This blog is dedicated to a lady who will be celebrating her birthday on the 20th July this year. I don't know her name or where she lives. But as far as I'm concerned, she epitomizes the passion and dedication of British motor racing fans.

Every year, our aim with the BBC coverage of the British Grand Prix is to convey the love, the atmosphere, the humour and the uniqueness of the event to the millions across the UK who would like to be there but aren't. It's our job to get you as close to Silverstone as possible. I'd love to 'borrow' one of Bernie's planes, pick you all up and drop you off in Northamptonshire, but sadly that's not going to happen!

Last year Eddie Jordan and I set out to do a BBQ for some of the 30,000 campers who help generate Silverstone's unique atmosphere as part of a feature for the BBC 1 coverage. This year we decided to do something a little different - a touch more challenging.

On Thursday, as it pelted down with rain, EJ boldly announced: "I started out selling smoked salmon on the streets of Dublin. I can sell anything!" So off we went to try and sell ice-creams, in the pouring rain, on a chilly and overcast Friday afternoon.

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It's almost 8pm here in Valencia and I've clearly bored Ted Kravitz because he has just made his excuses and sloped off to find some food!

I'm sitting by gate B6 about to board our flight home to London Gatwick and thought it was the perfect opportunity to get my blog done.

The airline we're flying with aren't famous for their generous cabin space, and with my daddy long-leg like arms, I think it's best to get this written now.

There are drivers, team bosses, designers, mechanics and engineers sitting in the very brightly coloured 'Medos' cafe in front of me trying to get some energy back into their systems with a beer and a sandwich.

Mind you, despite working away in the searing heat all day there are a variety of laptops already open as the teams continue to analyse the data from the race. Ah yes, that brings me onto the race.

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I'm writing this blog in the BBC's scorching production office in Monaco. It has huge windows and has been warming up all day long. Thankfully, EJ has just given me a very soggy cuddle and that is starting to cool me down.

The other positive is that after no lunch, the food Pete has bought for the production office is very welcome, and the cheese is awesomely tasty in the warm sun.

Anyway, I'll carry on munching and typing. My jeans are stuck to my legs with sweat, my feet ache and my forearms feel a little sunburned after being out in the heat since midday. It's now 6.50pm.

Incredible, isn't it, that for a race that lasts around two hours, we have been outside for the past seven. That's due to heading to the pit lane half hour before going on air to ensure our technical equipment is working. We then do our pre-race show, the Grand Prix itself, followed by the BBC1 post-show and the F1 Forum.

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