The stud - Lewis Hamilton
Posted on 28/05/2010
 Lewis Hamilton ... and the studs |
In Melbourne, Lewis Hamilton got into hot water over his after-hours driving. Now he is again under the spotlight because he had had his ears pierced.
He had them pierced last week while in Los Angeles to see his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger perform on a dance television show, but when they were spotted in Istanbul a few troublemakers were quick to point out the FIA rules state “the wearing of jewellery in the form of body piercing or metal neck chains is prohibited”.
But the FIA was quick to play down the affair, saying it had "no concerns" about the ear studs worn by Hamilton.
Jenson and Jessica ... the end
Posted on 28/05/2010
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Jenson Button has split with his girlfriend Jessica Michibata according to the Sun. The newspaper said he decided to call time on their 18-month relationship shortly after the recent Monaco Grand Prix.
Japanese fashion model Michibata, 25, lives in Tokyo, and a friend of Monaco-domiciled Button is quoted as saying the "logistics" of the relationship "took their toll … just over a week ago Jenson reluctantly decided that his racing must be his main priority”.
A spokesman for Button confirmed: "Jenson is single again. He and Jessica have gone their separate ways."
Illegal immigrants cross channel in F1 trucks
Posted on 25/05/2010
Five illegal immigrants made their way into Britain last week by hiding inside trucks operated by Formula One Management (FOM).
The canvas-sided trucks, boarded by the African stowaways in Calais, were returning to FOM's Biggin Hill headquarters in Kent from the Monaco Grand Prix. The trucks were also carrying F1's broadcasting equipment, and the drivers only discovered the extra cargo once the journey was complete.
FOM staff phoned police and the illegal immigrants were handed over to authorities.
A UK Border Agency spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: "I can confirm five individuals were found at Biggin Hill Airport on May 20 who had recently arrived by road from France. The individuals involved were arrested and detained by the UKBA whilst their asylum claims are being processed."
An FOM spokesman said: "This is the first time we have had such a problem."
Schumacher defends weekend hobby
Posted on 25/05/2010
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Michael Schumacher has denied that his ongoing hobby of semi-professional kart racing is an unnecessary risk.
Many F1 driver contracts forbid dangerous extra-curricular activities, but last weekend seven time world champion Schumacher was back at the wheel of a competitive kart. On the free weekend between the Monaco and Turkish Grands Prix, he finished second in two DMV championship races at the Oppenrod circuit.
Schumacher played down suggestions he is risking injury by keeping up his hobby of kart racing. "There are a few sports that are more dangerous than Formula One but karting I would consider more on the safe side,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.
Schumacher admitted that he contests kart races for "fun" but also argues that the discipline is good practice for his day-job. "The fun aspect is the most important,” he added. “That's really the only reason I do it. What you learn here is not much help (for F1), but you can do quite a lot of overtaking."
Button head and shoulders above the average man
Posted on 24/05/2010
Jenson Button has been revealed as the new face - or rather the new head and shoulders – for corporate giant Procter & Gamble. Given that Button spends his working life with his head inside a sweaty helmet and when he takes it off post race his sodden hair is something of a no-go zone, a link between him and Head & Shoulders shampoo might not appear to be a natural association.
That’s where the PR men earn their money. “It seemed natural to team up with Jenson as he is a style icon that the everyday man on the street can relate to,” a spokesman gushed. That would be the everyday man with several homes, millions in the bank, and a jet-set lifestyle?
“British men aspire to him as he has a natural, relaxed approach to grooming,” the spokesman added. And also because he has a drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend.
Briatore's plaything confined to port
Posted on 23/05/2010
One week he's up, the next he's down. Last weekend Flavio Briatore was a high-profile presence in Monaco, triggering speculation his comeback to F1 was closer than many believed (and quite a few hoped). But now things are a little shakier after it was revealed he has had his $25 million yacht seized by Italian police over allegations he owes several million dollars in unpaid taxes
Armed officers from Italy's tax police boarded the Cayman Islands-registered Force Blue while it was in the port of La Spezia on the Italian Riviera. Briatore was not believed to have been on board at the time although his wife and two-month old son were.
Aside from unpaid tax which largely results from chartering the boat, which has a crew of 17, at $300,000 a week, it is also claimed it refuelled in EU waters without paying VAT which could total as much as one million dollars.
Video footage released by the Italian authorities showed officers in high-speed patrol boats approaching and then boarding the yacht.
'I can't live, if living is without you'
Posted on 20/05/2010
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Luca di Montezemolo on Thursday revealed he resisted the urge to invite Michael Schumacher to play at a football game.
