Suzi Perry could admit to herself she was doing a decent job hosting Formula One racing for the BBC when Lewis Hamilton, the talented and somewhat tetchy British driver, took off his sunglasses to be interviewed by her. "It may sound a small thing," says Perry, 43, "but in our world that's a massive barrier removed. It doesn't always happen."

Perry, a former model raised in the Midlands, has presented motor sport on TV since the late 1990s. Her first job involved fronting a motorbike race that lasted six hours. "The deep end is the only way to learn" in live TV, Perry says, and live is the way she's preferred to work since.

Last year, at home with her husband, she thought: "I've had 16 years in the industry, been quite lucky, maybe it's time to go and open a hotel in France." Then the BBC rang. Their F1 host had left to join another channel. "My idea to open a hotel got shelved."

It's a technical nightmare. Hours-long shows are presented from the track, Perry ushering pundits David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan around the starting grid, squeezing interviews out of drivers waiting to race. Engines snarl. Sometimes Monacan royalty or the cast of X-Men wander by. If, occasionally, answers from the (male) drivers are directed at Coulthard, rather than her, Perry tries not to take offence.

"I don't think it's a gender thing, I think it's an experience thing. David's an ex-Formula One driver who's won 13 races. I understand that drivers would favour him, whatever the gender. That's why for me it's been a real compliment that Lewis will give me his full attention, because I'm not an ex-driver."

These pre-race broadcasts, she says, are "terribly exciting and terribly frightening". Dangerous, too? "Physically it's unsafe, you could get run over. You've got to be alert."

Safety concerns are once more at the forefront in the sport. British Porsche driver Sean Edwards was killed in an accident this month, at a time when the racing community was still in shock at the death of reserve driver María de Villota. She died aged 33, apparently from lasting injuries suffered in a 2012 crash.

Perry trails the F1 drivers around the world. Does she worry for them? "No. No, I think Formula One is the safest it's ever been. But that's not to say I don't care. In the past I've broadcast bike races where riders have been killed. And it's the worst – the worst thing imaginable. But the drivers and racers know what they're involved with. It's their choice. This is the dark side of motor sport, but drivers don't think about it. Once they do they need to get out. Because the walls get closer. That's the time to stop."

The Indian Grand Prix is on BBC1 today at 8.30am (repeated at 2pm). The Abu Dhabi GP is on 3 November