The world is in an economic crisis. It hasn't hit me directly, but all around I see cars with 'For Sale' signs in their windows. I am used to seeing that at the banger end of the market, but not Jaguars, Alfa Romeos and nearly new SUVs. There are bargains to be had, but at the expense of someone else's pain.

FOTA and the FIA are working to reduce costs in Formula One which has been living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. The annual budget of Toyota Motorsport is reputed to be greater than the GNP of Afghanistan and I still have no idea why Toyota is in F1.

While team bosses discuss ways of making cost cuts, there must be many people wondering how long they will have a job. Budget cuts will mean redundancies, men and women with families to raise, mortgages to pay, and career hopes dashed.

While much media attention has been focused on money in Formula One, the trackside fans have been having a raw deal and have been voting with their feet. Silverstone, which always attracted a full house, has lost the British GP. In Shanghai there was so little uptake on tickets that the organisers left a dozen grandstands completely empty and painted the seats so they advertised 'EXPO 2010'. And that in a workers' paradise.

Hockenheim had empty seats, yet a quarter of the field is German. I have been to race meetings in Germany and one of the great things are the campsites, if you can do sign language, you can make friends. A few years ago, the organisers of the Japanese GP had to hold ballots for tickets and anyone lucky enough to get one could sell it at a premium. There were empty seats at Fuji yet the circuit is owned by Toyota.

Look at the ticket prices, they are beyond the reach of many fans. It costs considerably less for a Brit to go to Le Mans than it does to Silverstone or Donington and you can return laden with cheap booze, cigarettes and cheese. Every year, 50,000 Brits go to Le Mans, a British holiday organised by the French. Everyone should go to Le Mans at least once.

I have had three-day breaks in Paris and in Rome, and I mean the cost of the two breaks combined, for a decent seat at a Grand Prix, from which I would see cars once every so often with a shadow of the supporting programme we used to have. Three days in Paris, including hotel and breakfast, plus three days in Rome, or three afternoons sitting in a plastic seat with accommodation to find. It's a no-brainer. It beats me why anyone attends, it is such rotten value. You get poor food and the price has to be exorbitant because the people selling the hot dogs have to pay a lot to be there.

Next year there will be no Grand Prix in France, the country which gave us Grand Prix racing. Maybe we should refer to Grand Prize races, as early GP events in America were called, until the French race is restored.

When we have a GP in Bahrain, a sand pit, but not in France, we know that the world has gone mad.

In his outstanding piece on finance in Formula One, Mark Gallagher quoted a senior executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland saying that RBS would not sponsor F1 while (he) was there and that 'Bernie Ecclestone's TV figures don't add up.' Nonetheless RBS has been a main sponsor of Williams and has had massive trackside signage, and Bernie's TV figures still do not add up.

It came down to the former CEO, Sir Fred Goodwin, wanting it to happen. You would see snatches of Sir Fred on TV, in Williams gear, so very City of London, having a ball in the pitlane.