Grapevine: News from the Paddock

Schu Plaque

World Champion Michael Schumacher was present at an afternoon ceremony when his achievements were marked with a plate on the wall of the main stand in Barcelona. Schumacher has recorded the most wins at the circuit and scored points in every race he has competed so his efforts were commemorated fittingly with a plaque bearing his name in 'Champions Avenue' at the track. The inauguration came just 45 minutes after his performance in the F2003-GA car had beaten his rivals in qualifying.

From Bad to Worse

As if Antonio Pizzonia's troubled Spanish Grand Prix weekend could get any worse after his two spins and his collision with a mechanic during the morning's private testing, he begun his official Formula One weekend with not one but two speeding fines within the first 38 minutes of the opening practice session. At 11.12 local time he was caught travelling at 61.7km/h and handed a $500 fine. Then, 26 minutes later he was at it again, whizzing down the pitlane at 61.9km/h and being fined $1000 for his second offence. Another rookie currently having a tough time is Jordan's Ralph Firman, and his day went wrong just six minutes into the opening session when he was stopped speeding at 77.4 km/h and handed a massive $4500 fine.

Press Calling

The Spanish accent may occasionally be a bit difficult to comprehend for some British journalists but few could excuse the race organisers of their pronunciation errors before Thursday's opening press conference as they called in Formula One technical directors Ross Brown, of Ferrari, Williams-BMW's Patrick Heed, Pat Simons, of Renault, and BAR-Honda's Joff Willis. Still, all turned up later, none the wiser, and carried on with their media duties.