Fangio, Farina, Nuvolari, Jackie Steward, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Niky Lauda… I was brought up listening to Marvin Gaye…and to my father’s stories about Formula 1. He was crazy about cars…and would be happy when driving his blue Alpine at high speed.

 While other girls were learning about fairy tales, princesses and kings… I knew all the teams by heart : Minardi, Williams, Mclaren, Lotus, Ligier, Larrousse, Benetton, Jordan,…and , of course, “Il Cavallino Rampante “, Ferrari. Other girls used to travel to the beach or the mountain. I would go to Montecarlo, Paul Ricard, Monza, Imola, Silverston, Jarama… with my father. Girls of my age were in love with the man-of-the-season, a singer, an actor,… I was in love with Didier Pironi in the early 80s, Villeneuve’s son –whom I could see in the boxes in Monaco-, James Hunt, the great Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, Michele Alboreto,… I used to shout as if I was crazy when seeing Ayrton Senna driving as if he was mad as well, and defend him eagerly when my father would cheer Prost for the victory. I still remember the day when Lauda’s Ferrari burst into flames …he saved his life. But it makes me shiver everytime I think of Gilles Villeneuve crashing his car in his never-ending fight against Didier Pironi, a fight which led to tragedy. And I cried when Senna died at the 1994 San Marino GP…

 Being there was just astonishing. It isn’t time passing by which has made me realize of it. I knew then I was living something amazing , when hearing those engines roar to 18,000 RPM . What an extraordinary noise !!! Wet or dry, good car or bad, tough track or easy, for these drivers there was no excuse for not going as fast as possible. Even risking their own life. But still… I was excited. What an unforgettable sound !!!!

 So, whenever I recall these happy days, I think that , if there is a Heaven, my father must be there, challenging Senna, or Fangio, or even mighty Fittipaldi, to see who gets the fastest lap . I bet my father can win them all !!!

One of my students , one who is a poet ( and I’m not kidding !), says that there is only one thing that we, human beings, have done well throughout history: music. No matter whether you like heavy metal, punk, funk, soul, r&b, dance, jazz, blues,flamenco,classical, house, … all the music is extraordinary…as long as it reaches someone.

 I agree with him. Music speaks to us in a way nothing else does. It cheers us up when we are low; it makes us dance when we are in the mood ; it comes with us when we travel ; it is there , in the distance, when we are waiting at the dentist’s; it caresses us when sunbathing on the beach ; it sometimes hurts us when we remember;it soothes the beasts ; it …is there, always with you, at any time… Indeed. There is a song for every moment. And each moment has a song.

 Whenever I drive my car , I listen to music…and with each song I recall a moment in my life: “ John & Mary “ by Robert Palmer was the song I heard when I first went into a disco … I was just 14. “ Space Oddity “ by David Bowie reminds me of Oriol, a classmate when studying BUP, who would introduce me to the greatest camaleon ever. Any song by Pink Floyd takes me back to my first conversations with Pep… we were just 15.. and we had just escaped from our teachers to go and see The Wall at the cinema. I feel as if someone stabbed me with a knife every time I hear “ The piano man” by Billy Joel , as I recall the first man who broke my heart…. I was 16. “ Enola Gay “ by OMD takes me back to my techno-dance period … I was just a 16-year-old fool who didn’t even know about the bombing of Hiroshima. With “It’s raining men “ I first catwalked in order to make money and go to Italy with my classmates… I was 17. Shouting, not singing, “ Love is in the air “, I went to Sitges for the first time in my life… I was 18 , it was summer , I was suntanned and Jaume was crazy. “ Can you feel it ?” , a song by Michael Jackson when he was still black, reminds me of a warm afternoon rowing a boat in Candem Market with Johna , a good friend of mine… I was 18. Reggae takes me back to my first concert in London with some Jamaican friends of mine…I was a 19-year-old white girl in the middle of dark people. “C’est la vie” reminds me of my wild youth with my friend Jaume, driving towards Paris while we talked of everything and nothing…when we were just 20 . “Finally “ from the film “Priscilla, queen of the desert “ reminds me of Montse and our crazy nights drinking Trompe du Morte, a black beer with an odd bottle…. we were 22.  I just think of my mother – and I feel so well- when I hear Abba on the radio…And so many more.There are so many…!!!!

But “Sexual Healing” by M.Gaye is my favourite… you already know. It makes me feel as if I were still dancing, on my own, in the middle of the dancefloor…a song which would melt any ice… It reminds me of myself, eating up hours until the last second… as if life would end that night… when dawn would come and the sunlight would tell us once again who we really are.

You want to enjoy life and remember each moment ? You just need a song.

Yes. It’s true ! Everything you may have heard is true ! : I like Fernando Alonso !!

I admire him for his strong personality, his unbreakable will to go on , his never-mind-what-they-say… or think, his winning spirit , his eagerness to do what is right, his moving forward against all odds, his attachment to his closest friends and his family , his desire to make a new car a potential winner, his mask yelling at you “what-on-earth-are-you-looking-at?”, when  he could even be shyer than you …

And indeed I recognise his astonishing ambition . And yet, who the hell do you think can win in Formula one ? Only the boldest, the ones who dare, the strongest ones, the ones who feel unbeatable, … succeed. Since this is all about : winning race by race a championship, risking your life in every bend you drive, every overtake , every brake you push,…

And yes !!! I hate all those people who can – I wonder how ?- know his personality if they have only seen him on TV or in photos ; those who judge him ; those who despise him … ; those who laughed at him whenever he lost ; those who mocked at his spirit of competition when nothing could even be done in Interlagos; … those whose envy is bigger than their brain!!

A toast for you , Fernando !. Hope next year isn’t that hard ! Hope the people start looking at themselves in the mirror instead of poking into someone else’s life as if this life was their business ! I do hope Envy is not the national sport anymore ! And that is a Huge hope