After the political turmoil of a breakaway championship that had overshadowed the British Grand Prix, the journey down to the Nurburgring had been filled with dread of a repeat black weekend when it emerged that FOTA teams had walked out of the FIA's Technical Working Group meeting on the Wednesday.

With the controversy about Bernie Ecclestone's 'Adolf Hitler' remarks still bubbling away, the news of the TWG strife that was relayed to me as I awoke from an afternoon nap in the passenger seat of a car was certainly not what I wanted to hear. Further calls over the next hour prompted serious fears that the peace deal agreed in Paris after Silverstone was now shattered – and we were back to square one.