Grapevine: More News from the Paddock - Belgian GP

Diversion Difficulties

Several members of the Grand Prix paddock were jaded on Thursday after having their travel time more than tripled because of awkward fog conditions at Charleroi airport. The few journalists and photographers who had made the effort to get up for the 6:40am 'Red Eye' flight from Stansted found it was unable to land at its original destination and the budget airline probably could not afford the landing fees in Brussels International - so they touched down in Ostend, on the Belgian coast, completely the opposite side of the country to Spa.

Some sought alternative transport while others chose to take the laborious bus ride to the destination airport having found the car rental company had no cars - and frustratingly arrived in the car hire queue at Charleroi just behind journalists from the 11am flight. You win some, you lose some, and while Thursday's early fliers lost out, there were some 45-odd members of the Jordan Grand Prix team who were sitting pretty at the Spa circuit that morning having flown in on the daytime flight on Wednesday - with Eddie Jordan wearing the biggest smile of all as he recalled their tickets cost just one euro per person.

Jolly Hockey Sticks

Russian ice-hockey ace Viacheslav Fetisov made a visit to the McLaren-Mercedes team on Saturday - but his trip may have been more that it seemed. The 43-year-old former player and coach was part of the Soviet Union's Olympic gold medal winning squads in 1984 and 1988 and, in a career that led him to the major league in the United States, he played for the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings, winning the renowned Stanley Cup twice. But his visit could be linked to his country's bid to host a race in 2004 as the retired player is head of Russia's Sports Committee - and in an indirect way he may be plotting Spa's demise if a Russian race pushes Belgium off the calendar.

Speedy Scot

Things went from bad to worse for Scot Allan McNish this weekend. The aging racer's departure from Toyota was announced on Wednesday and two days later he was stung for the 'amateurish' act of speeding in the pit lane. He was clocked at 64.8 km/h at the end of the second practice session and billed for $2,500 (US Dollars) - but at least he proved he was flying on track as well as he claimed the 11th fastest time of the opening day.