The seven time world champion is Ferrari's most successful ever driver, winning five world championships during his 1996-2006 tenure. But after retiring four years ago, he returned to the grid this year with Mercedes, and the tension between the German and his former camp has been obvious.
"We had beautiful years together and I gave him back his desire to race," said Ferrari president Montezemolo, referring to the offer of a temporary seat last year to replace the injured Massa, which subsequently became a full return with a rival team. "At times I miss Schumacher, he gave so much to Ferrari, but he also received a lot.”
He then referred to the forthcoming Partita Del Cuore charity football match, to be played in Modena early next week and featuring current Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Montezemolo said: "A few days ago I was tempted to call him [Schumacher] to ask him to play for us. But as the team carries the Ferrari name, I avoided it."
Oh, the glamour ...
Posted on 18/05/2010
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The grandstands were 16% down on last year, but that didn’t stop the parties rocking in Monte Carlo.
On Thursday night F1’s favourite DJ Sakon Yamamoto was on the wheels of steel at Kingfisher’s party aboard Vijay Mallya’s yacht, the Indian Princess. As in previous years, the Force India owner invited the whole paddock on board for Indian-themed entertainment and so much champagne it’s fortunate Friday is an F1 day off.
TW Steel also had a great big gin palace, and hosted a soiree on Friday with entertainment from Eddie Jordan. GP Week gives the thumbs up to the caterer – thanks for steak frites.
Amber Lounge was packed as usual, and had music from the Sugababes and Pete Tong.
Celebrities on the grid included JenniferLopez and her husband Marc Anthony, Michael Douglas (who said Gordon Gekko would probably retire to Monaco if only he could get out of jail), Mick Jagger, Paris Hilton and Gerard Butler.
Rumour has it Jennifer Aniston was there too, but shied away from the cameras by staying on board 88m super clipper, The Maltese Falcon.
Kovalainen digs deep
Posted on 18/05/2010
 Models at the Amber Fashion show |
Monaco’s annual Amber Fashion show raised over half a million Euros for the Elton John AIDS Foundation – and most of it came from Heikki Kovalainen.
The event took place that the Le Meridien Beach Plaza Hotel, hosted by Jake Humphrey
and Victoria Silvsted. Various lots were sold, such as a tailored Missoni dress, a Chopard watch and a nice holiday in the Maldives, but they only received shrapnel compared to what the Finn put up for… nothing.
Well not nothing, a lot as it happens, but nothing for his own personal gain. The auctioneer asked someone to donate €300,000 to the charity and, if they did, Sir Elton would double that figure. Heikki’s hand went up. The auctioneer had no idea he was an F1 driver.
Heikki’s generous wedge will fund 320 houses for homeless HIV sufferers in Cambodia.
So Eddie Irvine, who was also in the audience, no longer owns the most houses of any F1 driver.
Senna and Chandhok fired
Posted on 18/05/2010
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The HRT team spent the Wednesday before the Monaco Grand Prix in the company of the 131-strong Monaco Fire Brigade as part of their fitness training for the Monte Carlo race. Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna, and testers Christian Klien and Sakon Yamamoto met with Monaco fire brigade commandant Varo and his men, climbing long ladders, learning the mechanics of fire trucks, and dealing with fire and smoke fighting. GP Week
Father and son reunion
Posted on 15/05/2010
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Lewis Hamilton has told reporters his relationship with his father, which became strained after Hamilton senior was fired as his son's manager earlier this year, is slowly mending.
“To be honest, you know, every week people are always questioning me and questioning me about this,” he snapped at reporters in Monaco. “It’s a private matter and I have already commented and said we have had difficulties. Now we are in contact – probably as much as we ever were in the past – and the feedback I am getting from him is positive and vice versa. There is really not much more to say about it.
“It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s not my dad’s style to say 'Yeah, it’s great’ all of a sudden and then next week we are going to be best friends. It is going to take a long time.”
Drivers prepare for a night on the catwalk
Posted on 14/05/2010
At the end of the traditional 'rest day' in Monaco, Formula One drivers on Friday are limbering up for a night on the catwalk.
They are heading to the exclusive and very expensive VIP 'Amber Lounge' event, hosted by former grand prix winner Eddie Irvine's sister Sonia. It is a fashion show, with drivers donating their time to model designer Missoni, Elizabeth Hurley Beach and Jimmy Choo fashion to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
On Friday night, world champions Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Mika Hakkinen will all be on the poolside catwalk, in addition to Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Lucas di Grassi, Jaime Alguersuari, Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock.
