So there were some pretty funny things said by the commentators in today’s session; perhaps the funniest thing ever by James when he and Martin were wondering why Liuzzi was still in the car when he was out of the top 16. He said*: ‘Liuzzi there maybe pondering the magnitude of what’s happened and perhaps not understanding it’.

Then Martin came up with some classics. First, on Jenson during the pointless fuel-burning stage of qualifying: ‘I imagine he’s probably thinking about whether to buy a cream or a white sofa for whatever new house he has’.

And, secondly, on what the drivers do through the Curva Grande: ‘at this part of the track they now just get their sandwiches out and read the financial times’.

However, they did annoy me in that they didn’t understand for a minute at least the importance of Alonso’s tyre failure. They didn’t act shocked or astonished when it happened, and then it took them a long time to say ‘this could really affect the championship’. I was almost off my seat when they first showed Alonso’s wheel gone. All right, in the end it didn’t matter too much, but it could have been vital.

*All quotations are based on my very shaky memory four hours after the event, and are thus not exactly exact.