Like everyone else, I am desperate to get into the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend and so escape the constant rehashing of rumors of driver changes and politics that has occupied us over the last three weeks. Yet Friday practice is so meaningless that it is hard to get excited about it. So Kimi is fastest with Schumacher (M) and Jenson Button next up – so what? The times have little significance for race pace and the Renaults did not even complete a timed lap.

Instead, my thoughts turned to the mists of history again, back to a time when there were non-Championship races to interest us as well. Some of these were important pointers to future talent and I remember very well when Keke Rosberg first came to the fore, winning the 1978 streaming wet Silverstone International Trophy race in a hopelessly uncompetitive Theodore car. All the greats departed into the weeds on that occasion but the fact remained that somehow that crazy Finn managed to go faster than everyone else and yet keep it on the black stuff too.

But the heyday of the non-Championship race was in the sixties, when most of the teams would stuff a 2.5 liter engine into their cars and go racing in the Tasman series down under. They were great races, a chance for the heroes of the premier stage to enjoy racing without the pressures of F1 and an opportunity for drivers in the far antipodes to match their skills against the best.

For the fans, too, it was something to follow during the off season. Without the Tasman series, the winter break could be very long in the northern hemisphere. A quick look at the results in the series shows a fascinating mix of famous names and local heroes. They were great races.

Nowadays, of course, such extra-curricular shennanigans are unheard of. The teams’ investment in their drivers is far too great to be risked in anything as dangerous as motor sport when no points are on offer. And the cost of transporting everything halfway around the world just could not be justified by even the best results.

Every age mourns the changes that time brings. Many of those changes are for the better but some take us further away from something that was good and valuable. And I think it would do no harm for the occasional non-Championship race to be reinstated, with suitable monetary incentives added to tempt the teams.

At last we approach the end of the Great Mid-Season Break, when nothing but speculation drives F1 and we debate the tiniest details of old news in an effort to ward off our withdrawal symptoms. Rumor has merged Mercedes and McLaren, sacking and then re-hiring Ron Dennis in the process, popped Jacques Villeneuve out of his seat at Sauber BMW and plugged in Robert Kubica instead, created a superteam at Ferrari with Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen as joint lead drivers, and had an all-Spanish driver team at McLaren.

Okay, some of these have turned out to be true but, in general, we won’t know the truth until Monza, at least. And had there been some racing to concentrate on, most of them would have passed virtually unnoticed. So it will be good to get back to the real thing this weekend in Istanbul, especially as it is that rarity amongst new circuits, an interesting and varied course with plenty of passing opportunities. Any circuit that is likened to Spa has to be a good one.

Now the battle between Ferrari and Renault can begin again after their joint embarrassments in Hungary. I will stick my neck out and suggest that Ferrari will retain their advantage for the next two races but thereafter the pendulum will swing back Renault’s way. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

There are dark horses to consider too, teams who have solved their early and mid-season problems and now look increasingly competitive. McLaren is always one of these but Honda and Sauber BMW look as though they could get in there and steal a few points as well.

But whatever happens, it will be a huge relief to the fans when the engines burst into screaming life again on Friday. The real meat of F1 is the racing and all the politics, driver swaps and logistical struggles mere seasoning. And a diet of sauce alone can get pretty boring over three weeks.