After forty years of working in Formula One, former McLaren team co-ordinator Jo Ramirez joins the millions of racing fans who watch the action on TV. Now writing for Atlas F1, Jo follows the 2002 season in a personal column, which comes straight from the heart of a guy who is, after all, just a racing man...

July must be the racers' month - three Grands Prix and the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a real treat. I managed to be at the British GP, and of course I could not miss the Goodwood weekend, which did remind me of Reg Parnell's famous saying: "Give me Goodwood on a fine summer day and keep the rest of the world." I took my wife and daughter, and they didn't miss an opportunity to remind me what I would be leaving behind when my Spanish project was finished. But apart from the weather and the glorious countryside, this, and the Goodwood revival in September, have to be the best two motor racing gatherings in the country.

All of us motor car racing fanatics have a lot for which to thank Lord March for putting on such a lavish display of motor cars past and present, with an unlimited number of celebrities in the sport. Where else can you mingle with such an impressive selection of cars and motorcycles, and bump into the stars who made them famous, chatting with them or having their autographs - Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Jackie Ickx, Derek Bell, Alan Jones, Phil Hill, Emanuele Pirro, Marc Surer, Riccardo Patrese, Clay Regazzoni and Giacomo Agostini, just to mention a few.

Even the conceited Ralf Schumacher, who did not mix with the crowds, as he did not like to sign autographs! Hopefully in a few years' time, no one will remember him and he will perhaps regret not having been more available to his fans when he was notable!

The event always reminds me of my early days in the sport, when there were no restrictions and you could get close to the cars and the drivers and get the real smell and atmosphere. It was great to be next to Jackie Stewart when he slipped into the Tyrrell 005 for his run up the hill. In just those few minutes, three years of wonderful memories went through my mind - we had so much fun and I learned so much from Jackie, one of the sport's greatest ambassadors.

In the evening, Vanessa, my daughter, and I were lucky to be seated at the same table as Rob Widdows (Lord March's right hand man for the event) and his wife Helen for the gala dinner, which is one of the greatest parties of the year. Superb venue in the magnificent Goodwood House, champagne reception, exquisite dinner, entertainment with a massive transparent screen showing old films with a selection of classical music followed by the best display of fireworks, laser beams and music that I have ever seen (and I have seen a few!)

Rob was concerned about the future of the event, since in the half dozen or more years that it has been running, the crowds have more than tripled to the point that a serious traffic problem is now occurring during the three days of the event. Perhaps the answer is to increase the gate money, which is also more than tripled already, but whatever you do, please keep making it happen!

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The French Grand Prix: quite a few happenings in this race, mostly bad, but some positive. I think it was a disaster that after only eleven events we have a new "old" World Champion - and this time making it five, the number of Championships equalling the greatest exponent of our sport, Juan Manuel Fangio. This was something that I never wanted to happen, not even by the late Ayrton Senna, and in my mind he would have been perhaps a more deserving recipient of such a great honor.

Fangio was not only famous for his great skill behind the wheel, but also for his humility and the way in which he conducted his life on and off the track. He had no enemies, only admirers; his adversaries praised him and learned from him and he was greatly respected. I will always remember his advice for the newcomer: "You must feel you are the best, without letting everyone known you are."

Without taking anything away from Michael, because without a doubt he is one of the greatest drivers the world has ever seen and certainly in the top six, Fangio, Prost and Senna fought their Championships against a lot more adversaries than those of Schumacher. This in no way detracts from the performances of Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard and, this year, Rubens Barrichello, but in a way they were the only real rivals that Michael has had, and he always has the complete devotion and exclusivity of his team, which obviously cuts out his main rival! His Championship winning race in Adelaide 1994 against Hill will always leave a sour taste among all of us that were there and those who saw it on television, and his fruitless efforts against Jacques Villeneuve in Jerez 1997, which backfired, will always cloud the memory of his amazing record.

To be fair to Michael, when he was congratulated soon after he beat Ayrton Senna's number of GP wins, he said that it had no meaning since everyone knew that if Ayrton was still alive he would still be winning GPs. This is something that the world missed because we would have had the most wonderful duels between these two giants of the sport.

The positive note of this race was the fantastic recovery of my old team after the British GP, which was without a doubt one of the worst races in their history. But in just two weeks, they were able to pull out one of the best of the year. Only a team like McLaren could do it and it made me proud to have been associated with them. Suddenly there is a light at the end of the tunnel and perhaps they will manage to race Ferrari with a chance of beating them, which is great news.

While pole specialist Juan Pablo Montoya is without a doubt a terrifyingly fast driver, perhaps he should save his energy until Williams are able to produce a car for him good enough to live with the Michelin rubber for the whole length of the race!

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The German Grand Prix was at Hockenheim, but with this new circuit it might as well be taking place somewhere else, or maybe changing its name, as it has lost all of its character and appeal. Those long straights through the woods were well over half the lap (and a long lap it was), the driver was on full throttle and it was magic. Now there are no woods, just concrete, and such short laps that it is almost ridiculous for a Grand Prix car.

I certainly do not agree at all with this new era of Hermann Tilke-designed tracks. Why should they have to be all the same? We have already destroyed Austria, Nurburgring and Imola, did not improve Magny-Cours and now Hockenheim! When it is the turn for Spa-Francorchamps, that will be the day that I stop watching Grand Prix racing! Besides shortening the tracks and taking away their personality, they all have this incredible flat and smooth surface like a baby's bottom, which makes it boring and uninteresting to drive or watch, since the dreaded traction control has taken over. A good old racetrack should have a few bumps, and anyone that claims to be a good driver will tell you that.

Needless to say, I sat glued to the TV for the whole length of the race switching to Radio 5 during the ads as I always do, because invariably they miss some of the action during the very important $ commercials $. Despite having rubbished the circuit earlier, I have to agree that perhaps for the spectators it is better, as they can see more cars more often, but for my money give me back the old track any time.

I thought that the whole purpose of having 17 races around the globe was to have a good variety of tracks - fast circuits with long straights and fast corners, some slow through the city like Monaco, some with ups and downs like Spa, some with a bit of everything like Japan and Brazil. If we make all the circuits the same we might as well have all the races at one circuit per year over the course of a couple of months, like the World Cup, job done, saving a lot of money...

Enough moaning for today, have a wonderful holiday and see you in three weeks time. Let's hope (in the nicest possible way) that Michael twists an ankle on his hols and so keeps him away for a couple of races, as this will be the only way that we can stop him winning!

Jo X

About the author:
Jo Ramirez began working in Formula One in 1961, when he arrived to Europe from Mexico with his childhood friend Ricardo Rodriguez. He worked as a mechanic and a team manager with Dan Gurney, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ken Tyrrell and many others, before making McLaren his home for 18 years - where he worked as team co-ordinator between the years 1983 and 2001 and where he made life-long friendships with the sport's top drivers. Jo retired from F1 at the end of the 2001 season. He joined Atlas F1 as a regular columnist in February 2002.