Problem children

As for repeat offenders, Baird says tensions are heightened in the lowerhalf of the field, where ultra-competitive drivers try every trick in the book not to be last. “My problem in this office, is from 20th position to the back – no one wants to be there,” he says.

Adding to that is Simona Desilvestro’s presence, who, as the only female on the grid, has suffered a trial by fire, flamed by fragile male egos. “No one wants to come back and say they got beaten by a girl. But I’m telling them, they’d better get used to it, because she can drive,” says Baird.