Grapevine: Final News from the Paddock

Piece of Cake for Lauda

It has been a sweet paddock in Austria this weekend and after a chocolate fest at the Michelin motorhome and a massive birthday cake for Nick Heidfeld, Niki Lauda was forced to test his sweet tooth on race day when he was presented with a life-sized cake in the shape of his own face. It was a complete surprise for him and when he was given it by the German RTL television crew no-one knew what it was about. But it appears that the cake was presented to celebrate Lauda's return to the Austrian Grand Prix paddock.

Italians Vote Against Austrian Race

There were less Italians making the trip to Austria this weekend because of the national elections. In order to vote the person must be in Italy at the time of the election and as this took place on race day many race fans stayed away. Some Italian journalists made a late trip to the circuit after posting their vote as early as possible but the 60-odd Italians on Ferrari's race team and several others in the Minardi set-up did not have the chance to vote for their country's future leader.

Fuel Failure

According to paddock gossip, British television technical expert James Allen suffered an embarrassing moment when he pulled in for a pit stop on an Austrian motorway after leaving the A1-Ring. The pit reporter is well known for his in-depth analysis of team fuel and pit stop strategies but he got his own strategy wrong when he filled up his diesel fuelled hire car with unleaded petrol. The mistake topped all he has commented on and the car had to have the unwanted petrol pumped out later in the evening.

Panis Puts His Foot Down...Again

British American Racing driver Olivier Panis is certainly showing his speed on the track, but he cannot help but keep on the limit in the pit lane as well. During Friday practice he was given a speeding fine of US$500 (dollars) but clearly the minuscule sum did not deter the over-anxious driver and after clocking 82.7 km/h in the pit lane during the race day morning warm-up he was given a sterner ticking off.

"This penalty was imposed as this particular offence is repeatedly committed by this driver," said the FIA statement which disclosed a fine of US$2,500 (dollars) as Panis' punishment this time around.

A Cut-Out Above the Rest

Spirits were high in the McLaren camp late on Sunday night and after his second win of the season David Coulthard was clearly held as a hero by his team. He even made an appearance on the flight home as team co-ordinator Jo Ramirez walked onto the plane behind a life-sized cut-out of the Scot. Complete with a freshly-laid red lipstick kiss on the right cheek the Coulthard cut out, which was used in the airport to advertise the team's sponsors, smiled endlessly throughout the flight and looked every bit the winner its real-life double had been earlier in the day.