Work for 2011 will stop winner’s party getting out of hand

As Ferrari have brought a precision piece of engineering to the track week on week, so my builders have been millimetre perfect too with the new, albeit considerably less expensive, loft extension.

As Alonso has just kept on pumping out lap after lap, so the build moves at an equivalent pace. My post-race trips back to the site must be as fulfilling and rewarding as Ferrari's return to the party at their Maranello base. However, come Christmas when Harriet and I are in, we can relax, breathe a sigh of relief and vow not to put ourselves through that stress for at least a decade.

Meanwhile in Woking, Brackley, Maranello and beyond, there is no rest, no pause in the relentless pursuit of perfection. You see, F1 is the sport that never sleeps. No car is ever finished, no component ever perfect, no race ever fast enough for the clever minds who have found their forte in life.

It's an exhausting lifestyle, I'm sure that a short break will be welcomed by the kids, wives and husbands left in the wake of the F1 juggernaut once their loved ones get a short Christmas break, short being the operative word.

In just 16 weeks, the trucks will rumble out of the gates of the factories and off to the Bahrain desert for race one of 2011, as the cycle starts all over again. And who will have the No1 on their car when it's lights out for the first of next year's 20 races? Well, such is the intensity of this sport, that after 18 battles from Monaco to Montreal, Shanghai to Silverstone, there are still four drivers straining every sinew to make sure they are champion.

Alonso is the man in form and takes an eight-point lead into the final race of the year. If he is first or second he is champion. If Mark Webber wins and Alonso finishes third, the Red Bull driver will be celebrating. His team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton both need wins and for the rest to capitulate to really even stand a chance.

Last week in Brazil we witnessed Red Bull being crowned constructors' champions. Webber let off a fire extinguisher, Vettel wore a silly hat, engineers drunk champagne. That lasted all of 30 minutes, then it was party over, back to work, minds focused on the final race.

And that is because, like anything in life, from building a car to building a house, perfection is the only approach . . . and perfection is what they'll be chasing once more this weekend.