Saturday April 22nd, 2000

By Daniel Mclaughlin

Shouting over the howl of a Formula One Ferrari, Silverstone marshal Andrew Hobman recalled how Michael Schumacher's car came hurtling towards him.

"So Schumacher's flying towards us down Hangar Straight at about 190 miles per hour (300 kph) and we see what looks like him locking up wheels. What's the first thing I did?"

"Run in the other direction, of course," he laughed as rain did it best to dampen the British Grand Prix's 50th birthday celebrations.

Hobman was first on the scene when Schumacher's Ferrari speared into the barriers at Stowe corner last year, leaving him with a broken leg and opening the way for Mika Hakkinen to clinch a second consecutive world title for McLaren.

"So I get to Schumacher and he's wriggling around trying to get out of the cockpit. He was probably panicking, being in a situation he hadn't been in before," Hobman said, recalling his biggest moment in 15 years of racetrack marshalling.

"I tried to calm him down but I had to pin him by the chest to keep him in the car, not knowing what his injuries were."

Hobman is one of hundreds of marshals at the British Grand Prix ready to wave warning flags, clear debris, extinguish fires and occasionally help drivers out of their wrcked cars.

They get paid a nominal five pounds ($7.90) for working three 10-hour days and rarely receive thanks for the work they do.

"I've dealt with some bad accidents," said Peter Berry, baring a patch on the chest on his fireproof suit which gives his name and blood group.

"You'll spend maybe 20 minutes with a driver, trying to cut him out of a car, getting to know him and then you'll see him later and he'll ignore you," Berry said.

"But we don't expect praise. We just do it because we love motor racing."

Rain Fails to Dampen Spirits

At a rain-soaked Silverstone, where organisers were telling fans not to come for Saturday qualifying because the car parks were waterlogged, the marshals' campsite was sinking into the mud. But spirits reamined high.

"In the damp conditions you can really see who's up for it," he said.

"Schumacher's the best at the moment but all the marshals will tell you they can do better than the drivers."

For the men huddled behind crash barriers in fluorescent jackets a few minutes fame proves elusive even when millions of television viewers have seen you talking to Michael Schumacher in his stricken Ferrari.

"We were all wearing orange suits and sunglasses," Hobman said of Schumacher's crash at a sunny Silverstone last July. "Even my own mother didn't recognise me."