Paddock Life: Spa edition

Not since the early flyaways to Australia and Malaysia has the F1 paddock looked so tanned and relaxed as when it regrouped in Belgium last weekend.

The three-week summer break introduced in the Formula 1 calendar had given the drivers, team personnel and media a good chance for a bit of rest and relaxation - and it appeared that most had made the most of it. Although no-one was convinced that Christian Horner's tan was from back at base in Milton Keynes!

A few people had worked hard - like Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg who competed in triathlons - but there were plenty of fresh faces, new haircuts and tales of escapades over the break before the pressure cooker of the final third of the campaign began.

With the season set to end with an energy-zapping five flyaway races, any opportunity not to get on a plane before then is grabbed - which is why a good section of the paddock opted to drive down to Spa-Francorchamps.

There was a bit of a competition to find the most glamorous set of wheels for the journey - which BBC commentator Martin Brundle probably won with his trip down in his Jaguar E-type with fellow Beeb man Jake Humphrey.

And, while BBC Radio 5's Anthony Davidson zapped down in a Peugeot RCZ, and Geoff Willis, HRT chief, opted for a Ducati motorbike, F1 Racing and AUTOSPORT's choice of a Ford Galaxy got off to a very bad start just a few hundred metres into the 300-mile trip.

Plugging in the Sat Nav, an initial smell of smoke was put down to a very slow Volkswagen Polo that had stopped on the road in front of us. However, amid much screaming from the passenger seat, the presence of plumes of yellow smoke and a very melted power cable showed the problem was a bit closer to home. It was now a question of Sun Nav.

The blast down to Spa was pretty painless after that though - and a lot of talk from all those who had their own wheels later on over the weekend was on how the hairs on the back of your neck still stand up when you find yourself touring down the old Spa circuit - and take that left/right flick through the Masta Kink. Even now a trip to the corner leaves you in disbelief about how the heroes of the past used to blast through there flat out.

The 2010 Belgian Grand Prix will certainly not go down as a race to remember for Rubens Barrichello, after his first lap exit at the chicane - but the event will be one he will never forget after he celebrated his 300th grand prix.

Barrichello arrived at the track wearing a special 300 races T-shirt - and he sported some special overalls to mark the occasion.

Having remained one of the most popular men in the paddock throughout his career, there were some emotional scenes on Thursday night when the great and the good from the paddock descended on the Williams motorhome for a celebration.

Almost every driver on the grid was there - with Michael Schumacher the only notable absence - and a host of big names who have played a role in his career - including Ross Brawn, Bernie Ecclestone and Stefano Domenicali - all dropped by to share this special moment.

Williams' ever-brilliant press department had put together a video highlight of Barrichello's career for everyone - including the man himself - to watch.

As those who helped Barrichello start his career in karting back in Brazil, through to those who guided him to race victories in F1, talked about what a special man Barrichello was, you could see the tears well up in his eyes.

As well as getting good wishes from the paddock and a special cartoon drawing from his team, Cosworth gave Barrichello a special electric bike - which the Brazilian reckoned will be good enough to keep him fit in F1 for another 300 races.

Mark Webber's world title hopes took a good step forward in the Belgian Grand Prix, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel helping to ensure that both he and Jenson Button would fail to secure any points.

That enough was already a pretty decent present to take away from Spa, but his Red Bull Racing team laid on a bit of a surprise as they produced a special cake to help celebrate his 34th birthday on the Friday of practice. Webber is not a man who likes to waste too much time on matter as 'frivolous' as birthdays, but even he was happy to join in with his team during what is an brilliant time in his career.

It seems that Webber could have given the crew who sung him Happy Birthday a few lessons in how to use their voices after word got out in the paddock over the weekend about a promotional video he has appeared in.

Webber stars in an advert for Canberra Milk - and it is not the karting in the video that will impress.

Formula 1 is a hot bed of competition, so it is no surprise to hear that when there is a chance to win something things can get a little serious.

F1 sponsor Santander became the focus of some of that fighting spirit over the Spa weekend when it hosted a competition for the media to win one of Pedro de la Rosa's race helmets - a pretty unique competition prize with original helmets being pretty tough things to get hold of these days.

De la Rosa has just started writing a column for Santander's official racing website, so was only too happy to help lead proceedings in the competition.

The media who entered had to answer two relatively simple questions and the names of all the entrants who had got the correct answers were put into a helmet for de la Rosa himself to draw a winner's name out of.

That victor was your own correspondent here - who will happily re-arrange the mantelpiece at home to make way for a special bit of motor racing memorabilia.