In this week's column, Ann Bradshaw gives her take on the Canadian Grand Prix, and explains the reasons why a certain German driver not named Schumacher was the star of the weekened. She also offers some advice to British authorities on how to help their Grand Prix, following Canada's example

For me the star of the Canadian Grand Prix was Timo Glock. He was only nominated to drive in the Jordan car after the race weekend was already under way and, not only did he keep his nose clean, but he also scored points for the team. The team's official release said that Giorgio Pantano was not able to drive due to 'personal circumstances' and so this left the way for their official third driver to get into the car.

Suddenly this 22-year-old German was in the limelight and, despite the fact he had taken part in all the Friday free practices this season, this must have come as a surprise and a bit of a shock to him. While for most people this is just another story of a driver having 'commercial' problems, there is quite a nice story behind the German driver's debut.

He only moved from karting to single seater racing in 2000 and I am pleased and delighted to announce that it was with some BMW support that he was able to make the move. The German championship that he went to was the one supported by BMW to bring on young talent in association with the ADAC and is the forerunner of today's very successful Formula BMW Championship that regular readers of this column will know about.

Timo Glock or Tim O'Glock, as the Jordan Irish element has renamed him, also came through the Deutsche Post 'Speed Academy' designed to give young German drivers a helping hand in the sport. His inclusion in the team gave Jordan their first ever all German line-up, but, more significantly in my view, since 1990 every German F1 driver has been in the Jordan Formula One Team. Timo, you are following in some amazing footsteps.

As if getting two drivers into the points - Nick Heidfeld finished eighth and Timo seventh - was not enough of a bonus for Eddie Jordan, the fact his team with their Ford engines have now overtaken the 'official' Ford F1 team, Jaguar Racing, in the Constructors' points table must have had EJ doing an Irish jig all round Montreal on Sunday night.

As if this fact was not bad enough for the beleaguered Jaguar team, if press reports are true the team may pay dearly for its awful Canadian Grand Prix. Rumours have it Mark Webber has a clause into his contract that the team can only keep hold of him for next year if they are sixth in the Constructors' Championship on the 1st July. They would have to win in Indianapolis to achieve this and I am sure it is a fairly safe bet this is not possible. This would mean Mark would be free to jump ship and may, therefore, be at the wheel of a BMW WilliamsF1 car next year.

This may be the only consolation the Anglo German team have from the weekend. A brilliant qualifying lap was great, second and fifth in the race was positive and a much better result than witnessed recently, but then to be disqualified for a technical infringement, even if they had no performance advantage, must have been embarrassing. If Sir Frank Williams and Dr. Mario Theissen can look forward to the brilliant Australian in their car for next year this may make their conversations with the bosses at Munich a little more comfortable.

Sadly the Grand Prix was not the humdinger anticipated. The Montreal circuit has a reputation for producing an exciting Grand Prix with regular Safety Car periods and some hairy moments for drivers both experienced and inexperienced. Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher have been caught out there, but this year the level of incidents was way down. We lost the two Renault drivers, but this was a home goal due to technical failures. However, this was quite surprising as so far this year their only retirement had been due to Fernando Alonso's accident in the tunnel in Monaco and they were the only team able to match Ferrari for reliability.

The other team surprising the fans in Canada was McLaren as both cars finished. This was despite Kimi Raikkonen making numerous pitstops for either new steering wheels or to serve a penalty for crossing the white line as he left the pits, and David Coulthard being hit by a Jaguar in the first corner. The team are desperate for the new car that should make its debut in France, but two cars running at the end of the race despite a few mishaps on the way must have been encouraging.

Sadly it was the pitstops again that were to decide the outcome of the race. We were robbed of the site of Ralf and Michael racing wheel to wheel as in the third stop the older brother had done enough to pop out of the pits in front of his sibling. I am coming to dislike pitstops as they either give us a boring race or can lead to unfortunate circumstances that determine the outcome of the race.

