This week, however, I detected a note of controlled excitement, careful confidence as the gleaming grey and silver trucks rolled in from Monte Carlo. For one half of the team, at least, it had been a good weekend. A victory snatched from the briefly gaping jaws of defeat as Hamilton hit the barrier, happily near the pits, and scampered back to win. Lucky yes, and with a little help from mistakes by Ferrari (team and drivers) but sometimes you have to take your luck.

Smiling and chattering in the workshops at Woking then, a team on a high, energetically turning round the cars for Montreal.

I was there to see Neil Trundle and what a joy it was to spend a few hours in this man’s company. This year Neil celebrates forty years in motor racing, having started at Brands Hatch in 1968 with Alan Mann on the beautiful Ford FVL at the BOAC 500 meeting. This is the man who founded Rondel Racing with Ron Dennis back in 1971, the two having met when they were mechanics at Brabham. (His early days at Rondel will be the subject of a Mechanics Tale later this year).

1974 Belgian Grand Prix, Nivelles, Belgium. Tom Pryce (Token RJ02 Ford).

After running the Token F1 car and building the famous six-wheeler car for Ken Tyrrell he was re-united with Ron at Project 4 in 1977 and stayed on through the merger with McLaren to build MP4/1, the first carbon fibre Grand Prix car.

Then, in 1981, he left and started his own Formula 3 team, returning to McLaren in 1985 to fit out a new factory in Woking before becoming Chief Mechanic on the race team, looking after Senna and Prost.

What a career, what a life this man has had.

As we sit and chat in the ‘juice bar’ alongside the Fitness & Wellbeing Centre in the MTC we meander through the years, focusing on 1971 for the magazine, and then delving into a veritable treasure trove of motor racing stories.

A favourite of mine is the tale of Jack Brabham at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. Engine builder Repco had delivered new V8s but the pistons were far from perfect, they had burrs on them, and were touching the valves. So Jack got himself a chisel and stayed up all night chiselling the pistons to perfection before changing into his race overalls and going out to practice. Neil, like so many of the great mechanics, learnt his craft with Jack – a man who had little time for chat and a lot of time for just getting on with the job.

1968 Dutch Grand Prix, Zandvoort. Jack Brabham, Brabham BT26-Repco leads Jo Siffert, Lotus 49-Ford.

Luckily, Trundle now has some time to chat, and as we wander through the Grand Prix cars lined up along the ‘boulevard’ of the spectacular McLaren headquarters we pause beside the beauties raced by Senna and Prost, resting now on the highly polished tiles. He tells me there are now 650 people on the race team – that’s as big as Ferrari – and this is a good thing because we are going to see a titanic battle between the two teams as the year unfolds. He who develops fastest wins. Mistakes were made in Monaco, Raikkonen had one of his very ‘off’ weekends but the red cars will be back. There’s a long history of this – McLaren versus Ferrari – and this could be an absolutely vintage season.

Thanks Mr Trundle for a most enjoyable afternoon. This man has tales to tell to last us until the world runs out of paper. Watch this space.

So my ‘Mechanics Tales’ series is at least safe for a few months more. Damien (my Editor) is pleased, or relieved, one of the two.

1971 European F2 Championship. Cranleigh, Surrey, UK. 4th November, Rondel Racing F2 Team including L – R: Clive Walton, Ron Dennis, Neil Trundle and Preston Anderson.

I was encouraged to hear from Neil Trundle, a man who has been there, done it, got the t-shirts, the videos and the trophies. Neil established the Project 4 team with Ron Dennis, the outfit that built the ProCars for BMW, wowed the paddocks with its presentation and persuaded the mighty Marlboro to support its bid for the old McLaren team. The rest, as they say, is history.

Dutch Grand Prix, Zandvoort, Holland. 29th – 31st August 1980. Alain Prost (McLaren M30-Ford Cosworth), 6th position.

Neil still works with Ron, at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, where he’s in charge of the gearbox department. This is all to cut a very long story short but Mr Trundle has agreed to tell me a few mechanics tales so you will no doubt enjoy reading those in the months to come.

This week I’m going to see Neil Davis, who worked for Ken Tyrrell for many years and looked after the cars of Jackie Stewart. It was he who featured in our picture of the paddock tunnel at the (proper) Nürburgring last week. Meanwhile, in next month’s magazine, it will be the turn of David “Dorky” Lowe who is a protégé of both Neil Davis and Roy Topp at Tyrrell and who was terribly injured at Imola in 1996 when Jos Verstappen left the pits while Dorky was still re-fuelling the Arrows. But we’ll be looking at a happier phase of his life in the pitlane with Paul Stewart Racing when he looked after David Coulthard in Formula 3.

San Marino Grand Prix, Imola, Italy. 3rd – 5th May 1996. Jos Verstappen (Footwork FA17 Hart).

