Grapevine: News from the Paddock

On the Ball

In what is effectively their home race, in Austria this weekend, the Swiss Sauber team revealed a link-up with the Swiss-Austrian bid to host the 2008 Euro Cup at a rather strange football match on Thursday. Team boss Peter Sauber does not let his drivers Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld loose on the football field for fear that they might injure themselves. So instead of playing a real match, the pair were strapped into a life-size table football game in nearby Seckau.

Heidfeld and Massa joined team manager Beat Zehnder, engineer Zahman Ahmad and Credit Suisse's Alexandre Fasel to take on a team from the Euro Cup bidders led by Thomas Helbing, the director general of the Euro Cup campaign and the representative of the Swiss Football Association.

His high-profile teammates were Swiss team coach Kobi Kuhn, Austrian national team player Marc Zellweger, former Austrian team goalkeeper Michael Konsel and topline FIFA referee Massimo Busacca. The players were tied to bars and could move only sideways to play. "It was difficult not being able to move freely," Massa said. "But once you got used to that you could really get into a rhythm." The Sauber team ran out 6-4 winners. Their car will run with the logo of the Swiss-Austrian bid on its nosecone at this event.

Mothers United

More than half of the drivers on the Formula One grid are expected to have a special cheer squad for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix after the organisers of the event invited all their mothers to join their sons and celebrate the Austrian Mothers' Day on Sunday. Twelve mothers are expected to visit the track for the weekend, but the only ones seen on Thursday were those of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Mika Salo and Jarno Trulli. However, Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya, Pedro de la Rosa, Alex Yoong, Takuma Sato, Enrique Bernoldi, Allan McNish and Nick Heidfeld were also expected to have family support come race day.

Chocoholics

Tyre suppliers Michelin gave anyone who got a touch of the munchies in the paddock on Thursday a special treat when they served up a chocoholic's dream by offering local delicacies from inside their spacious wood-clad motorhome. The event was one of several put on by the food-loving French company and the treats were devoured at double-quick pace.

Fan Caravan

The Austrian race attracts numerous German fans, who appear dissatisfied with having 'only' two races, at Hockenheim and the Nurburgring, and keen for a third chance to see their Schumacher heroes. But one fan, arriving early on Thursday to find the best spot to set up camp, clearly could not make his mind up over which member of Germany's favourite F1 family to support, Ralf or Michael? Instead he found one simple solution - to support them both - and painted his gypsy-style caravan Ferrari red on one side and Williams-BMW blue and white on the other. All options covered, then.