Grapevine: News from the Paddock - European GP

Ferrari Goes Eco-Friendly

Ferrari have a new eco-friendly motorhome in the pitlane this weekend whose body is more than 95 percent recyclable. Made of aluminium, steel, wood and in a major part glass, the place is also energy efficient having double glazing with automatically adjusted blinds between the two glass panels to relieve stress on the air conditioning unit.

Even the flooring inside is made of recycled tyres, the walls are covered with low-grade recycled paper, and the desk surfaces are made of compressed milk bottle tops - and at the rate teams go through motorhomes, recycling seems to be a good idea.

Sauber Never Satisfied

Peter Sauber's empire is growing after his team sealed a contract with another new sponsor, but when asked about the health of his team he replied: "Not good enough!" Sauber's new partner Temenos - a provider of software systems for financial institutions - brings increased support to the team, but Sauber still wants more. "We have a very small budget," he said.

"Maybe the teams around us have 50 to 100 percent more budget. At every test other teams test with two cars, maybe three." The team is still managing to stay clear in championship fourth place, but the lack of resources may tell towards the end of the season if lack of funding means they cannot push as hard as other teams on development of the car.

McLaren Skills on Display

McLaren racers David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen took a trip to the driving school on the Wednesday before the European Grand Prix as they attended the Nurburgring's safe driving centre. They joined journalists at the centre to show them how to control a car as Mercedes put on an event which is a traditional warm-up to their home Grand Prix. The centre put drivers to the test on high-speed control exercises in wet conditions, but it was clear who really had the most supreme car control as the Formula One stars coped comfortably with the reaction tests.

Mika Takes a Trip

McLaren star Mika Hakkinen had little time to relax between the Canadian and European Grands Prix as not only was he testing for his team at Silverstone, he then had to head off to a sponsor's 50th birthday dinner before flying to Kiev on another sponsors' do. But he took some time to explore the city during his visit and, as would be expected, he had one of the best tour guides.

"I spent a lot of time with the Mayor of Kiev," said Hakkinen. "It was great to explore the country and understand what they want to do in the future."

Fallen Arrows

The Arrows team had a difficult start to the European Grand Prix when one of their staff fell off a ladder. The unfortunate team member, Chief Truckie Nick Downer, was climbing up to work on Arrows' double decker transporter when the ladder buckled and he took a tumble. Fortunately, however, he escaped unharmed from the incident and was pronounced as fit and able once more after a check over.