Alonso was expected to play a major role in the race, but before his retirement he was delayed by a faulty fuel hose - I hope someone is counting how many of these have ruined good races over the years. Then there was the frightening moment when Heidfeld left before the fuel hose was disconnected and dragged the fuel man with him. Luckily he was stopped before too much harm was done, but this could have led to broken bones.

Last weekend was a very busy one for motorsport and for me it was a trip to a circuit I had not been to for about 15 years, Mondello Park in Ireland. This was the latest race for our Formula BMW UK Championship and, as I expected, turned out to be one of the most fun events of the year. The Irish, as Grand Prix spectators know from the antics of Eddie Jordan, love a party and tend to take life as it comes. This we found to be the case in Mondello.

I ran into old friends who I had not seen for decades and they were all there still smiling and having a good time. Luckily we were able to put on a great show on the track for the bosses and guests of BMW Ireland and our own bosses from BMW GB. The racing was close and at some points too close. We were also able to keep an eye on what was going on in the rest of the motorsport world thanks to the web sites. We were surfing between Atlas F1 to see what was happening in Canada, the Le Mans 24 Hours site to see what was happening in France and the Nurburgring 24 Hours site to see what was happening in Germany.

For the BMW teams the news was pretty good until I heard the F1 story as I drove home in the early hours of Monday morning. We came first and second in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, had two good races in Ireland and then the blow came from Canada. Just proves you can't win them all.

I miss the Canadian Grand Prix as one of my annual trips. Not because of the circuit but because of the wonderful city. This is where the North American and French cultures meet and it is with some amazing results. The way the Canadian's speak French is a culture shock, but the way they have embraced the French love of food is wonderful. The Grand Prix usually coincides with the lobster festival and I have never had the shell fish cooked in such delightful ways.

The city very nearly lost its race thanks to the ban on tobacco advertising and so I must applaud the efforts of Normand Legault who worked tirelessly to get the money to make it happen. In a country from which there is currently no F1 driver he managed to find $18 million to compensate FOM for the lack of tobacco advertising. Not only did he find the money but he also managed to secure the race until 2006 and also sell out the event. He was shocked and upset when Canada lost the race last August but didn't sit and complain, he got up and did something. He even described it as 'a bit of a miracle' that he got the money, but it shows what can be done when someone is determined to do it.

Talking about threats to lose races, before Canada I went to an F1 test at Silverstone. This track seems to lurch from drama to drama on this front, but I doubt whether the sort of money the Canadians found would be available if the UK was in a similar position. Every year we have dignitaries from all areas of UK commerce, including Government officials attending the event, but when the chips are down they seem to disappear and there is very little help from them to make sure Bernie does not take our race off the calendar.

I don't enjoy the British race because I have always been too busy to do this, but I still would find it difficult to think of what would happen if it disappeared. I hope this year that anyone who may have some clout may just give a thought to how they can help to save this classic event when they are enjoying their free hospitality. I am sure if the race disappeared off the calendar they could find somewhere else to be entertained in the middle of July, but I hope their consciences would prick them.

Having said the above, I was ashamed at Silverstone at how the F1 teams were treating the fans who had paid to attend the event. I was looking after some very important guests invited by SG Hambros, the personal sponsors of my FIA ETCC driver, Andy Priaulx. We were having a great time in the BRDC suite and during the lunch break I took them for a walk down the pitlane. All we were confronted with were large screens with team logos on, not the fully branded cars we had come to see.

McLaren had put a show car in the next door pit so marks to them, but full praise must go to BAR and Jordan who had their cars and the mechanics working on them on full show. Sorry my mates at the Williams team, I was not impressed with what you and the likes of Ferrari were doing. You need the people who buy the BMW cars, the HP computers, the Budweiser beer, the NiQuitin CQ patches, the Allianz insurance, etc. to support you. This is not the way to impress them!

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 BMW among others. Annie joined Atlas F1 as a regular columnist in April 2002.

Contact the Author Contact the Editor