Grapevine: News from the Paddock - Malaysian GP

Off-Track Racing

Keen for some top advice on the apparently increasing problem of street racing in Malaysia, one of the local journalists took the opportunity of asking Ferrari drivers Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher to speak out against it. Despite recollections of the performances of Formula One's only Malaysian driver Alex Yoong in 2002, Barrichello, perhaps tongue in cheek, suggested "they should all become racing drivers" and pointed towards schemes that kerbed the problem at his home in Brazil. "We used to have the same problem but then it gradually improved when we had programmes which gave people the opportunity to drive on circuits," he said. "Even then there were rising but at a controlled level and when the drivers got back on the road they seemed to be calmer." Michael Schumacher also discouraged the off-track 'training and development' of future Malaysian racing stars as he insisted people should not try to be better than others when they are on the roads. That told 'em.

Charity Cat

Australian Mark Webber and his Jaguar teammate Christian Klien took time out before the Malaysian Grand Prix to attend a glamorous cocktail party at the invitation of their sponsor HSBC. The do, in the Shangri-La Hotel, allowed the pair to mix with the city's high-fliers before heading out of town to a completely different end of the scale with a visit to the Montford Boys Town in Shah Alam. There, not only did they sign autographs and meet the boys they allowed 10 of them the chance to visit the race circuit and watch the on-track action during the weekend. It was another example of 'people's champion' Webber's active role in taking the sport to the masses after lucky winners of a competition were treated to a paddock walk-about at the last race in Australia thanks to his efforts.

If the Cap Fits...

Some Formula One journalists are always seeking the odd freebie - so when selected members of the media are singled out for special treatment it can cause trauma for others. One British journalist, fresh off the overnight flight from London, was dismayed to sign in for the Ferrari press conference in the international desk only to be told the smart Ferrari caps were reserved especially for local journalists. Despite all sorts of attempts to obtain the elusive cap, however, the said scribbler was forced to leave empty handed. Perhaps, then, he should have taken a trip around the city on Wednesday, when several teams invited the media to hotels around Kuala Lumpur for interviews and gifts. One journalist, more interested in news than pressies, however, said that the Panasonic-badged bag from Toyota containing just a mug and a ceramic piggy bank from Michelin could not make up for the fact that only 'second-tier' drivers Ricardo Zonta and Ryan Briscoe turned out for the event.

Burning Bahrain

Rubens Barrichello thought Formula One could not get tougher than Malaysia - but he was brought down to earth by a journalist in the Ferrari press conference, who insisted that the new event in Bahrain will be hotter and more humid than the one in Malaysia. How you can get more humid than the predicted 90 percent due for Sunday's race day is questionable, but Barrichello could not get the claim out of his head. He repeated his astonishment in the press conference later that day as he claimed: "We are all going to die in the cars!"