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

The top engineers and senior personnel of the various Formula One teams work at all Grands Prix from a construction they build on the pit wall. This is a mini control center with computers and timing screens that allow these people to watch the race and give instructions to their drivers if necessary. The nick name for this is the Prat Perch, but never has it been a more relevant name than on Sunday, when - from the one owned by the Ferrari team - the world witnessed one of the most abysmal acts of sporting behaviour that many feel has brought the sport into disrepute.

I sensed something could be up when, with a few laps to go, a slip of paper was passed between Ross Brawn and Jean Todt, but even then I don't think anyone could have envisaged their actions that would bring condemnation from people both within and outside the sport, including from the two people most affected by this, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

Rubens thoroughly deserved his second Grand Prix win after a weekend when he didn't put a wheel wrong, but I shall leave it to more informed commentators on the sport to discuss the rights and wrongs of such actions. Suffice it to say, I felt on Sunday that Ferrari let down two great drivers, motor sport and their legions of fans.

Speaking of Rubens, quite a few people 'in the know' have been recently telling anyone who would listen that Rubens Barrichello will be in the dole queue for 2003 as Felipe Massa has already got a Ferrari contract in his possessions. These people have now been proved wrong, as on the eve of the Austrian race the team announced a new two year deal for him. I am delighted for Rubens, who is one of the nicest drivers in the paddock, and therefore who says you don't get your just rewards?

Last year in Austria, we all heard Jean Todt ask Rubens to move over and let Michael by into second 'for the Championship'. Rubens obviously didn't want to do this, but did so on the last corner and then we hoped to never see this happen again! Mind you, even though the team is claiming it is for the Championship, this has also given Michael the win in Austria he has never had before - I suppose he now has what in F1 would be the equivalent of a full hand to a card player.

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I am afraid I'm about to show my age by saying the first time I visited the wonderful Oesterreichring was in 1976, when it was one of the most popular circuits in F1 and John Watson won in a Penske and shaved his beard off after the race, as he had promised to do if he won a Grand Prix for this team.

I loved the place and so did everyone else. The next time I went was 1985 and thankfully nothing had changed. However, this was not to stay that way for much longer. In 1987 it took three attempts to get the race started with the narrow start/finish area wrecking havoc and causing amazing pile ups, from which luckily everyone emerged unhurt.

Fast forward ten years to when I went back again in 1997. My first visit to what was then the A1 Ring (named after a mobile phone company) was a sad trip as no longer was it the amazing circuit with sweeping corners and a great run up to the first turn. Now the cars went from the grid a few hundred yards to a sharp right hand bend.

I visited it first in June to see a bike race and see how the likes of Mick Doohan would handle this emasculated track. To be honest, it was fairly boring and no one was singing its praises. I then went back with the Grand Prix circus in August and luckily from an F1 point of view the track proved more interesting. It has since produced both good racing and qualifying with the top ten on the grid last year being separated by just a second, but it will never quite be the same.

But going back to my first visit: as I recounted, John Watson had promised to shave off his trademark beard if he won a race in the Penske, and so good to his word he did just that when he brought his car home ten seconds ahead of the Ligier of Jacques Laffite, with the Lotus of Gunnar Nilsson third. This was the year when James Hunt won the Championship in a nail biting finish at a rain soaked race in Fuji, Japan.

Some people who read this may not remember Roger Penske - more famous for his ChampCar team - entering a team in the F1 World Championship. It was a short lived project sponsored by First National CitiBank with it only competing in 32 Grands Prix.

Sadly for the team, Austria was to witness both its ultimate high and ultimate low. The high was obviously Wattie's win, but the low was the death of American driver Mark Donohue during the Sunday morning warm-up in 1975. Subsequently the team shut up shop at the end of 1977 and it was nearly 20 years before Roger Penske's great rival in CART, Carl Haas, decided to give the 'European' sport a go. This was an even shorter foray, as after 19 races in '85 and '86 Carl went back to the States and concentrated on winning Championships there.

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The shaving of Wattie's beard was a talking point at the time, and having watched the happenings in Austria this year, it seems hair is again another hot topic. This time not the facial variety, but that growing on the top of the head. In this day and age men dying their hair is nothing new, but I have to say I was surprised to see a driver I consider to be quite conservative in such matters, Ralf Schumacher, with a head of peroxide blonde hair. I thought that perhaps his wife Cora was trying to change his image, but it seems it was due to the sort of disaster we girls know more about. He had gone to the hairdressers for a few highlights and instead of coming out looking like Brad Pitt had looked more like Lucille Ball - his hair had turned red.

