Grapevine: Final News from the Paddock

Davidson Tops the Times

Briton Anthony Davidson made a real impact on his Grand Prix debut at the Hungaroring on Friday by topping the times at the end of the day - for about 20 seconds. The Minardi driver was embroiled in a battle with Australian teammate Mark Webber as the pair switched places at the bottom of the timesheets. But when the chequered flag went out to signal the end of the day's running, Davidson's name jumped to the top of the timesheets with a lap of one minute and 15.397 seconds - 1.029 seconds quicker than previous session leader Michael Schumacher. The glory, however, would not last for long as a glitch in the computer system that shot the 23-year-old debutant ahead of the five-time World Champion was soon solved and he dropped back down to 19th spot on his real time of one minute and 19.490 seconds.

Mercedes Show Goes On

Mercedes refused to be beaten by the East European floods, which are threatening the centre of Budapest and have forced more than a thousand residents to evacuate areas of the city. The motor manufacturer continued with plans to host a boat party on the ever-expanding river Danube even though taxi drivers insisted the port was closed. Flood water lapped up the steps and into the boat companies' office buildings and there was less than two metres to go before the floods hit street level on the evening of the event. But for Mercedes it was a case of 'the show must go on' and, with the aid of a makeshift gangplank that stretched over the advancing water replacing the old sunken one, guests were ushered onto the boat - but told it was going nowhere. The speed of the water gushing past the boat was so rapid that the engines would not have coped with the torrent, and partygoers were left hoping the ropes were tied strongly enough for the boat to hold onto its moorings as crashing thunderstorms completed the stormy scene.

Brawn United

It was confirmed that even the top bosses at Ferrari have time for a bit of fun between their intense meetings and meticulous preparation when technical director Ross Brawn made an appearance at an annual sporting prize giving. But this gathering was not the usual 'stuffed shirt' event - in fact, Brawn arrived wearing a Manchester United football shirt. The social occasion was the annual journalists' football dinner, always held on or close to the opening day of England's Premiership season and Brawn joined around 20 hacks, all dressed in their favourite team's playing strip, who presented speeches about their sides and predicted the year ahead. The long-time United fan got in the spirit of things himself as he did his own speech whilst supping on a pint of Guinness - but left before the party broke up and disappeared to focus his mind on the next Ferrari challenge - the bid for a front row lock-out in qualifying.

High Price

Jordan paid a high price for a mistake at the end of the qualifying session on Saturday by a certain Japanese driver in car number 10 who shot through the pitlane at 67.1 km/h, more than 10 percent over the limit. The stewards, who have a set structure for punishing pitlane offenders, hit the team with a massive $3,500 fine for the misdemeanour. Due to a small administration error, however, the offender was named as 'Takum' Sato - but the crucial missing 'a' was no grounds for skipping the fine so Jordan accepted the penalty and paid the price.

Celebrations

Not known to be one to enjoy celebrating his birthday, BMW motorsport's Mario Theissen was hoping to let his special day pass without notice when he turned 50 on Saturday. But with well-renowned party funster Gerhard Berger on board, Theissen was, of course, not going to get away with it that easily. But there were no trademark practical jokes, no cake in the face and no champagne spray in the eyes from former racer Berger. The party was a much more relaxed affair, noted only by a scrappy sheet of cloth hung in the motorhome with 'Mario Theissen, 50' scrawled upon it and signatures from all of the team present at the track.