A balding, portly man leans from the balcony of his first-floor apartment, which overlooks the swooningly lovely Mediterranean bay on which the French seaside town of St-Raphael is built.

He's just seen a Renault Formula 1 car pull up outside the cafe above which his flat is located.

Enraptured, seizing the moment, he cries: "ATTENTION! Merci pour le pilote! Merci pour Renault! Hip-hip-hip..."