In some circumstances perhaps this would be acceptable, but with a brother driving for Ferrari, a team synonymous with red, Ralf must have realised this colour could have been misconstrued. Those of us who have suffered such problems know there is no turning back to good old mouse, and so the hairdresser sensibly told Ralf he would have to go blonde and then let it grow out. At the moment I am in need of some colour on my hair, but I am not so worried now as I know next time I talk to Ralf I shall be able to discuss the vexing problem of roots!

One person who does not have root problems at the moment is Kimi Raikkonen as he has had a number one hair cut, while the BAR Team Principal, David Richards, has also been visiting the hairdresser. When David was in F1 before with Benetton he was given the nickname of Peter Stringfellow as, like the famous night club owner, he sported long locks. The locks, very much his trademark, have now gone and so perhaps he has thought that his own aerodynamics might be as important as those of the car.

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Austria is a very small landlocked country but in F1 terms it has produced some great drivers and motor sport related characters. Sadly, just before this year's race, fitness guru Willi Dungl - who is credited with nursing Niki Lauda back to health after his Nurburgring life threatening accident in 1976 - died. The Dungl clinic in Austria has been visited by many drivers looking to hone their bodies and minds to perfection for this demanding sport, and even though Willi himself was not personally involved after Niki's retirement in 1985, many of his 'disciples' still accompanied drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill to races to look after what has become a very important part of their Grand Prix life.

The great drivers this country has spawned include Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda and Gerhard Berger. Sadly Jochen was killed and became a posthumous World Champion, while Niki and Gerhard have gone on to be as influential out of the car as they were in it. Niki worked for many years with Ferrari, and how he must wish sometimes he was still there. He is having to sit and watch the works Jaguar team be beaten by the poorly funded privateer Arrows team. And, most embarrassingly, they have the same Cosworth engine. OK, Jaguar has three times as many points as Arrows - three to their one - but Eddie Irvine rather lucked into his fourth place in Australia, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen deserved his for a great sixth in Spain from tenth on the grid. In some ways the best way to describe the current situation is to liken it to Sauber outqualifying Ferrari!

Gerhard is Motorsport Director for BMW and so must sleep a lot easier than Niki at night. He takes the job seriously and, while in his driving days did enjoy life, particularly if there was a pretty girl around, contributes much to the day to day running of the engine manufacturer's motorsport department and seems to work well alongside fellow director, Dr Mario Theissen, who is in charge of the technical side. One thing the three drivers do, however, have in common is a corner at the A1 Ring named after them, and it would be churlish of me to try to work out which of them is the fastest!

Speaking of locals, the next-door neighbours from Koln - Toyota - looked strong from the word go in Austria and not surprisingly, as last year one of their drills when getting ready to compete in F1 was to visit circuits and simulate a race weekend. The crew went to the A1 Ring and did everything from practice sessions to press conferences. Fortunately for them this weekend the result of their fictional race was not the same as the real thing, as Mika Salo admitted that last year neither of them finished!

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In my last column I mentioned the way WilliamsF1 Chief Mechanic, Carl Gaden, tried to stop Juan Pablo Montoya leaving a pitstop in Spain early by putting his foot in front of the car. I visited the team's HQ a few days later and was told by team manger Dickie Stanford that, contrary to initial reports, Carl had in fact broken a bone in his foot and so in Austria could be seen standing at the back of the garage on crutches. There is, however, a bright side to most things and it seems he has broken exactly the same bone as England's football captain, David Beckham. Perhaps now they can share the same nickname of 'Golden Balls'!

Spain was also the last race for another stalwart of WilliamsF1 - Colin Watts, Juan Pablo Montoya's number one mechanic. I have known Colin - another Wattie to his mates - for a long time, as he worked at Lotus before joining WilliamsF1. A more down to earth hardworking person you cannot wish to meet. I was, therefore, delighted when I heard that Juan Pablo presented him with his second place trophy from the race, as a thank you for all he has done for him. A great gesture from one good bloke to another.

Talking about nice gestures, as it was Mothering Sunday in Austria, the organizers of the race had decided to invite all the drivers' mothers to be their guests. There was a lovely group at the start of the race with those who had been able to make it lined up with their 'boys' and they all had heart shaped Austrian biscuits hanging round their necks. It was a lovely sight and this came back to my mind when I saw the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld crashing into the Jordan of Takuma Sato.

Both of them had their mums at the race and I can hardly imagine what must have been going through their minds when they saw the accident. Thankfully, both drivers escaped with minor injuries, which would have been a miracle only a handful of years ago before the introduction of stringent new side impact tests. We all give the rule makers a hard time for some of their decisions, but thankfully there are people working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that accidents like that one on Sunday will not leave two ladies remember a Mothering Sunday in Austria for the wrong reasons.

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.