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...

Have you heard about this new proposal under the 'save money' scheme - of trying to reduce the testing - that the FIA is now hoping to get all the teams to agree to? I understand that under this new scheme, all the testing will be banned, at least during the racing season, and instead the FIA will introduce an extra day during the race weekend by turning Thursday into a free test day. To me, this would be the most sensible compromise that could be reached, as it will benefit everyone.

The teams will spend a lot less money by reducing their ever-increasing test teams, the punters will have the opportunity to see more racing per weekend with the titular drivers doing the driving. The drivers will have more time off between races and will arrive really charged up for the race, the promoters will have a marvelous opportunity to use the extra day promoting their own event, and Formula One will gain more media exposure per week-end, hopefully recouping the lost ground.

This is a great idea and I am sure that Max Mosley will get 80% of the teams on his side, although there is no way that Ferrari - with two private race tracks plus Imola and Monza nearby - will ever agree, nor will McLaren and Williams, who always hope to get better than their rivals by testing more.

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The old Austrian Grand Prix - as we members of the previous generation remember it - was held at the true, original Osterreichring, now gone since the controversial 1987 Grand Prix in which we actually managed to see not one or two but indeed three starts. Many Grand Prix cars were demolished - something team owners don't like seeing - and the Austrian Grand Prix lost its yearly battle to survive, kissing the F1 calendar goodbye for the following ten years.

It was not until 1997 that the Austrian Grand Prix came back to the scene, but in a much modified version, having lost all its character, charm, tradition and heritage. However, the fact that we were going back to Austria was a welcome sign for all in Grand Prix racing: as well as being a beautiful country, the Austrian people are non-patronizing, nice and fun loving people.

As soon as I arrived at the circuit in 1997, I was eager to see how much they have chopped the old track. I took the scooter from the garage to the pit straight, and then I saw how imminent the first corner was. I immediately took a dislike to the circuit and turned back, preferring to remember the circuit in its past glory. It was a terrific racers' track, with 5th and 6th gear corners. The Boschkurve was one of the greatest corners in the Championship and the final corner, Jocken Rindt kurve, saw the cars came down the hill brushing their tyres with the armco. From there to the top of the hill and the Hellalicht kurve, which used to be flat out for the first division drivers (before they built a chicane in later years), and the lap average was over 150mph!

The track was not the only thing they changed - they also took away all the beer tents and stands within the proximity of the circuit and this did more to alter the character and atmosphere of the circuit than anything else. Believe me, this was the number one circuit for atmosphere, as its location attracted fans from all kind of different nationalities, and as a result the evenings - especially on Saturday - were absolutely alive with thousands of party animals just having a wonderful time. I always wanted to return to Austria one day as a GP punter and take part in the festivities!

In 1987, Stefan Johansson had an experience never before encountered in motor racing, when he suddenly found a deer crossing the track right in front of him. There was a massive impact which sent Stefan out of control into the barriers at over 150 miles/hour. It was a horrific experience both for Stefan and for our mechanics who had to clean the mess afterwards and fix the car. I don't think any of us will ever forget the smell!

Oh well, enough reminiscing. Once again this year's Austrian Grand Prix provided us with a wonderful and exciting qualifying session. What a pity that we can't go back to the days when we had a two day qualifying stint - the races can be boring sometimes, but the balls out on a flyer lap are always interesting.

Finally we have seen a confused and rattled Michael Schumacher, not brought about by any other team - as no other team has the means to do it - but by his own teammate. Has the Champ lost the plot momentarily?

Rubens seems like a 30 years old new father going through the best days of his life, and what a joy it was to see him grab pole - especially us south of the border Latin Americans. We definitely saw a totally committed and confident Rubens Barrichello and I couldn't wait for race day, as I really saw in Rubinho that uncanny determination that Brazilians tend to have!

I'll admit: watching Rubens letting Michael by on the last few yards of the race was a horrible sight personally. But then again, if that is what Rubens is paid to do then I think he did it with style and took it like a man. It also has to be said that, for all the Germanic arrogance of Michael Schumacher, I truly believe that his words after the race were sincere and convincing. If he hadn't regretted it by that evening, he most certainly did when he woke up on Monday morning and saw the headlines across the world!

In the whole aftermath of the race, what I found most confusing was the discrepancies between declaration from the Ferrari management and the drivers. But the two quotes I find most amusing are:

Q: How could you do this to Rubens, when he beat Michael fair and square?

Ross Brawn: No he did not, we were telling them all the time to not race with each other, keep your places, so you can not call this fair and square

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.