As many, if not most, Formula One fans, Ann Bradshaw was surprised by the result of last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, and not because the race provided the eighth different winner of the 2003 season. The race also reminded her of her rally days, and the lighter atmosphere that surrounds the championship

Formula One has been full of surprises this year and the Hungarian Grand Prix came up with a few more. For me it was not that Fernando Alonso at 22 years and 26 days was the youngest ever winner of an F1 Grand Prix, nor that after eight different winners of races this year we now have a mere two points separating the top three in the Drivers' Championship. How amazing these facts may be, for me it was the fact that Michael Schumacher, after a comparatively trouble-free race, ended up being shown a blue flag to tell him to move over as Alonso was about to lap him. If the previously invincible, five times World Champion had suffered a drop off in performance lately - he has not led a race since Canada - it was usually attributed to outside influences not under his control. Sadly for him and the millions of Schumi fans around the world his performance on Sunday was lacklustre. Not only was he struggling to keep in the points but his brother, who usually shows a rather timid demeanour when behind his brother, passed him with an audacious manoeuvre that made his brother look rather amateurish.

While I am giving Michael a hard time, I have to remember back a couple of columns to my comment about the importance of tyres and I think this may have had something to do with it. I can only imagine what is happening at the Japanese HQ of Bridgestone as I write this. I am sure there will be a lot of small men falling on swords trying to work out how eighth-placed Michael was the first finisher on their tyres. In my humble opinion Ferrari have been the architects of their own downfall by persuading Bridgestone to concentrate on just the one team. Meanwhile in France, Michelin have bravely tried to keep three major teams - WilliamsF1, McLaren and Renault - happy. Not an easy job when you have Sir Frank Williams, Ron Dennis and Flavio Briatore to satisfy. However, they have done it and the outcome is obvious to see. In the Constructors' Championship WilliamsF1 lead on 129 points, Ferrari are second on 121 and McLaren third on 115.

Whatever the reason for this change in fortunes, it is the F1 loving public who are the winners and seeing Fernando Alonso beaming with pride at the weekend was wonderful. He started setting records in Malaysia by being the youngest pole winner and the youngest ever driver on a podium. He deserved the win as at the start, when all around him were having problems getting off the line, he was away down the road and never seen again. He was helped a bit by Mark Webber, who I think did hold up the rest of the pack until the time of the first pitstops. I am not criticising Mark for this as I know from the past being in front in Hungary is important and it is the responsibility of the others to overtake. I remember when Thierry Boutsen won the race for WilliamsF1 in 1990 he didn't have the fastest car, but he was in front. Second on that occasion was Ayrton Senna, not known for his patience in such circumstances. We had a bit of luck on our side that day as they were very close friends and Ayrton did admit afterwards if it had been anyone other than Thierry in front him might have been a bit more aggressive!

On the subject of luck, Juan Pablo Montoya certainly had some on Sunday. That spin near the end could have cost him a point that could win or lose him the title at the end of the year. I was looking forward to his explanation after the race of what happened here and how he felt. Sadly this was denied as in one of the most ludicrous pieces of stupidity I have ever seen on ITV television they cut from the press conference after Fernando and Kimi had spoken and decided to tell us about their coverage of the forthcoming Goodwood Revival Meeting. Bring back digital television all is forgiven!

Anyway back to Fernando Alonso and his team. I am sure for Renault this is a great relief after taking the brave decision to come back to the sport as both chassis and engine builders. I remember when they came back in 1989 after another sabbatical. This was with WilliamsF1 and that time their first win came much sooner - in Canada that year. They are great people to work with and I know how talented engineers such as Denis Chevrier have worked hard for this moment. The nicest thing about the Renault people is a lack of arrogance and I saw this displayed in the team's press release after Jarno Trulli was quickest on Friday. Denis was realistic and said: "On the engine side we worked well this morning and it is obviously satisfying to see one of our cars set the fastest time. There is still a question mark over performance, though, as we saw some cars go slower this afternoon than during practice. That shows how fragile a good performance can be at this circuit and also indicates that it will be a tricky exercise to set the car up correctly for seventy laps on Sunday."

