Comments on: Interview: F1 journalist Nigel Roebuck

By: Rich

Rich — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:48:48 +0000

Haha – methinks the journalist who knows more about JPMs style than JPM is Peter Windsor.

By: alan

alan — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:42:58 +0000

Very good interview bit of a cliff hanger in respect of what he couldn’t reveal – but proves that you have a great site Keith – only thing youve got too keep them coming lad

By: patrick

patrick — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:10:54 +0000

Great interview. One suspects that Montoya was talking about one Mark Hughes, but who knows. Could equally have been Peter Windsor, now I think about it

By: mzx

mzx — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:48:57 +0000

brilliant interview, this is the sort of thing you expect from paid subscription sites or magazines! Thank you so much, that was great to read!

By: Obster

Obster — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:56:58 +0000

Great interview.
I am always holding my breath as they tinker with Motor Sport magazine, but after reading this, I think we’re gonna be OK.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:12:56 +0000

We’ll, and it has to be said that São Paulo, in terms of visible social inequallity, is better than Rio de Janeiro or my hometown Salvador, where 20-floor luxury residential buildings and shantytowns are literaly built side by side. The thing is: São Paulo lacks the marvellous landscapes Rio and Salvador are proud to show the world… São Paulo probably seems like Mexico City, but without the Aztecs legacy…

In terms of crime rates, São Paulo, again, is better than Rio or Recife…

We brazilians have to face this everyday, and our most talented young men are devoted to social projects, and studying deeply how can we find a way out of these contraditcions… unfortunately most of them do it only for a couple of years, then they decide to “grow up” and “make money”…

But F1 fans and journalists must be prepared to face similar scenarios in time for the first Indian Grand Prix…

By: Steven Roy

Steven Roy — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:21:54 +0000

I would love to hear some of Roebuck’s off the record stories. He has been my favourite F1 writer for many years and Thursday will never be the same again now that he has left Autosport.

I spent a week on business in Sao Paolo and I can understand why people would not want to go. I have to say I never felt in the slightest danger despite all the horror stories I have read in the motor racing press over the years.

Every new building over ten stories high has a helicpter landing pad on the roof presumably to allow the rich and famous to avoid the traffic and the crime risk.

However the clash between rich and poor is more stark than anything I have ever seen. The favellas have to be seen to be believed. I saw one on a hillside where there must have been 5000 people squeezed into a tiny space living in buildings made of corrugated iron. On top of this hill of poverty was the biggest Coca Cola sign I have ever seen. Sick and wrong. I only hope that the locals had tapped into the power supply used to light up the sign and were using that to light
their dwellings.

The business I was visiting was in a poor area and as a result it took security very seriously. The perimeter wall would have stopped a tank and was topped by razor wire. In addition to 28 close circuit TV cameras there was a bullet proof pill box above the gate which had a small slot to allow the occupant to fire his rifle through. Any time the gate was opened a second security guard crouched behind a parked car with his weapon trained on the gate in case some unwanted visitor would come through the gate. Anyone taking the chance of getting past that lot would get access to the car park and still have no chance of actually getting inside the building.

By: Dave M

Dave M — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:10:23 +0000

Great interview but you’ve left out the thing I’m most interested in – how the hell did you manage to get an interview with him in the first place?!

By: Keith Collantine

Keith Collantine — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:41:27 +0000

It seems to be universal among journalists who get to go to all the races that the place they like least is Sao Paulo. Not the track, the city, which has both affluence and appalling squalor, and the massive social problems that go hand in hand with that. Anyone attached to the wealthy Grand Prix circus is going to be a target for the desperate.

I know a Brazilian girl who enthuses about her home country’s wonderful food, climate, culture… even she advised me not to go to Sao Paulo.

I still would, though, because there’s a Grand Prix there!

By: Eric M.

Eric M. — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:57:55 +0000

Keith, feel free to e-mail me the anecdotes that aren’t suitable for public consumption! I’m sure they’re quite interesting, lol.

Great interview though. Just out of curiosity, why did he not want to go to Sao Paulo?

Also, if you go to the Motor Sport website you can sign up for a free monthly newsletter from Nigel.