I won’t be in Monte Carlo this coming weekend but I will be glued to the television. This is absolutely one of my favourite Grands Prix, along with Spa-Francorchamps, Montreal and Monza. Well, and Suzuka, but that’s not every year now. Why do I love Monte Carlo? Because of the speed and the skill. You can feel the speed, get close to the cars for once, and you can only wonder the skill involved in threading a Grand Prix car around the streets. And the noise. Ah, that noise, as the cars scream around the Principality, the shriek of those engines ricocheting off the buildings. First thing in the morning it is just thrilling, makes the hairs on the back of your neck bristle.
Many years ago I watched a practice session in Monaco with Jenks. We stood behind the barrier at the old Tabac and at the swimming pool section. We could, if we’d been mad enough, have reached out and touched the cars. “You’ve got to realise,” he said, peering up at me through his spectacles, “that this place really shows you who is that bit special, who’s really got it. But even the cars at the back are quick, even the slowest drivers are going fast.”

I remember that every time I see these guys dancing and sliding around the streets, the best of them within millimetres of the barriers. Fantastic place.

Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo, Monaco. 25th – 27th May 2007. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes.

There may not be much overtaking but overtaking isn’t everything in motor racing. I’d rather watch no overtaking in Monaco than in Hungary or Malaysia, for example. I’d rather watch Hamilton or Raikkonen in Monaco than the whole field at Barcelona. And, it is possible to overtake in Monte Carlo. Not easy, but possible.

Monte Carlo, Monaco, May 18 1958. Roy Salvadori, Cooper T45-Climax, retired, and Jack Brabham, Cooper T45-Climax, 4th position, talk to a mechanic.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will know that I am writing a series of stories for the magazine called ‘Mechanics’ Tales’, which is exactly what the title suggests. These are tales from either retired or working mechanics and good fun they are to do because mechanics tend to be down-to-earth types and they almost invariably have a great sense of humour. They need to.

USA Grand Prix – Saturday Qualifying Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, June 16 2007. A Williams mechanic gets some much needed rest.

According to Kevin Eason, who used to be the F1 correspondent of The Times and is now the Insider columnist on the sports pages, there are mechanics in F1 today who are alleged to be paid as much as 100,000 a year. No, I have not made a mistake with the noughts.

This may come as something of a surprise to those who long ago packed away their spanners. You don’t often see such thing as a spanner in the pitlane these days and I hear that some of the old McLaren mechanics started up the Red Toolbox Club, meeting once a year to swap memories and stories. It is said that when the new McLaren Technology Centre was being drawn up Mr Dennis made no allowances for toolboxes in the workshop bays. Knowing Ron, he probably thought they’d make a mess of the place. Well, it is the smartest, cleanest race shop you’re ever likely to see.

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, March 29 – April 2 2006. Honda Chief Mechanic Alistair Gibson, Jenson Button, Honda RA106, celebrates pole position.

Anyway, back to the point. The Insider gave the example of Alistair Gibson who until recently was the Chief Mechanic at Honda. He is now retired from the sport and has been producing sculptures made from carbon fibre. Reckon he must know a thing or two about this virtually indestructible material by now. I cannot tell you if Alistair really was picking up that kind of salary but I do know he couldn’t have been making much in the way of bonuses, either at BAR or latterly at Honda. I knew him many years ago when he worked for Robert Synge at Madgwick Motorsport and he’s an excellent team player as well as a first rate mechanic. But a hundred grand a year? Well, good for him I guess, but it seems a huge amount of money compared to some of the older guys I’ve been talking to lately. They did it pretty much for the love of it, and most of their loot came from bonuses when their cars won the races. Still, life moves on, and I’d be interested to see Alistair’s sculptures, which are on show in London.

Mechanics are a certain type of person, they have to be, always on the road and living out of a suitcase. It gets to a lot of them after a while and they often return to the factory for a more regular way of life. Sir Jackie Stewart (above) was one of the few drivers to recognise the efforts of his mechanics and when he retired himself he set up the Grand Prix Mechanics Trust, a charitable organisation that looks after guys who get hurt, or who are going through hard times for whatever reason. This is a great idea and the GPMT has helped a great many mechanics to get back on their feet and to enjoy a comfortable retirement. As you would imagine, Jackie puts a lot of time and energy into this, as he does with all his many interests and organisations.

Nurburgring, Germany, August 4 1968. A mechanic drives the car of Jackie Stewart, Matra MS10-Ford, 1st position, in the paddock.

Why am I going on about mechanics this week? Well, I’m hoping that some of the guys will see this and will be tempted to respond with their stories. Motor Sport is devoting a page every month to the people who are often described as the unsung heroes of motor racing and we’ve had some great stories so far this year.

So, if you are one, or you know one, let me know. There are so many wonderful tales out there.