raft race across the Olympic boating lake that is directly behind the pits. The teams go to a lot of trouble building these and some of them are as impressive as their actual cars.

However, there were some famous disasters and the two that stick in my mind were those produced by Zakspeed and Lotus. The Lotus boat, which sank halfway across the lake, was in fact a portaloo, while the Zakspeed one was the spare chassis, which seemed to go about as fast in the water as it did on the track!

Food is a very important factor when visiting Montreal as there are some superb restaurants and the Grand Prix teams' visit usually coincides with the local lobster festival.

I will always remember the first time I came across two lobsters for five dollars. They were the size of dinner plates and the restaurants were full of huge tanks with these monsters swimming around. Mind you, while seafood is wonderful when fresh, it can be disastrous when getting old.

Many years ago we played a cruel trick on British photographer, John Townsend, as he had taken a group of us including driver Teo Fabi to one of these lobster restaurants. Someone did mention that perhaps this was a bit of a risk for a driver in case the food was off, but Teo tucked in like the rest of us. He was fine the next morning but did have an enormous accident, which resulted in his car smashing into the pit wall and denting the barrier so much that the marshal standing the other side broke his leg.

Some of John's mates decided to have a joke with him and told him that Teo had suffered violent stomach pains due to bad lobster and that was the cause of the accident. They then elaborated on the story even more by saying Teo was looking for John as he thought it was all his fault. John, a keen fisherman, spent the rest of the weekend fishing in the nearby Olympic boating lake rather than go anywhere near the paddock and risk the wrath of Teo.

In many ways, the Canadian Grand Prix reminds me of the early Australian Grands Prix in Adelaide, as Montreal is a city consumed by the race. You cannot go into a shop, bar or restaurant that doesn't display posters and Grand Prix merchandise and the event obviously gives the locals an excuse to party non stop.

I have had some memorable evenings in the Winston Churchill bar, famous for its strange flavoured shots, and if you want to use a car for anything other than getting to the circuit forget it as street parties are the order of the weekend. The only warning I must give to any European going there for the first time is the language. Remember the first language in Quebec is French so don't expect to be greeted in English. However, even having a command of French is no guarantee that you will be able to understand what is being said to you, as the mixture of French language and an American accent can make the locals quite often unintelligible even to the French!

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A home Grand Prix is always a special event - I know this from working with Damon Hill, David Coulthard and Nigel Mansell here in the UK - so you can imagine what 1996 was like with Jacques Villeneuve.

My first visit to the city with him had been way in advance of the Grand Prix as sponsors Rothmans had taken him there in January for a promotional day and I had gone with him. The temperature was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit and when we went to the circuit he was able to have a skate and knock about with some of the local ice hockey heroes on the boating lake. He also visited a motor show at the exhibition centre and I have never seen so many people standing in line to get a driver's autograph.

When we returned in June, he was actually going to race at the circuit named after his father and the local interest was almost at fever pitch. Everyone wanted a piece of the action with offers from hotels and restaurants for him to visit and fans dogging his every step. The press all wanted their interviews and with him being in the current race-winning WilliamsF1 car, expectations were high. Sadly it was not to be the dream debut and even sadder - since then Jacques has not had a lot of success at this track.

On Sunday he was the first driver to retire from the race and this was despite quite a lot of pre-event publicity about a revised car for the BAR team. I have to admit I am not that technical, so I would not be the first person to remark on which cars look alike, however, even I had to agree with the commentators who kept saying how the 2002 BAR now looks remarkably like the 2002 WilliamsF1.

When the cars arrived for this weekend's race the expectation was again firmly in the WilliamsF1 camp. Last year the team tactics and the driving of Ralf Schumacher had well and truly beaten his brother. This year after Monaco, where Ferrari was beaten to pole for the first time in 2002 and we saw the re-emergence of McLaren, there seemed no reason to believe that it would automatically be a red car first over the line. Add to articles in the press of a heavily revised FW24 and it looked as though WilliamsF1 had a good race in store for them. As you all know, qualifying confirmed this but the race was a different matter.

I don't think there is a single person who would now bet against Michael Schumacher claiming a record equalling fifth World Championship. However, the sad thing from his point of view is that the events of Austria are still dogging him as he was even booed by the Canadian fans on the Sunday morning parade lap. He is a great driver and I believe it will be sad if his career is tainted by these events. It will also be very interesting to see how the FIA deal with Ferrari when it has the team in front of the World Council meeting later this month.

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Back to the subject of the WilliamsF1 team: it is no secret the Compaq logo on the side of the cars will disappear soon and be replaced as part of the merger with Hewlett Packard. The logistical nightmare that is changing livery in mid season has affected us all and as if competing in the Grands Prix were not enough to keep the team busy, it now has to change the branding on everything from the smallest sticker to the largest truck.

As part of this change I spent the 4th June - the second day of our Queen's Jubilee celebrations - at a rather chilly Silverstone. I felt the cold keenly as I had only just come back from the latest European Touring Car Championship race meeting at Jarama, where mid afternoon temperatures were well into the high eighties. However, whatever the weather, there was no slacking from anyone and the drivers had to work as hard as the other team members. The aim was to produce footage of the cars and drivers from every angle with the new livery, a completely new television advertisement and also new stills photography. The team worked a 12-hour day making sure that no angle was left out so that when the new livery is revealed these new shots will immediately replace the old ones.

Watch this space, as they say.

About the author:
Ann Bradshaw - Annie - began her motor racing career as a teenager, helping out her brother in local rally races in England, where she grew up. In the 1970s she organised motor racing events in England, and was later the press officer for the RAC MSA - the motorsport governing body in Britain. In mid 1980s, she became press officer to team Lotus, where she worked with Ayrton Senna. Shortly after, she moved to the Williams team and was working there for several years, when once again she found herself working with Senna. She worked with Damon Hill after the Brazilian's death, and moved with the British Champion to Arrows. She also worked with the Panoz team in the United States, before becoming a freelance press officer, now working with Compaq and BAR among others. Annie joined Atlas F1 as a regular columnist in April 2002.