“Obviously it's an ongoing battle every year,” he mused. “Every European grand prix is at risk these days with the emergence of new countries wanting GPs, but it's going to be a fine balance between keeping the heritage and going to new markets. You'll definitely have to be fighting very hard to keep your grand prix, and it won't be any different for the French.

“I think the projects that would bring the race closer to Paris definitely have some merit, but it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to need a bit of time.”

As to his appearance at Goodwood, meanwhile, the 29-year-old confessed to being something akin to a kid in a sweet shop, as he found himself reunited with an old friend – his triple title-winning Newman/Haas Champ Car.

“It was great,” he enthused. “I only wish I could just have gone around being unnoticed. Obviously it's a bit difficult for us – I wasn't really able to see much! – but it's a great event and it was great to see so many car fans and racing fans together in the same place at the same time.

“I only knew what I had seen of it from TV – it was much bigger than I thought it was. It was great to see quite a few F1 drivers coming, and drivers from different periods driving some very historical machinery.

“It was also a very meaningful car for me – one we won a lot of races with, and three straight championships between '04 and '06. It was sentimentally quite emotional and brought back a lot of memories…

“There was just no way I could drive the car flat-out, though. It was very slippery, and I didn't even really know what the set-up was like. It was back in basically just 'put-together' mode, and when you don't have a seat in the car and you're moving it's very difficult. It was all just about getting a run up the hill.”

by Russell Atkins


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