Musical chairs could see Webber at Ferrari
Posted on 14/05/2010
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At least four media sources are claiming Mark Webber is a contender to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari next year.
Autosport, The Sun, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, and British journalist James Allen all reported the rumour from this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix. Rumours have linked Robert Kubica to the drive as well to replace the struggling Massa, whose current team-mate Fernando Alonso is under long-term contract.
The Sun also said Webber could retire if he is not retained by Red Bull in 2011 and is unable to find another top drive. Kimi Raikkonen has been linked with Webber's seat at Red Bull, and the newspaper said "the pieces of the puzzle" could be in place by July.
El Mundo, meanwhile, raised the possibility that Massa could simply swap seats with Webber and race alongside Sebastian Vettel next year.
Schumacher confronted over Rascasse scandal
Posted on 13/05/2010
Four years after the 'Rascasse scandal', the British media on Wednesday demanded an apology as Michael Schumacher returned to the fabled Monaco circuit.
During the seven time world champion's last visit to the principality as a race driver in 2006, he was famously accused of 'parking' his Ferrari in the Rascasse corner during qualifying in order to prevent his title rival Fernando Alonso from beating him to pole position. The stewards agreed with the charge and penalised Schumacher, but he has never owned up to having cheated.
"They say that sorry is the hardest word. Is there any reason you are not able to say sorry for four years ago?" one British tabloid reporter asked Schumacher following several questions in the Mercedes driver's media round on Wednesday.
Schumacher neither admitted his culpability nor denied the charges, insisting only that the F1 world should move on.
"I think you can keep trying, absolutely, but as I said before I am not in 2006 anymore," he answered. Asked if he regretted the manoeuvre, Schumacher said: "It doesn't change things if we go back into it."
And he said only the reaction of the media marked out the event as a low point in his long and successful career.
"You made it (a low point), yes," said Schumacher. "You journalists. Some of you guys ... let's look forward and not backwards."
Asked if he would be willing to try a similar move in 2010, he told a BBC reporter: "You're boring."
Chandhok recovers from Dehli belly
Posted on 08/05/2010
Karun Chandhok says he has "finally recovered" from a stomach bug that has been causing him problems so far in Spain.
Chandhok spent most of Thursday in his Barcelona hotel but has been feeling better ever since. He drove his HRT car on Friday afternoon, and told Reuters on Saturday morning: "I feel better now, fully recovered. I went to Munich on Monday and I ate something there. I have been really ill since. All of Tuesday I was in bed, I just couldn't move."
Schumacher merchandise sales struggling
Posted on 06/05/2010
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Michael Schumacher's long-time manager has admitted the hype of the German's return to Formula One this year has not matched his expectations.
Sabine Kehm has taken over as the Mercedes driver's general manager, but Willi Weber is still in charge of Schumacher's personal sponsorship and merchandising. But Weber admitted that, just as Schumacher has not performed to the level of his initial career, the sale of official merchandise has also been slow.
"Sales are not how I expected them to be," he told Germany's Bild-Zeitung daily. "There is a certain Schumi-tiredness. The people are saying: my god, where is he driving? You only know him as a winner. In the past the tribunes were full of Ferrari caps. Now I can count the silver caps with one hand.”
Weber admits that Sebastian Vettel - originally dubbed 'Baby-Schumi' by the German media - is now carrying the baton as the country's favourite.
"Wherever I look, Vettel is the new Schumi, he is the No. 1 in the TV ads and on the billboards,” added Weber . “Michael has left a void and Sebastian has grown into it, because he has the success and Michael doesn't have it yet."
As for sponsorship, Weber admits it is a similarly slow story, but acknowledged that the entire F1 world is also struggling.
"It is easier to find a 50-year-old virgin than a sponsor for Formula One," he said.
Massive motor homes absent from Barcelona paddock
Posted on 06/05/2010
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The impressive motor homes of the Red Bull, Mercedes and Force India teams are absent in the paddock of the first European grand prix of 2010.
After the initial run of overseas or 'flyaway' races, the Barcelona event is usually the F1 world's first annual glimpse of the teams' imposing temporary paddock buildings. But in 2010, the Circuit de Catalunya event is followed just one week later by the prestigious Monaco grand prix. Because there is not enough time to dismantle the huge structures and transport them several hundred kilometres across Europe, Red Bull and Mercedes have taken alternate hospitality units to Spain.
