Grapevine: News from the Paddock

One Man Went to Mow

Eleven teams from the British media went off-road at Silverstone as they embroiled themselves in a hard-fought battle to mow the great British lawn. The daring journalists jumped on Honda ride-on mowers, decked out in Jordan and BAR colours, to compete in three heats and a final around Silverstone's car parks. Jordan's Jarno Trulli and British American Racing's Olivier Panis were on hand to start the event, but both had the sense not to take to the track with the competitive Brits.

Trulli said: "This is the strangest thing I have ever seen, and this is what makes racing fun." One disappointed journalist, who went out in the heats, complained: "We had the rubbish one without a doubt. Our aerodynamics were slightly out because we lost our grassbox."

BAR Go Downhill

British American Racing drivers Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve paid a visit to the Swiss Alps as they headed a convoy of classic cars down the mountain passes. Panis was re-united with a Citroen DS, which is the first car he ever drove, while Villeneuve was re-united with his old stamping ground as he visited the Villars area where he spent time at school.

Murray Mania

Retiring commentator Murray Walker was greeted by one of his greatest fans in the paddock before Friday practice as former Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell butted in to a television interview. It was big hugs all round for the two champions of their field, with Mansell saying "My Hero" as he greeted his long-standing friend Walker.

The pair then had a reminiscing chat as Mansell recalled an interview where Walker, famed for his regular but entertaining blunders, got everything right but then realised that the microphone was not working and had to do it all again. Walker, for whom it is the last British Grand Prix, will be enjoying his accolades throughout the weekend.

On Yer Bike

Minardi had to delay the launch of their new range of push bikes because they were characteristically too slow off the mark! The bikes finally made it to the paddock on the Friday morning, where they were ridden around by team members including the two drivers Fernando Alonso and Tarso Marques, prompting headline predictions of 'On yer bike Tarso' as rumours continue of the Brazilian's imminent departure from the team. If his career does take a slide, however, perhaps his performances in the paddock predict a future career in going downhill on a mountain bike.

Wet's the Problem

Michael Schumacher's preparations for the British Grand Prix suffered when he was fined for an illegality in free practice at Silverstone. Schumacher was forced to pay $2500 (US Dollars) after race officials deemed that he had used wet weather tyres in the practice session before race director Charlie Whiting had deemed the circuit to be wet.

Ferrari and Schumacher accepted that they were in breach of the ruling, while Jordan's Jarno Trulli, who celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday (Friday), and British American Racing's Olivier Panis were also fined the same amount for similar errors.