Grapevine: More News from the Paddock

Clocking Up the Numbers

If all goes well, Jos Verstappen will have competed in 100 Grands Prix by the end of this weekend but his impressive tally is shadowed by Scot David Coulthard and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who can both boast another half century with 150 races each. McLaren-Mercedes driver Coulthard has 425 points to show for all his races, while Sauber driver Frentzen, who once raced for Williams, has 168 and Verstappen, who was at Benetton early in his career but now races for Minardi, has managed just 17. In total, that gives them 400 Grands Prix and 610 points. World Champion Michael Schumacher, meanwhile, has competed in 187 Grands Prix and will reach the 1,000-point barrier if he finishes in the top eight this weekend.

Schumi's Karting Challenge

World Champion Michael Schumacher invited his Ferrari race team to join in a karting challenge at his kart track in Kerpen before this weekend's European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring and around 80 people turned up for the event. Schumacher drove some demonstration laps but skipped the race itself, which lasted one and a half hours with compulsory driver changes. Ferrari team boss Jean Todt's team crossed the line first but, having benefited from the services of Brazilian Ferrari test driver Felipe Massa during the race, Todt disqualified his team from the event and handed victory to the second-placed squad.

BAR Relax

BAR-Honda promised journalists and photographers that they would "ease all your tensions away" at this weekend's European Grand Prix by providing traditional Indian head and neck massages all day on Saturday. From 10am until 6pm they dropped the lights in the team motorhome, created a "summer vibe" to get people in the mood and then offered ten-minute slots with a masseur to snap that stress right out of their bodies. One press assistant was understood to have spent almost an hour in with the masseurs and was seen floating around the BAR motorhome after the experience.

Driver Advice

German driver Ralf Schumacher was in high demand late on Saturday afternoon when he was called for a press meeting at 5pm and rapidly shipped off to the Formula BMW ADAC championship paddock for 6pm to give some advice to those aspiring to follow his career path. Ralf and his brother Michael have helped bring Formula One to the masses in Germany by competing at the cutting edge so he took time out to help his Williams team's engine suppliers, BMW, with their young talents of the future. More than half the field of 37 cars in the ADAC championship run German drivers and they were given the opportunity to quiz their hero about how they can follow him to the top of the sport.