Ann Bradshaw, a journalist and press officer with three decades of experience in motor racing, returns for another season of View from the Paddock - offering us a glimpse into the life of those who spend the GP weekend inside the paddock. In this week's column, Ann takes a look at how "her boys" are performing this year, talks about Patrick Head's other love, and warns against the dangers of smoking if you are a Williams team member...

A year ago, in my first ever column for Atlas F1, I was bemoaning the fact I had just witnessed an amazingly boring race in which there had been just one overtaking manoeuvre by Felipe Massa in his Sauber. At the start of the 2003 season things were very different, after three amazing flyaway races in Australia, Malaysia and Brazil, with the powers that be claiming the new regulations had made the difference. I am sure it was the weather that played the most important part in making these races exciting, and sadly the Imola Grand Prix proved this, although it was a slight improvement on 2002, as for the opening 16 laps we witnessed a duel between the Schumacher brothers.

The fact that Michael and Ralf could drive in such a way hours after their mother, Elisabeth, died at the early age of 55, is testament to two professionals who had to put public duty before private grief. Anyone who has lost a parent will know how devastating this is, and so will not only sympathise with the brothers but also admire them for what they felt they had to do. Their mother had fully supported them in their early careers and certainly would have been proud of them on the day she died. It was good to see their team bosses fully support whatever they decided to do, and also the FIA take the unprecedented step of allowing them to forego the obligatory podium and press conference attendances if they felt unable to be there. It says a lot for Michael that he made the top step of the podium before no doubt joining the rest of his family to grieve in private.

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Also a year ago, I was commenting on the efforts of the F1 new boys - Takuma Sato, Felipe Massa, Allan McNish and Mark Webber. A year on and things have also changed for three of these four 2002 hopefuls. It is only the highly talented Mark Webber who is not sitting watching the races on TV, although the others do have F1 test drives. The new boys this year are Antonio Pizzonia, Cristiano da Matta, Justin Wilson and Ralph Firman. They have had mixed starts to the season but I think I could reiterate the comments from last year that none of them had disgraced themselves although they have had some interesting races to date.

Sadly the drivers I call 'my boys' haven't had the best of starts, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for them. WilliamsF1 was expected to mount the challenge to Ferrari, but this has come firmly from the team whose drivers have won two of the first four races, McLaren. Also, my Jungle Boy Antonio Pizzonia has not been able to display the undoubted talent he showed in the past in other formulae and while testing for WilliamsF1. I am certain things will improve, and I am confident that as the months go by I shall be writing about his improved performances in the Jaguar.

While on the subject of WilliamsF1, I am still chuckling about an event I was lucky enough to be invited to a few days ago - it was called An Evening with Patrick Head. I was the guest of BMW GB and had been invited by their wonderful PR man, Peter Walker. When he explained that the MIA - the Motorsport Industry Association - was holding this event on the outskirts of Oxford and the main part of the evening was a chat with Patrick Head, I was intrigued.

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I have known the WilliamsF1 Technical Director for many years and I know how he avoids such events like the plague. I was also even more intrigued when the ticket arrived and the timetable read: 6.00pm to 7.30pm, drinks and book signing. My curiosity got the better of me, and the moment I came across Patrick sitting at a table signing copies of the new book celebrating 25 years of WilliamsF1 I had to know why he was there.

Patrick was his typical forthright self and answered: "This is a warning to always answer e-mails." He then went on to explain MIA Committee member, Peter Digby, Managing Director of Xtrac, one of the top companies in motorsport for gearboxes and transmissions, had sent the e-mail to him asking if he would be the guest of honour at this very worthy fund raising event for the motor industry's charity, Ben. "I didn't reply to the e-mail and then after spending a few days free of charge in Peter's flat in a ski resort received a phone call from him saying I owed him one."

For those of us there this was a stroke of luck as Patrick is one of the most amusing speakers and even after an hour of questions and answers the 200 strong audience could have taken a lot more of Patrick's anecdotes and indiscreet comments about former WilliamsF1 drivers.

There are many rumours circulating about Patrick and the possibility he may soon consider leaving WilliamsF1 to pursue some of his other interests. I interviewed him for the BMW fan magazine, Team Talk, just before Christmas and talked to him about his love of boats and his desire to do some deep water sailing before, in his words, 'I am using a zimmer frame to walk around with'.

