The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

In the midst of a busy week for motor sport, we talk to two key men of the moment - AT&T Williams Reserve Driver, Valtteri Bottas, and Daniel Juncadella, winner of last Sunday's Macau Grand Prix.  A protege of Mika Hakkinen, the 1998-99 F1 World Champion, Finland's Valtteri Bottas excelled in karts before graduating to single-seaters.  Although Valtteri is the only driver ever to win two F3 Masters events, his Euro F3 season in 2010 was nonetheless difficult.  He more than made up for that in 2011, however, with a brilliant win in the GP3 Championship.  Valtteri also tested for Williams after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, matching the times of regular drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello, before flying off to Macau to drive for the Galaxy Double-R team.   Despite a late arrival, he was right on the pace and looking at a win when he make a small mistake and touched the wall.  Daniel Juncadella went on to score a momentous victory in Macau, immediately elevating his standing not only in Spain but also on the world stage.  Daniel is the product of a Spanish racing dynasty - two of his uncles (Alex Soler-Roig and Luis Perez-Sala) raced in F1 and a third - Jose Juncadella - was very fast in the 1970s with a Ferrari 512M (amongst other quick machinery) - but is very much his own man.

Our guest in the studio this week is David Tremayne, the noted F1 author and journalist. "DJT" during the golden days of "Motoring News", David has been covering all aspects and disciplines of motor sport for nearly 40 years.  His work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, race programmes and special editions throughout the world and his books include "Nigel Mansell" and "The Lost Generation" (which chronicled the too-brief lives of Roger Williamson, Tony Brise and Tom Pryce).  A world authority on land speed records, David has also written the definitive work on Donald Campbell.  With David, we will be dissecting the Abu Dhabi GP, the 2011 F1 season - and much more besides.  Also joining us live will be the very talented young English driver, James Calado.  Having finished runner-up in this year's GP3 series, James made his mark on the world stage last Sunday not only  by winning the GP2 sprint race in Abu Dhabi but also  Pirelli's Eu 15,000 bonus for the best result by a GP2 rookie.

2011 was always going to be a big year in the life of Jaime Alguersuari - and he has stepped up to the plate with some superb drives into the points.  The youngest driver ever to start a World Championship Grand Prix (Jaime was 19yrs, 125 days when he made his debut for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Hungary, 2009), Jaime has evolved into a consistent and fast racer.  He qualified a brilliant seventh in China this year and then backed that up with a P6 in the changing conditions at Spa  and then P10 in India.  Jaime has also scored points in seven races so far this year, most recently in India, where he finished an excellent eighth.  We spoke to Jaime at his home in Barcelona just prior to his departure for Abu Dhabi.  He talks about his early days, the pressures that came with his F1 debut, his performances this year - and his love of music (specifically the music he mixes as one of Europe's most acclaimed house DJs).  We are also joined live by the very experienced F1 composites engineer, Ian Thomson.  With successful spells at Williams, Ferrari, Sauber and Super Aguri behind him, Ian is playing a major role in the new Moldex composites facility in India.  Ian will be talking about the engineering styles and approaches of the various F1 teams and about India as a major new racing manufacturing base.

The Airtel Indian GP was more than just another "new frontier" F1 race:  this was a game-changer.  The Indians embraced F1; they loved F1 - and the potential, now, is huge.  Part of the success story is due to the genesis of the Buddh Circuit, which is privately developed and owned by the sports-crazy JP Group.  And part of it is due to the strength and passion of a handful of motor sport-loving Indians - the Chandhoks, Dr Vijay Mallya... and Narain Karthikeyan,   who last Sunday became the first Indian ever to race in his national GP.  He maximised his opportunity, too, matching his nearest competition for speed and finishing 17th, despite a lack of recent race and test mileage.  And so now the fuse has been lit.  1.3bn Indians and a thriving economy are poised to adopt F1 as a part of the national culture.  Can F1 deliver with follow-up promotion and media penetration?  We are hoping to talk to Narain live in India about this and about his week, his race - and the future in general for Indian motor sport.  Also joining us - fresh from her two podium finishes on the Buddh Circuit in the MRF Challenge race - will be 18-year-old Alice Powell, the uber-talented English girl who has been a front-runner in UK Formula Renault in 2011.  How did she like India?  How was she received?  And what are her hopes and plans for the future?  And as if all that is not enough, the hugely popular - and graphic - Craig Scarborough will also be making a welcome return to The Flying Lap studio to help us analyse the latest F1 developments.