Inside Line: So that was the holidays!

The holidays began in the Algarve, on the same weekend as the Hungarian Grand Prix, so I was psyched for a weekend indoors editing and collating material from Hungaroring. Had that well covered thankfully with no hitches.

This while the family cavorted in the sunshine at the pool and surrounding beaches!

After the race, got through Budapest testing and thought there would be a respite in the aftermath of the two days after the grand prix weekend, but Mr Niki Lauda got really ill and that story needed constant monitoring.

And it just went on and on: Daniel Ricciardo makes his Renault announcement, Vijay Mallya's judge sizes up his jail cell, Force India set to collapse and of course the Niki story that upset us all.

Boom! Lawrence Stroll led consortium buys Force India, then our man of few words Kimi Raikkonen releasing a book, followed by Fernando Alonso quitting F1 and Carlos Sainz filling his seat at McLaren.

And to bring us up to date carried on our 'special' WEC coverage and had to report Robert Wickens - a kid who deserves an F1 crack - huge accident. May he be fit soon!

Believe it or not in between all that managed to get many days of sun and waves on awesome beaches, great food and a spot of Dolphin spotting whereby when they popped up all around us I realised how tough it is photographing the beauties.

They so quick in and out the water that getting with face out the water was a real challenge. I got some but it was more challenging than photographing Formula 1!

Needless to say while down there, my son was keen to go try out the Kartdromo de Algarve, adjacent to the Algarve Circuit (they also call it Portimao Circuit) which is used for testing and several major international race weekends.

The karting was great. Luis was on it immediately to the surprise of the crew running the sessions. He was fastest in the four 15 minute sessions we did - yes we are very competitive us Velascos!

Driving through that glorious area I realised what a fantastic place to host a grand prix. The circuit is tremendously challenging and drivers enjoy it.

The pits and add-ons that F1 require may need to be extended or improved or both, but the surrounding towns and villages have the capacity to host hundredths of thousands at reasonable prices relative to other European destinations, especially if you did it in early June or early October out of high-season. Just a thought in passing.

Departing Algarve on the highway to Lisbon, I chuckled to myself thinking we survived with WiFi for the last four days due to fires that ravaged the region, managing to update thanks to a mobile hotspot I could set up from my iphone!

After a couple of days in Lisbon (and proper internet!) it was back to Berlin, three weeks flew by like this -clicks fingers!

And now here we are also contemplating the remainder of the season ahead, I for one anticipate a super on track contest between Merc and Ferrari, Lewis vs Seb with gloves off I predict is going to get nasty again while behind them their teammates slug it out with the Bulls.

Off-track there are equally intriguing sideshows to monitor:

So those are the sub-plots, that I could think of, which are currently on the boil in the Formula 1 paddock which sets up tent at Spa-Francorchamps for next weekend's Round 13 of the world champion, the Belgian Grand Prix.

Forever the optimist I am going to predict a cracking 'return to work' Belgian Grand Prix, followed by a further eight tense races all the way to the finale, the pendulum swinging this way, that way and before each race weekend the big question will be whether Seb and Ferrari slip up or not.

Against the odds, Lewis leads the championship because the boys in Red have shot themselves in the foot too often despite having a package that has the edge over Mercedes. Seb also shotgunned his foot at Hockenheim...

As he jets into Belgium, after spending his summer hols cleaning the planet's beaches, Lewis must fancy his chances of getting his hands on a fifth F1 world title come the end of this season.

Moan Alert! Let's brace ourselves for press conference pollution lectures from our world champ, whose personal carbon footprint is among the biggest in sport...

Let the games begin!