Grapevine: Final News from the Paddock - Belgian GP

Wilson Wanted

Several teams are fighting for the services of Formula 3000 champion Justin Wilson following his impressive performances throughout the season. McLaren announced that they will give the 23-year-old Briton a try-out soon, but it was revealed by sources that Wilson has also had a seat fitting at Jordan. There is a real possibility that he could move straight into a race seat with the Irish-owned team.

As Jean Alesi's career nears its end, there is a feeling that Jordan should plump for a young talented driver. The team is understood to have given a seat fitting to another young driver from a lower formula. That driver, however, is not British and Wilson could provide the team with an opportunity to re-gain some lost British popularity. Wilson is regarded as driver of talent, but lacks funds. This could mean Jordan may have to stump up the cash if they wish to introduce him to Formula One.

Sponsor Happy

Several teams took the opportunity to keep their sponsors happy by arranging media shoots in the paddock to fill the time between morning warm-up and the race on Sunday. Arrows invited PSV Eindhoven goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus to meet drivers Jos Verstappen and Enrique Bernoldi alongside their car, while Tag Heuer boosted their profile further by presenting McLaren drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard with their 'Kirium Ti5 McLaren chronograph'. The presentation, however, came a day late for the tardy journalist who missed the start of the McLaren press conference on Saturday.

England vs Germany Re-Match

The Belgian Grand Prix weekend has been as much about football as it has been about Formula One. Just one day after England were given a thrashing by Germany in the journalists match, members of the teams gathered in the paddock club to watch the real business as England took on Germany in a World Cup qualifier. The confident German journalists and photographers were elated when their team went one up, but it was downhill from there on as England hammered in five to send the segregated crowd wild.

The Germans were resigned to defeat from midway through the second-half, and cheered "we want six" along with the elated British entourage. The final 5-1 victory for England is sure to fill most of the sports pages and it left one British journalist remarking: "DC will have to shoot himself to get in the papers on Monday."

Birthday Boy

British American Racing driver Olivier Panis celebrated his 35th birthday in Belgium on race day, and on the Saturday before the race the team threw a special surprise party in his honour. The BAR motorhome was packed with guests as the driver, who celebrated his 100th race at the Nurburgring, took time to lighten his day after qualifying on the sixth row of the grid.

Flying Finn

Finn Kimi Raikkonen was given a massive $3,000 (US Dollars) fine for speeding in the pitlane in the fog-delayed morning practice session on Saturday. The Sauber driver sped past the garages at 65.8 km/h to receive the fine, but after an appeal from the manager of the Swiss team, Peter Sauber, the fine was halved with little explanation from the FIA, who seemed to be extremely lenient on the day as they not only allowed all non-qualifiers into the race, but also rejected McLaren's appeal that several rivals overtook under yellow flags.