This weekend’s race sees more than the usual amount of high-profile departures from the sport - some welcome, and some not so.

The most notable for us here in the UK, is that this will be ITV’s last race covering F1.  While most viewers won’t shed many tears at this news, we do have quite a bit to thank the broadcaster for.

Firstly, I’d like to make it clear that I didn’t listen to Russell Brand’s show which has caused all the rumpus this week - which means I’m in pretty much the same boat as most people who have complained about it.

I first heard about this at the start of the week, over a week since the show was broadcast, and at that point only two listeners had lodged complaints - and neither of them were actually about the Andrew Sachs phonecall.  Later yesterday, that figure had increased to around 1,500 and it’s now totalled 10,000.

DC appears to like dropping hints about his plans without giving the whole game away.

His press conference following an unexpected podium in Canada sounded awfully like a farewell speech of sorts although this was denied at the time, however it has subsequently turned out to be just that.

Now when asked about his future outside of being an F1 driver in an exclusive interview with formula1.com, he has stated that a life in the media may lie ahead :

Also on the side of the media, I can contribute a lot, as I have the knowledge of what its like inside a team.

My favourite ever sitcom would have to be Only Fools and Horses - it ran for years and years but I can honestly say that whenever I catch an episode on UKTV Gold, I can watch it over and over no matter how often I’ve seen it before.

That’s a rare thing indeed and I’m struggling to think of another TV series which is like that.  I enjoy other comedies like The Vicar of Dibley, but even with it there are times when I turn over as I can remember what happens.  Blackadder is probably the only other show I can think of that I could gladly watch over and over without getting tired of it.

How did I miss out on watching Gavin & Stacey?  The answer is simple really, it’s because it was on BBC3 first time around, and I simply don’t think to keep an eye on what’s on that channel - but I’ve no excuses for missing it when it was repeated on BBC2 at the end of last year.

I stumbled across an episode from the second series on BBC3 the other night and thought it was hilarious, the best thing I’d seen in absolutely ages -and British to boot!