He’s also fond of entertaining old schoolmates and is highly supportive of the burgeoning singing career of his fianc?Louise Griffiths

He’s also fond of entertaining old schoolmates, and is highly supportive of the burgeoning singing career of his fianc?Louise Griffiths.Giancarlo FisichellaIn the backyard of his villa on the outskirts of Rome, Fisichella has a proper pizza oven and relaxes by going through the full ritual of preparing all the ingredients and kneading the dough, to make the full Neapolitan treat.Felipe MassaThe 23-year-old Brazilian is a big fan of football. Actually, he is a huge fan, and is a walking encyclopaedia on Real Madrid. When the Spaniard is not driving, he will be kicking a ball around with his mates.Jenson ButtonThe Englishman spends a lot of his time in Monte Carlo exercising, and likes mountain biking. He still plays regularly, joining in with the NHL in Bratislava last August even after a crash at Hockenheim.Jarno TrulliLike another former Prost driver, Jean Alesi, Trulli is a wine buff and produces his own, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo under the Podere Castorani label at his vineyard in the hills near his home town of Pescara.Fernando AlonsoLike Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso is a big football fan. Among Coulthard’s business interests away from the Formula One track is his five-star hotel in Monte Carlo, The Columbus.Kimi RaikkonenAs a child Raikkonen had a passion for ice hockey, until the early training hours made him look for something that let him lie in longer. Oh, and the odd game of football, at which he is, as you would expect, pretty nifty. “The incredible thing about him,” says Ferrari’s technical director, Ross Brawn, “is that even when he isn’t racing or testing our car, he is out somewhere driving a kart.

He does it for fun, he does it if somebody else beats him because he wants to beat them It’s just something inside him. He just loves it.”Rubens BarrichelloHow many drivers will admit to you that the thing that makes them happiest is when they arrive back home and the first thing they see in their garage is their wife’s car? Step forward Rubinho, who says that the other major thing in his life away from the circuits is his son, Eduardo.Juan Pablo MontoyaLike Mario Andretti, the Colombian is a great collector of anything that moves fast, and in particular has an enviable collection of classic cars.David CoulthardThe 33-year-old Scot is a canny businessmen who always has an eye out for a good investment. Whatever else Schumacher can do on a racetrack, he cannot do that, not if his car isn’t right and one time out of 10 so far this season is a failure rate that scarcely touches the sense of formality when he crosses the finish line.In 1978, I took a ferry ride one bright morning after the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard track in the south of France. It was a small boat which permitted just three other travellers.

They were Ronnie Peterson, Patrick Depailler and Carlos Pace – drivers in the prime of their careers. A few months later, I was the only survivor of that brief journey. Peterson and Depailler died on the track, Pace in an aircrash. Those were crazy days and the “culling” of which Ecclestone spoke so lightly was quite unacceptable.No one would want to go back, but if you could, what would you take? Not the recklessness that brought such tragedy, not the failing safety standards, not the certainty that among the anoraks there was more than the odd ghoul No, you would just take that natural edge of competition You would take that, which is the whole point of sport The chances are you would not feel the need for Viagra.. David Tremayne reveals a strange menu of pastimes from making pizza to mountain biking

Michael Schumacher
The only thing that matters in Michael Schumacher’s professional life is racing, racing and racing.

He says: “He is maybe the greatest driver of all time, his car control and willingness to work is utterly exceptional. Sometimes it is said that watching someone announce their brilliance and going so far ahead of their rivals is boring Total bollocks. Michael Johnson dominated the Olympics for so long, but I switched on the television to be sure that I would see the world’s best at the job It was the same with Carl Lewis. He was a perfectly formed athlete who came down from the heavens and to watch him was just magical.”There is one huge difference. Johnson and Lewis shaped their own advantages; they determined their own destiny. He once referred to the natural “culling” of drivers around the time Ayrton Senna became the last great victim of imperfect safety standards.