Patrick can talk on any subject you choose, but when it comes to boats he has a special sparkle in his eye. If you go into his office you will find pride of place on his wall is a picture of a schooner he personally built. After working on it for five years in between attending races he sailed it from 1980 to 1990, but then sold it, as Formula One was taking all his time. He sold it to a man and his girlfriend and there were two bills of sale - she bought the port side and he bought the starboard side. The couple spent five years visiting places such as the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast of America and the St Laurence Seaway and Patrick was delighted to hear from them on their return that the boat performed very well.

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One of the drivers Patrick talked about with affection was Brazilian Nelson Piquet. Nelson drove in his last Grand Prix in 1991, but is now back in motorsport thanks to his son Nelsinho, who is over in the UK taking part in the British F3 Championship that Nelson actually won in 1978. It was obvious from the results of his first UK race meeting a couple of weeks ago that he has not just inherited his father's name, but he has also his driving ability. Unlike most of the opposition in F3, he has never raced here in the UK before but this didn't stop him finishing third in his first race and earning himself the driver of the day award.

Racing drivers are not at all predictable in what they do when they hang their helmets up, but I am sure most of them would love to have a son following in their footsteps. Currently we have a young Piquet and a young Rosberg hoping to emulate their World Champion winning fathers. In the UK we also have a young American called Richard Antinucci who has some motor racing blood in his veins. While you may not recognise his name from a Grand Prix entry list, you would certainly recognise that of his uncle, Eddie Cheever.

Richard is currently living just down the road from me in Oxford and I am giving him the benefit of some of my experience in the field of PR, as his manager is my good friend and ex-WilliamsF1 colleague, Iain Cunningham. When Iain asked me if I would be able to give Richard some advice in exchange for the odd free meal I was more than happy to help. I was not sure what to expect, as I was a bit worried about what sort of 'kid' he would be - spoilt rotten? Quick but boring? A playboy?

I need not have feared, as he is a delight; personable, very handsome and a very talented racing driver, even if he doesn't know how to work the machinery found in most kitchens! I think the biggest job Iain and myself will have is keeping the ladies of Oxford from beating a path to his door, which is in the same block of flats where Juan Pablo Montoya used to live.

Another former driver who I had the good fortune to work with, although only briefly, was Johnny Dumfries. He was Ayrton Senna's teammate in Lotus in 1986 and one of the nicest people you could wish to meet. Johnny comes from a very wealthy family, as his father was the Marquess of Bute, but you would never have realised this from talking to him. He had a very down to earth way about him and a cockney accent that could not have been picked up in a British public school.

I was reminded about Johnny, who I see about once a year, when I received an e-mail from him asking for money. Luckily he is not down on his luck, but was planning to take part in last Sunday's London Marathon and wanted me to sponsor him as he was raising money for his chosen charity, the Chemical Dependency Centre. I am still waiting to hear where he finished but his thirty quid from me is assured whatever his position, as anyone who can run for 26 miles deserves not just money but a very big medal.

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The Chemical Dependency Centre has brought to mind a release I received last week from WilliamsF1 about its latest sponsor which calls itself a smoking cessation brand! To you and me NiQuitin CQ is known as a patch but to the owners of the brand, GlaxoSmithKline, it is a nicotine replacement therapy. This is a real turn around in a sport that is universally known for promoting cigarette brands such as Marlboro, Benson & Hedges, JPS, Camel, Gauloise, West, etc and a major coup for the WilliamsF1's acquisition's department.

While I want to congratulate them, I must also issue them with a word of warning: I am sure every photographer will want a photo of a member of the team with a cigarette in his or her mouth. I feel sorry for my mates in the team who are addicted to the weed, and wonder if now, along with their subsistence allowance for each race, there will be a packet of NiQuitin CQ in the brown envelope.

When I hear about such sponsorships I always remember my former boss in the states, Don Panoz. His company Elan Pharmaceuticals invented the system whereby the patch releases substances into the blood stream and as you can imagine he made a very tidy sum from this. I knew about this before going to the States and so was expecting a non-smoker.

Not only did Don smoke like a chimney, but we were also all instructed to bring him cartons of his particular Silk Cut brand when we came home as it could only be purchased in the duty free shops in the UK. I reckon a conservative estimate of his smoking would be 60 a day. When people asked me about this I always said that he felt so bad because his company had meant lost revenue for the tobacco industry that this was his way to redress the balance!

For the teams it is only a few days of resting or testing before they head for Barcelona. The big question is now when will Ferrari and McLaren produce their new cars. The later the better for some teams as, if this is the way they go with their old cars, heaven help the opposition when the new ones arrive.

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.