Grapevine: Paddock Life - Monza Edition

It was so black that it was hard to believe it was still daytime, as the sheets of rain poured down the pits and into each team's garages.

Poor mechanics desperately fought a losing battle to stop themselves getting flooded, while radio and television commentators were forced to abandon their boxes as the water seeped out through electrical sockets. It brought new meaning to the word 'live' on air.

Bridgestone's head of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima labelled it 'Guerilla Rain' - because very small rain drops had managed to cause an awful lot of damage.

Monza was never supposed to be like this - in fact you had to go back to 1981 for the last rain-affected Italian Grand Prix.

But in the end, you will never have seen a paddock so happy to greet a new winner, as Sebastian Vettel did what many thought was impossible in making Scuderia Toro Rosso (who were Minardi just three years ago) winners.

The final European race of the season invariably means saying goodbye to the motorhomes and their staff who have been part of the F1 family since the Spanish Grand Prix in April.

It also meant the last proper chance for David Coulthard to celebrate being an F1 driver in Europe, as he marks the countdown to his final race in Brazil.

On the Thursday night at Monza, a party was held for him in Red Bull's Energy Station, where he was joined by teammates and friends from his years in the sport - who all came along to witness a special exhibition of 39 images from the Scotsman's 14-year career in F1.

Members of the Williams and McLaren teams who he drove for all turned up, as well as drivers including Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli, and Nick Heidfeld, plus former 'boss' Mercedes-Benz motorsport chief Norbert Haug.

At the end of the night, guests left with a special farewell card featuring the 39 photographs on display - as well as illuminating comments reflecting on the great moments of his career.

Highlights in the card included him describing his 2000 French Grand Prix result as his finest hour (well, two hours). "This was my best ever victory," he said. "I had to battle through, passing Rubens and then Michael, telling Michael he was a wanker for cutting me up and then winning the race. That was one of the most fulfilling moments of my career."

And, a picture labelled 'The look of Love' of a young Coulthard staring into Ron Dennis' eyes at the 1998 San Marino Grand Prix: "This shows one element of my working relationship with Ron, but there should be another photo with him looking straight through me. That summed up the relationship: very close at some points and distant at others. Despite Ron's split personality I do have a great deal of respect for him."

McLaren's Brand Centre epitomises the corporate sleekness of Dennis' vision for F1. So it would have been some surprise for anyone walking past it on Saturday night to hear Bucks Fizz's 'Land of Make Believe' blasting out from the sound system inside.

The team held an informal party on Saturday night for the British press, which was supposed to just be a few quiet drinks and nibbles before everyone departed off to their own hotels for dinner and bed. But when Mercedes-Benz press chief Wolfgang Schattling ensured the evening started with some Caipirinha you knew it was going to go on slightly longer.

And matters were helped along by McLaren press man Steve Cooper, widely believed to have the largest music collection in the paddock, having created one of his eight million playlists for the night: Great British songs.

Once his own choices had run out, however, the music kept getting picked on the spur of the moment. From The Wonder Stuff's 'Don't Let Me Down, Gently' to Elvis Presley's 'Suspicious Minds', the choice was wide and varied - as the Brand Centre became the Band Centre for the night.

But there was total disbelief and silence when F1 Racing's Stuart Codling grabbed the iPod and cheekily put on a Buck's Fizz song.

After much abuse, he blamed Cooper's music selection rather than his own personal choice for the party ending moment.

"I always knew there was something suspicious about Steve, but 'Land of Make Believe' was not the sort of criminal record I was expecting to find," smiled Codders.

Perhaps it was the back-to-back races and the fact that everyone in the paddock had spent a lot of time away from home over the past two weeks. Or perhaps it was simply the result of being in romantic Italy. Whatever, there was definitely a lot of hormonal-influenced talk shooting around the paddock at Monza.

Lewis Hamilton kicked it all off when he got a bit bolshy about Kimi Raikkonen's driving at the Belgian Grand Prix.

"If you don't have the balls to brake late then that is your problem!" he joked

The soundbite, of course, was manna from heaven for the Italian press - and thrown at Raikkonen at every opportunity. The Finn, of course, just shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't care what anyone thought of him.

Then Coulthard, in his celebratory card, commented on a picture of him giving Michael Schumacher a piggy back at the 2004 German Grand Prix.

"Michael is re-enacting the Spa incident from 1998 where he rear-ended me during the GP. He's rear-ending me again here, this time during the German GP. Thankfully we're not in our cars and thankfully he's still got his shorts on."

But the quote of the weekend had to go to Scuderia Toro Rosso's technical director Giorgio Ascanelli, revelling at his team pulling off a sensational victory at Monza.

When asked how this victory felt compared to the many he enjoyed at Ferrari and McLaren, he said: "It is like sex. It is never as good as the first time. When sex is good, it is very good. When sex is bad, it is still pretty good! That sums it up pretty much."

Well done Giorgio. You helped make Monza a happy place on Sunday.