Just hours after team boss Eddie Jordan announced that he had agreed terms with Midland Group boss Alex Shnaider, regarding the purchase of his Silverstone-based F1 team, it was revealed that Communications Executive, Helen Temple, is to leave the team and move to Norway, where here husband has accepted a job.

The role of a 'Communications Executive', 'Media Manager', 'Press Officer', what have you is far, far more demanding than many of you would believe.

At Pitpass we often receive enquiries from race fans eager to get into F1, clearly of the opinion that lacking the wherewithal to make it as drivers or engineers, a 'soft' office job would be just the thing. Clearly, the press officer's job must be one long F1 holiday, getting to mix with the drivers, celebrities and travel to all the races.

However, the reality is somewhat different. There is no glamour in working to rigid deadlines, dealing with demanding journalists, sulky drivers and paranoid, egocentric team bosses. (No we're not talking about the two guys in the picture - though she does appear to be acting as referee). A good press officer is worth their weight in gold, and make no mistake Helen is one of the good ones.

Fiercely loyal to her employer, Helen, like all good press officers, will be first on the phone if she feels you've been unfair, just as she will go out of her way to help you get the truth - when possible - even if it means going 'off the record' and leaving herself wide open to betrayal.

Pitpass and Helen have enjoyed some great laughs and also some silly arguments, but underpinning all this is the fact that there is a mutual respect for the role she plays and the conditions under which she has to play it.

Producing positive PR for a team at the 'wrong' end of the grid is never easy, and there are not many that could do it, though Graham Jones at Minardi is another name that springs to mind.

There are several press officers - or whatever you want to call them - in F1, who truly are unseen heroes, doing a superb job with little or no recognition, just as there are a couple who appear - like their employers - to believe that the media is the enemy and should be kept at arms length, much like the great unwashed that sit in the grandstands and watch the races on TV.

Helen will be a great loss to Jordan and to Formula One, and if her replacement is only half as patient and helpful, Eddie and Mr Shnaider will have every right to feel delighted.

Helen, who has given HRT a whole new meaning (they're her initials) will remain with the team until after Melbourne, which will probably be her last F1 race.

We wish her well, her replacement has a lot to live up to.