Grapevine: News from the Paddock

Not Paid

There were baffled looks when the Minardi cars headed out on track yesterday morning with the words "Not Paid" and "Cheque Bounced" covering a sponsor's name on the their bargeboards on Friday. It was pretty obvious what it meant and it was another of Paul Stoddart's original ways of having a dig. After losing 40 percent of his budget at the start of this season following the collapse of a deal with Gazprom he has got pretty fed up with sponsors failing to front up the cash for their space on the car. So he decided to put the boot into their latest offender by publicly putting the boot into them on international television. The man is not for turning.

Roller Rides

Honda made the most of the fact they own Suzuka when they stole the thunder of the race organisers on the opening day of the weekend by opening the famous funfair exclusively to the media. It is quite an attraction to have at your party - a high-speed roller coaster ride - and it certainly drew plenty of people away from the official welcome party at the Suzuka hotel. One British magazine journalist experienced the loops, corkscrews and drops of the thrill ride a massive 12 times and the Honda press officer even had the ride re-opened at the end of the night for one last go. Fortunately for the organisers of the official party, however, the Honda one closed at nine and the bus back to the hotels was late - so the crowd from the first party simply moved on to the next.

In The Way

Juan Pablo Montoya, relieved of the stressful pressure of a Championship contender after his calamitous performance in the United States Grand Prix, arrived at Suzuka in a playful mood. Hanging out with Scot Allan McNish he seemed baffled by a fan who was more interested in getting a photo with the Renault test driver than with a three-time Williams race winner - so he made sure he got in his way by jumping up in front of the camera as the photo was taken.

No Retirement

Michael Schumacher's press officer Sabine Kehm frantically whizzed around the media centre late on Friday afternoon with a short six-line release. Her brisk arrival, of course, immediately got tongues wagging. Was it the decision the German has been saying he was not going to make ever since he has been asked? Was he announcing his retirement? The answer was as obvious as it was simple. "It is not the retirement release," said a smiling Kehm. It was, in fact, the official announcement from the leader of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association that Australian Mark Webber had joined the group.