Grapevine: Final News from the Paddock - US GP

Paddock Visitors

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday to meet up with boss Tony George, who took him on a tour of the pits. He spent 15 minutes visiting the McLaren-Mercedes garage and met up with both Briton David Coulthard and American Indy Racing League driver Sarah Fisher. Former Jaguar test driver Tomas Scheckter was also in town for the Grand Prix this weekend to take a look at the Formula One scene and the South African son of former World Champion Jody said he is "getting fit and improving my golf game" after ditching his IRL drive with former American Grand Prix star Eddie Cheever's team three races before the end of the season.

Mario Andretti was another American former Formula One star in the paddock, the 1978 champion addressing the finalists in Danny Sullivan's Red Bull 'search for a star' programme, while two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk was also in town on Saturday and American racer Bryan Herta was a guest of Minardi. On Sunday, Williams invited Top Gun and ER star Anthony Edwards to the paddock, while Sauber entertained Russ Wicks, who claims the interesting distinction of being the only man in Indianapolis to have travelled more than 200 mph on both land and water. Wicks set the prop-driven water speed record in 2000, at a speed of 205.494 mph, and he has also driven IRL cars above the magic double century. He now wants to raise the water speed record above 400 mph.

Gripping Golf

Team boss Eddie Jordan spent most of his Sunday morning watching the Ryder Cup on a television in the team's paddock building. He was clearly gripped by the excitement of the competition, moving only to greet sponsors and guests as quickly as possible before returning to the screen, and the dramatic finish, which saw Europe defeat America, left Jordan literally jumping for joy.

Track Changes

Formula One race director Charlie Whiting made several changes to improve the circuit after the opening day's practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Drivers had suggested the pitlane speed limit line at the exit of the pits was located in a braking zone so it was moved back by 44 metres, as was the entry limit line to ensure the same length of speed reduction was retained. Whiting also made changes to turn one, making the opening slightly wider.

SAP and Hootie

McLaren sponsors SAP put on not one but two Grand Prix parties this weekend when they entertained 'smart-casual' company bosses and race fans in downtown Indianapolis. The first, on Saturday, involved a lavish banquet at the Marriott Hotel, with the second planned for an equally impressive affair. The Saturday bash involved entertainment provided by special guests, American rock band Hootie and the Blowfish, who began with a couple of local-style acoustic numbers before letting fly with their classic tunes from several top-selling albums.

Media Excitement

Formula One has often been seen as low interest sport in the United States and that opinion was displayed perfectly by two situations in Indianapolis. The first, on a local news channel, saw reporters interviewing race fans from around the world before introducing American supporters with the line: "Even people from here are showing an interest." But it is unlikely many of the circuit staff were watching the show, because the choice of channels on televisions in the race canteen displayed a similar take on Formula One popularity.

With 40 minutes to go before the start of the race only one of the four televisions used to entertain the diners was showing pictures from the event - and those pictures were from the onboard channel of F1 Digital+ and simply showed the empty cockpit of Michael Schumacher's car. Of the other televisions, two were showing the latest NFL matches and the other was showing...NASCAR.