Grapevine: Paddock Life - Interlagos edition

Probably it was something to do with the departure of Michael Schumacher, because you could not help but feel that Fernando Alonso capturing his second world title was almost a side-issue to the loss of F1's biggest star.

Certainly in the days leading up to the race itself, all anyone wanted to talk about was Schumacher.

The Brazilians got very excited on the eve of the weekend when stories emerged out of Germany that Schumacher had been to visit Ayrton Senna's grave - something that the seven-time world champion strongly denied.

Schumacher seemed very calm and collected about the whole hoo-ha surrounding his final weekend - though you could also sense a bit of sadness around him.

He was clearly touched when Pele presented him with a trophy pre-race, and deeply moved when his mechanics gave him a signed photograph after the event.

Throughout the weekend, Schumacher wore a special helmet that bore every victory in his F1 career - although he refused to tempt fate by putting 'Brazil 2006' on it.

Schumacher was also frequently seen walking around the paddock to meetings listening intently to his iPod, probably to prevent people talking to him.

Most of the time, though, he was hidden away inside the Ferrari garage - far away from the hoards of onlookers, journalists, cameramen and photographers who seemed permanently camped outside the back.

Yet as well as the solitude, Schumacher very much wanted to make his peace with certain sections of the paddock - although his reluctance to stand up and say anything in the F1 drivers' briefing did not go down well with a few of his peers.

On Thursday morning, however, Schumacher did make the effort with the German media - whom he has very much had a love-hate relationship.

After the end of the German section of his traditional Shell press conference, he called them forward and said: "I just want to thank you for everything you have done over the past 15 years. And I also want to apologise for those times I have been awkward..."

As compensation, Schumacher then offered to sign anyone's pass with a farewell message - providing a brilliant memento for the end of perhaps the greatest career in F1.

Schumacher's departure Shell press conference also provided one of the most amusing moments of the weekend when it was raided by two Brazilian television comedians.

Emilio Zurita and his cohorts have made a name for themselves as hosts of television show 'Panico' - a comedy show that prides itself on them asking celebrities bizarre questions at public events for maximum embarrassment.

Sure enough, the Shell press conference was the perfect opportunity for Zurita to push forth his antics.

First, Felipe Massa was cheekily asked whether Rubens Barrichello should retire immediately because he had failed to win a race this year.

Amid much amusement from the Brazilian audience, who knew what was going on, and bemusement from the Europeans who had not got a clue what was so funny, Massa replied diplomatically but with a smile on his face: "Ah, nice to see. But it is up to Rubens to decide. He is not an old guy, he is only 34 years old."

Then it was Michael Schumacher's turn, who like most of the non-Brazilians present was not completely sure what was going on when this very long-winded question came forward for a cross-eyed questioner.

"Michael, this weekend is obviously a very special race for you," the questioner, dressed as the character Reporter Vesgo, asked in Portuguese. "What would you do on the morning of the race, your final one in the sport and one in which you could win your eighth world championship, if you woke up and looked in the mirror and saw you had turned into Rubens Barrichello!"

Schumacher, who had to have the question translated for him, took it all in for a second and then a huge grin spread across his face as the final words came forward.

He laughed, then responded by rubbing his eyes as though getting the sleep out of them to check he wasn't dreaming, and had the auditorium in stitches.

And to show there were no hard feelings, Schumacher, one of the fastest men in the world, was given a toy tortoise as a present. It was a photo opportunity for everyone present, and too much temptation for British newspaper the Sun, who ran the headline the next day: "The Tortoise and the Herr."

When Renault press officer Bradley Lord made an off-the-cuff bet on the eve of the Japanese Grand Prix about his team's title hopes, he probably had little idea at the time how it would come back to bite him.

It was late Friday night in the 10th floor Mexican restaurant at the Platon Hotel in Yokkaichi. Renault had just come off the back of defeat at the Chinese Grand Prix and, although all was not lost, it looked like it was going to be a tough haul to stop Michael Schumacher from going all the way to winning his eighth crown.

So with a few pints of Asahi beer inside him, Bradley cheerfully told a small (and previously trusted) group of British journalists: "If we win, I am going to shave my hair off!"

If Bradley had hoped news of the bet would not get too far, then his wishes were dashed on Suzuka race day when paddock newspaper the Red Bulletin ran a story about his bet - and cheekily compared his flowing locks to those of Krusty the Clown from 'The Simpsons'.

With Fernando Alonso's Suzuka win and Michael Schumacher's engine failure all but handing the title to Renault, it was no surprise that come Brazil several members of the Renault team brought with them clippers for a post-race shaving.

And on Sunday night, Bradley's moment came. After frantically completing his urgent duties and getting Renault's press release written and distributed, he was duly summoned to the front of the team's garage in the pitlane.

There, in front of the assembled mechanics, Bradley's locks disappeared very quickly to much applause - and intense amusement for the numerous visitors he got in his office late on Sunday night to witness, and stroke, his neatly shaved head.

As the final race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix marked the closing chapter for a whole host of personnel, companies and sponsors.

As well as Michael Schumacher's departure, it was significantly Michelin's farewell too - and what better way to do it than to go out with both the drivers' and constructors' championships.

There were plenty of sad faces too when it emerged that Bridgestone's technical manager Hisao Suganuma would not be coming back next season, with a return to the motorsport division in Japan beckoning as part of his company's staffing rotation policy.

Cosworth also bowed out of the sport - having found themselves squeezed out by manufacturer customer supply deals.

It was farewell to a few sponsors, too. Cigarette companies Mild Seven and Lucky Strike took part in their final race, with the latter making sure to make the most of their involvement.

All three Honda cars featured a new colour scheme - proudly displaying the logos 'Racing Forever', just as someone might have the name of their loved one tattooed on their arm.

Lucky Strike also held a special farewell party after the race in a club in downtown Sao Paolo, which is probably still going on while you read this.

However, despite being fantastic fun, that event could not hold a torch to the size and ambition of Red Bull's end of season bash.

The energy drinks company is known not to do things by halves - so it hired the whole of Morumbi Football Stadium for the biggest party of the season.