Then, of course, came pole on Saturday. Again they were very low key and this time Denis' quote was: "Firstly, it is pleasing to confirm the promise we demonstrated yesterday: we are competitive with the very top teams at this circuit. However, the gap between our pilots demonstrates that the balance between getting the right set up and the correct rhythm is extremely delicate. Tomorrow we will have to maintain our pace for seventy laps on a demanding circuit for both cars and drivers. The new engine spec also met our expectations and it is a bonus to christen a new development by taking pole position." Sunday could have been the day to shout out how good they were. They did not do this and it was Flavio who was quoted this time: "A fantastic day for Renault, the team and Fernando. He drove a perfect race and we made the right choice with the strategy. This win proves the work that our people in Viri-Chatillon and Enstone have accomplished. The champagne tastes good: we will now work even harder to make sure the next win isn't too long coming." Long may they stay so humble and nice.

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The Hungarian Grand Prix is the closest race geographically speaking to Finland and so many Finns make the pilgrimage there. Finland has never had a Formula One Grand Prix on home soil but in the days when I was a rally reporter for Autosport the 1000 Lakes Rally was also known as the Finnish Grand Prix. It was fast and furious and was very much the property of the Scandinavians when it came to winning. I went on the event in the late seventies - to be honest I cannot remember whether it was 1978 or 1979 - and was absolutely amazed by the speed of the cars and the behaviour of the locals.

It was due to their driving skills on rallies and not Grands Prix that the locals were known as Flying Finns. On this rally the cars literally do that. In other parts of the world they are known as jumps but in Finland they are known as yumps. The cars take off and just to make sure there is no misunderstanding about the distance the organisers put boards so the spectators can work out who has flown the furthest.

This year I was absolutely delighted to go on the event again and this was thanks to my ex-WilliamsF1 colleague, Luisa D'Aprano. Luisa left F1 at the beginning of the year to work for Inmarsat, the sponsors of the World Rally Championship and suppliers of the most amazing satellite communications systems. Their systems enable everyone involved in the event from the organisers to the competitors to know the individual stage times within three seconds of a car finishing the stage. Although when she left WilliamsF1 at the beginning of this year I had promised her that she would love rallying and not regret leaving F1 she was a little dubious. I am delighted to report that it was quite obvious in Finland I was spot on with my prediction.

For me going back was like stepping back in time as many of my old mates were still around. One 'old' mate who was very much still around and still competing was 1981 World Champion, Ari Vatanen. Ari and myself have kept in touch over the years since I have moved on to other forms of motor sport. He is now an MEP but still does events such as the Paris Dakar and proves more than quick enough despite being 51. I was delighted when he was one of the first people I came across in the rally HQ town of Jyvaskala. He had decided to come back and compete on a World Championship rally for the last time and so had chosen his home event as a fitting venue for this. He was competing in a Peugeot 206 and had no difficulty finding a sponsor for the occasion.

However, this was a sponsor with a difference and one that amused everyone on the event and I am sure secured Ari a little bit more publicity than would have been expected. His sponsor was Pfizer, the manufacturer of Viagra. It takes very little imagination to come up with some great headlines for such a story and the World Rally Championship website was no exception with the story proclaiming 'Ari Rises To The Occasion'! Ari has a great sense of humour which is shown by his priceless quote: "Viagra is like wearing glasses, as you get older you somehow need it." He was also spot on when he said: "Although people laugh at the sponsorship it really works - everyone is talking about it." I am delighted to report that either the product or the car worked well and that he finished a creditable 11th overall against rally drivers who were half his age.

The rally was won by an Estonian called Markko Martin in a works Ford Focus run by another old friend of mine, Malcolm Wilson. Markko is so popular in his home country that 10,000 Estonians visited Finland to cheer him on - this was the biggest number of people to leave the country to see a single sporting event. Although he is a very quick driver, sadly he reminds me of Kimi Raikkonen when it comes to personality. Dour is perhaps the best way to describe the 27-year old.

Luckily rallying does have a star who, like Juan Pablo Montoya, is a character and usually gets some laughs in the press conferences. This is the amiable Subaru driver, Petter Solberg from Norway. I saw him in 'action' at the end of day press conference on Saturday and he was wonderful. By rights he should not have been there as he was lying fourth at that time. However, rally radio broadcaster, Greg Strange, had suggested to the organisers that he be included as the three drivers fighting for second were only separated by a handful of seconds and he knew Petter would bring some fun the proceedings. He was spot on. Also it was nice to see that when Markko became only the third non-Scandinavian to win the event he was given an enormous hug by Petter. I am not sure Kimi Raikkonen would have done that to Fernando Alonso after the Hungarian race.

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.