In the 12 months that I've known him, he has lost a little hair, gained a few pounds and appears to be smoking more, however it comes as little surprise.

I refer to His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, founder, CEO and principal driving force behind A1 Grand Prix.

In a little over a year, the man has created a brand new race series, which despite the obstacles and the scepticism is slowly taking the world by storm.

At the time of writing 16 countries have signed up to the 'World Cup of Motorsport', with several more due to be announced at the forthcoming launch of the Portuguese team, and the series' organizers are fully confident that the full compliment of 25 teams will line up on the grid at Brands Hatch in September.

Now, think about that; I am talking about a brand new race series that has been built from scratch, in a little over a year.

In recent times we have seen race series come and go, we have seen series still-born, and we can currently see series that do not appear to have the steam to go the distance.

A few days after Pedro Lamy posted a best time just 0.2s off Tonio Liuzzi's pole position winning time for the 2004 International F3000 race at Silverstone, I am sitting in the London HQ of A1 GP with Sheikh Maktoum and Executive Director, Tony Teixera.

Outside, police sirens are wailing, possibly on the way to apprehend a shoplifter on Oxford Street, inside, there is an altogether different 'buzz'.