In this week's column, Ann Bradshaw explains why Monza is not the best place to carry expensive things around, why she wants Williams to beat Ferrari in this year's Championship, what makes Marc Gene something more than a good driver, and why Gerhard Berger will be missed after his retirement...

A year ago in this column I wrote about how Monza was a hotbed for thieves and sadly a year on I have to report things have not changed. I spoke to my friend Lynden Swainston just before the race and she was telling me tales of WilliamsF1 team mechanics having their rooms rifled while they were at the track and also guests in the paddock club having their handbags stolen from the luxury suites. I have never really liked Monza. I accept the atmosphere there is great with Ferrari's crazy tifosi and the history that the track is steeped in, but I have never felt safe and relaxed there. Stealing seems to be a way of life in this part of the world and that I find unacceptable.

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On the subject of stealing, I am worried that last weekend Michael Schumacher may have stolen the title from Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen. I cannot fault his great pole position lap or his race strategy, but after the unseemly debacle over the past couple of weeks between Ferrari and the Michelin runners I find it difficult to feel positive about the driver or the team winning this year. Normally I am a Schumacher fan. I prefer Juan Pablo and the WilliamsF1 team but this is because I know them so well. In the past Michael has been nothing but pleasant to me and I know he is a great driver. However, the comments that have come from Ross Brawn recently if reported accurately I think are a disgrace to motorsport.

If anything, they have brought the sport into disrepute more than any dangerous driving on the track. It was obvious from the comments after Hungary that they were on the back foot and not happy, but this display over the tyre situation has been nothing but bad sportsmanship. Frank Williams and his team have always been good losers. Magnanimous in defeat. Ferrari have proved bad losers and I am now just hoping the boys from Grove and Woking can pull something out of the bag over the next few weeks and lift those crowns in Suzuka. All is not lost as WilliamsF1 still lead the constructors' battle and Juan Pablo is only three points away from Michael.

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One aspect of the weekend that made me smile was the performance of Marc Gene as a stand in for the unwell Ralf Schumacher. I have to admit after hearing just how bad Ralf's accident had been I was surprised that he was fit and well for the race. If Ralph Firman was still not able to race after an accident that happened three weeks ago, to expect Ralf to be fit and well was expecting a lot as his accident was much more recent. It must have been quite a wake up call for Marc.

The story goes he was asleep when Team Manager, Dickie Stanford, got on the phone and told him to get himself into the paddock and ready to race. I adore Marc. He is one of the loveliest people I have met over the years. He is incredibly intelligent, having not one but two degrees. Speaks several languages fluently - recently he went on a crash course in German and is now astounding the BMW people at how well he speaks their languages. But most of all is fun and great company. His affectionate nickname in the WilliamsF1 camp is the "Catalan Rocket", and he certainly lived up to that at the weekend. It was nice to see the look of pleasure on the face of Juan Pablo when Marc set his qualifying time. It was easy to lip read him saying "That was good", and indeed it was. Marc more than kept up with the racing regulars and when you consider how many years it is since he drove an F1 car in a race, his performance becomes even more exceptional.

I am biased as I think he is wonderful, but I was delighted when I heard ITV commentator, Martin Brundle, award him his personal "man of the race" accolade. I was also pleased to read the Daily Telegraph on Monday morning as obviously Mr Brundle and myself were not in the minority regarding Marc's performance. The final paragraph in the race report was: "Ralf Schumacher, after complaining of headaches, was replaced on Saturday by Gene whose excellent performance may have ensured that Schumacher is given all the time he needs to recover from his accident in testing at Monza two weeks ago."

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While on the subject of nice people, I must go back to my reminiscing about the past at this track. I can remember a story from the seventies, in the days before we had such tight security and swipe gates for the micro-chipped passes. All Italians love Monza and will take any chances to get closer to their beloved Ferrari team. Large men with equally large, fierce looking dogs have always patrolled Monza, and so one enterprising fan decided his dog was to be a passport to his own personal heaven. This fan donned the same coat as the security guards and brought along his own large dog that looked just as scary as the real things. Sadly for him this dog was a sheep in wolf's clothing as it proceeded to wag its tale at and lick everyone it came across in the pitlane. Needless to say, the guy and his dog were soon spotted and sent on their way.

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I have seen some great races in Monza over the thirty years I have been visiting the track, but it is always those won by Ferrari that have sent the fans crazy and none more so than in 1988. It was the year Enzo Ferrari had died, and so the team and the fans were in mourning for the man who had given them the famous prancing horse logo and something to be proud of in the world of both road and racing cars. Also it was the year McLaren was romping away with the titles and it seemed nothing was going to be able to stop the clean sweep of wins by the team who had the formidable duo of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost driving for it.

