Grapevine: News from the Paddock - European GP

Honda Hit 40

Honda celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first Grand Prix this weekend and one keen company employee has a special souvenir to commemorate the occasion. The team member has collected the signature of every Honda driver since the company returned to Formula One on an official Honda shirt, and he completed his set when Anthony Davidson signed it in a space next to Canadian Jacques Villeneuve this weekend. "I'll sign it there because he could be my teammate next year," joked Davidson, who, like Villeneuve, has been linked with a move to Williams next year.

Karting Competition

As has become tradition at Ferrari, World Champion Michael Schumacher invited the whole team to 'his place' for an evening of karting fun ahead of this weekend's European Grand Prix. The highly competitive event, which took place at his father Rolf's kart track in nearby Kerpen, was interrupted by a streaker and two safety car periods, with Schumacher choosing to interrupt proceedings at one point because things were getting so hectic. Fortunately the driver behind him at the time did not have trouble with his braking and kept it together to take the re-start once the German had moved out of the way.

Tyre Wear

It was revealed on Thursday how Minardi may be funding their Bridgestone tyre supply this season. Sources confirmed members of the tyre company will fly to Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix courtesy of Paul Stoddart's European Aviation airline in July - possibly as a down payment for the next batch of black rubber.

Praising Panis

Formula One journalists have been handed the chance to praise Toyota driver Olivier Panis on the occasion of his 150th Grand Prix in Indianapolis the race after next. The team have launched a competition for scribes to write a 150-word brief to "capture the essence" of the Frenchman by recalling a particular moment in the driver's Formula One career. The prize on offer is a portable DVD player and the overalls that Panis wears in the race on that weekend. It also offered the team a bit of free copy for their One Aim magazine - because they will publish the winning story in their autumn edition.