Grapevine: Paddock Life - Dubai GP2 Edition

Actually, at the Dubai Autodrome last Saturday, neither of them graced us with their presence. So we had to make do with some bloke called Michael Schumacher to make a brief guest appearance.

As I raised an eyebrow at the seven-time world champion's arrival at the track, this sparked an altogether different response from one member of the press office.

"Schumacher! It's Schumacher! Schumacher!" she cried at the top of her voice as if Michael, who was being filmed from his vantage point in a hospitality unit, could actually hear her.

She was last seen running off in hot pursuit, her ample cleavage in danger of self-inflicting two black eyes. I hope, for his sake, that she never found him.

The Schumeister, who resembled a Matrix-era Keanu Reeves in his black outfit and black shades, was in town to launch a new building bearing his name, and dropped in to see how his old mate Jean Alesi was getting on in the new Speedcar Series.

Perhaps this was coincidence, perhaps not - another juicy morsel of gossip circulated that there will be a 'special guest' car in the new stock car series from now on. After all, the company that is behind that Schumacher's project - A.C.I. - sponsors two cars in the Middle East and Asia stock car series and is hardly short of a Buck or two.

Michael is said to have once queued to taste a NASCAR-style machine while on holiday in the USA, only to have got bored with the wait and not bothered. Perhaps Speedcar might appeal to him, given its relaxed nature, its FIA-approved crash-tested chassis and emphasis on driver skill, rather than machinery.

However, Saturday's race descended into a crashfest, and only five of the 12 cars finished. Not sure he was too impressed with that; perhaps Alesi was able to convince him otherwise over dinner that night.

Minus Bernie and Lewis, the new Formula One theme park in Dubai - still a couple of years from completion - was launched by a ceremony featuring Speedcar stars Alesi, Johnny Herbert, Stefan Johansson, Gianni Morbidelli and Ukyo Katayama.

It also involved some youngsters in karts bizarrely jumping up a ramp and over a bridge held (and I mean physically) by a legion of construction workers. I almost felt moved to raise my other eyebrow.

The plan is for F1-styled rides and shows, along the lines of the likes of Disney World and Universal Studios in America as part of the 'Dubailand' development, one of 70 large-scale projects around the city.

Having ridden the McLaren-Mercedes-branded 'Silver Star' rollercoaster at Germany's Europa-Park - and knowing the bigger, better, faster mentality of the Emirates - the F1X park promises to be a adrenaline-packed affair. If you like that sort of thing.

But the real highlight of the weekend had been Romain Grosjean's dominance of the first-ever GP2 Asia races. I spent some quality time with him 12 months' ago, ironically in Dubai, on a fitness camp run by the French motorsport federation, the FFSA.

He's a bright kid, and good company as well as being sensationally quick. All around him were quick to play down what he's capable of this year, but I firmly believe he's the real deal - the sky's the limit and it's up to him how high he flies. No rookie has ever set pole position and won both races on his GP2 debut.

There were another five FFSA 'Autosport Academy' up-and-comers in Dubai this year, all watching Grosjean's every move and dreaming of following in his footsteps.

Let's just hope by the time they might get their chance for Formula One stardom that they (and Lewis, come to that) have a home Grand Prix and that government support, plus the 'new money' that comes with it, isn't a prerequisite to hosting races.

Motorsport might have a promising future in the Middle East and Asia - as Formula One and now GP2 have proved - but it shouldn't betray its beating heart in Europe. Otherwise, it risks losing its soul too.

The writer is Autosport's deputy editor and GP2 correspondent