The McLaren tally for the eleven races running up to Italy was eleven out of eleven wins and ten out of eleven poles - Gerhard Berger in his Ferrari had managed to claim pole at the British Grand Prix. In Monza all looked as if it was going according to form, but suddenly Ayrton, who was way out front, made what can only be described as a stupid mistake. He came across a WilliamsF1 car in the chicane and instead of waiting until he was going down the next straight to overtake he rushed at it like a bull in a china shop. The hapless driver, who happened to be Jean-Louis Schlesser, did nothing wrong and held his correct line. The frustrated Brazilian, who was way ahead of second placed man, literally tripped over him, went off the road and got stuck in the gravel trap. The fans went berserk as second placed man was none other than Gerhard Berger in his Ferrari who then sailed on to win the race and stop McLaren being the only team in history to win every race in a year.

For those of you who don't remember that far back I suppose I should explain why Jean-Louis was in the car. At the Hungarian Grand Prix regular driver, Nigel Mansell, had arrived covered in spots and itching like mad. He had picked up chicken pox from one of his young children and was most uncomfortable. The discomfort from this had caused him to spin off the track and he had them been advised by his doctor to miss a couple of races. I don't think Nigel was too upset as that was the year of the Judd engine and no wins for the team.

For the first race of his enforced sabbatical in Spa-Francorchamps his seat was taken over by Martin Brundle. Due to contractual problems Martin could not drive in Monza and so long time friend of the team and also WilliamsF1 test driver, Jean-Louis was brought in. Jean-Louis is a great character with a reputation of being quite a hard man. I have always enjoyed his company and found him great fun. He slotted into the team perfectly and although he didn't win the race the Italians would have accepted him as the new Pope there and then. He felt rather embarrassed about what happened, but not a single person held him responsible for what happened and he gave the fans what they wanted.

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I was reminded of the race with Jean-Louis when I saw all the publicity last week for Gerhard for whom Monza was his last race as Motorsport Director for BMW. Gerhard has had a colourful career in the sport and is a favourite with the journalists as he has always been totally honest and said what he thought. Gerhard is also one of the few drivers who have managed to survive a long and successful career in the sport without a manager who takes over and antagonises the team owners.

Although I worked with Gerhard at WilliamsF1, my enduring memory of him was on a flight on Frank Williams' private jet to a special Renault event in Paris. It was the end of 1996 after Damon Hill had won the title and Renault had organised an event in Paris with the press, the Renault personnel and many special guests to celebrate. I was at that time in Barcelona with the WilliamsF1 test team where Damon's teammate, Jacques Villeneuve, was testing. Renault not only wanted Jacques, but also the Benetton-Renault drivers, Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi, at this event. Frank agreed to send his plane to Barcelona to fly the three drivers up to Paris and back to attend the event. As I was also there I was sent along to 'baby sit'.

It was a very comfortable ride up with the lovely pilot, Jeremy Cook, at the controls of the jet. The drivers started off by chatting with Jeremy about the plane, then with each other about the test and eventually the subject got on to the latest newspaper revelation concerning Gerhard. A story had emerged in Australia from a girl who claimed she had been with Gerhard and his great friend, Barry Sheene, in a compromising situation in a public toilet in a shopping centre on Australia's Gold Coast where Barry lived. When Gerhard was asked about this by Jacques I was expecting a stony faced silence.

However, I was amazed as he proceeded to give us chapter and verse about what happened. At this point I shall go no further, but needless to say he left nothing out of his story and while many other people in the same situation would have not wished to discuss the delicate situation, Gerhard was happy to give his side of the story and in the end we were all able to have a good laugh at his expenses. Luckily the girl eventually dropped her complaint so Gerhard was not forced to repeat this story for more than the select group listening to it that December evening.

He will be missed by BMW but his farewell quote says it all. "It was a tough decision. It has been great doing the job and working together with BMW, but after almost 25 years of leading the life of a vagabond, I just want to take things a bit easier."

I am sure if the team goes on to win the Championship he will be given some of the credit for what he has contributed. However, in my view one man who should be given credit for helping to ruin the Championship chase for them, if the team and Juan Pablo do not win, is former WilliamsF1 driver, Heinz Harald Frentzen. Just at the crucial point where Juan Pablo was closing down on the Ferrari the Sauber driver got in the way and blocked him in a shameless way. Juan Pablo was angry and after the race both Frentzen and the Jordan stand-in, Zsolt Baumgartner, came in for criticism from the Colombian.

It is unlikely Juan Pablo will have a similar problem with the German next year as it seems unlikely he will have a drive, but it is a shame a driver who has been around since 1994 should drive with such little attention to what is happening both on the track and in the Championship. I can't even claim that he was doing it to help his good friend Mr Schumacher. They may have been teammates in the past but since the days when Mrs Schumacher swapped her then boyfriend, Mr Frentzen, for the reigning World Champion I don't think they have been the best of friends!

Whatever happens we are still in for what ex-commentator, Murray Walker, used to describe as a Grandstand Finish to the Championship.

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.