Red Bull's Barcelona solution is to use its test motor home, while Mercedes will be housed this weekend in one of its DTM buildings. Switzerland's Blick newspaper reports that Red Bull's huge Energy Station is already being erected in the Monaco harbour.
McLaren's 'Brand Centre' is however standing in the Barcelona paddock, but Force India's refurbished three-storey structure will not be seen in Europe until the Turkish grand prix at the end of the month.
"In the meantime we will use a temporary motor home in Spain and Monaco while the new improved motor home is driven direct to Turkey," said team manager Andy Stevenson.
Schumacher takes pole
Posted on 03/05/2010
Michael Schumacher moved to shake off more of the rust of his three-year retirement at the weekend by racing karts.
After finishing just tenth at the wheel of his Mercedes in China, the seven time world champion reverted to 40 horse power at the Erftlandring circuit in Germany and set pole position in a Tony Kart for the 125cc KZ2 class. He won the first of two heats, but was beaten in the second.
Driving away a fortune
Posted on 03/05/2010
 It's not much but we like to call it home - Johnny Dumfries |
Motor racing dominated the annual Sunday Times Sport Rich List, the guide to the wealthiest figures in British sport.
Ten of the top 15 come from motor sport, but the ten who make the grade are not as obvious as they might seem.
McLaren team-mates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton come in at 10th and 14th, with Button worth as estimated £40 million, proving his gamble on taking a pay cut to stay at Brawn last season was a brilliant financial and career move. His £6 million annual salary will help boost his value.
Hamilton has a five-year contract worth an estimated £75 million plus high-income endorsements which Sports Illustrated valued at £18.7 million per annum. "Money doesn't really appeal, " he once said. His decision to ditch Britain and live in tax-friendly Switzerland has only helped his worth.
Top of the ten, and third overall, is John Colum Crichton-Stuart, Earl of Dumfries, known commonly as Johnny Bute but even better known as former racing driver Johnny Dumfries. His £110 million estate was inherited, and his F1 exploits only served to dent its worth.
Eddie Irvine is in fifth at £80 million thanks to shrewd property investment of the £40 million he earned in his F1 career. He owns a sports complex in Bangor and an Irish paper importing company.
One place lower is South African Jody Scheckter, who now lives in Hampshire, and who made his money selling a company he had built up providing hardware for weapons training in the USA. He is now an organic farmer worth an estimated £60 million.
Seventh is Dave Richards, who made his £58 million fortune in automotive engineering consultancy and also dabbled in F1 with Benetton and BAR. In 2007 he led a consortium which took over Aston Martin.
In eighth is F1 driver turned pundit David Coulthard, but he earned more from selling his 70% stake in the Colombus hotel in Monaco than he did in his racing career. He is worth around £50 million. He is tied with Nigel Mansell, who earned £45 million from his racing career and another £14 million from the sale of a country club
Sir Jackie Stewart is in 11th. His income while driving was substantial by the standards of the day, but not now. Nevertheless, shrewd investments and the sale of the Stewart Racing Team to Ford for around £50 million helped him to an estimated value of £41 million.
Languishing in 14th with a paltry £36 million is the relatively unknown outside the USA Dario Franchitti who made a name for himself in IndyCar and NASCAR. Married to actress Ashley Judd, he also has substantial property investments.
Further down the field is Jonathan Palmer (17th= £33m) , Damon Hill (35th= £30m), and IndyCar star Dan Wheldon from Buckinghamshire ( 81st= £10m).
To put all this in perspective, Michael Schumacher is estimated to be worth £515 million.
Webber takes the long way home
Posted on 01/05/2010
 Mark Webber found his way home after a 44-hour trip |
Mark Webber has been telling the BBC about his nightmare trip back to the UK after the Shanghai grand prix weekend.
While many others were marooned in China or took enforced holiday outside Europe after the Icelandic volcano erupted, Webber just packed his bags and headed home. “I flew to Dubai, then to Rome, then drove to a different airport in Rome, then a private plane to Nice, then a private plane to Glasgow and a helicopter to my house.” In all it took him 44 hours.
To add to his problems, he lost his passport. “I haven't found it,” he admitted. “I only had to get through one border control on the way back from China, and that was in Glasgow. I certainly did have to fill in a bit more documentation up there. But thank God a bit of common sense did prevail. I certainly got punished for losing it in terms of headaches, but they let me in, which was nice of them.”
He might not find the notorious UK Border Agency or the Spanish authorities quite so accommodating if he tries to head to Spain without documentation, although he admitted on his Twitter page to having a second passport.
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