Friday June 7th, 2002
Football Mania
The World Cup, currently being played out in South Korea and Japan, was greeted with mixed reactions in the Grand Prix paddock. Some drivers, including Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard, hit out at suggestions that Formula One could not compete with the excitement of Football - the pair getting stuck into a local journalist who dared to make such a comment in the Thursday press conference. Others, however, were more interested in the delights of the beautiful game, and Jarno Trulli admitted he couldn't sleep on his arrival in Montreal so stayed up all night watching the matches on local television.
"I am watching it even though I am not a big fan of football," said Trulli on Thursday. "Two nights ago I didn't sleep too well, so I woke up at about five o'clock in the morning and I watched all the matches." He, like Italian rival Giancarlo Fisichella, tipped their side to lift the cup at the end of the tournament, while Ulsterman Eddie Irvine was less confident with the performance from the Republic of Ireland.
"I watched the first 85 minutes and I was getting so pissed off that I walked out and went to look at a house," he said of their match with Germany, which ended in a 1-1 draw after an injury-time equaliser from the Republic. "I missed the goal and I didn't even realise until about three hours later when I was sitting at lunch and someone was talking about it. I couldn't believe it."
Irvine's British rival, Jenson Button, also admitted he is keeping an eye on the World Cup, and not only in support of his native England - but perhaps, driving for the French Renault team, he should keep his opinions on other sides to himself. "I am not really into football, but I am really into the World Cup," he said. "It is really exciting, especially that France have been beaten in one game and drawn in the second game, it's fantastic."
Light Loads
It was civvies day for several team personnel in the Montreal paddock on Thursday after a mishap at Heathrow airport in London left several members of the Grand Prix fraternity without luggage. Around 10 passengers on the British Airways flight to Montreal were left clothes-less and, more importantly for some unfortunate journalists, laptop-less, while it is understood that Arrows designer Sergio Rinland was left missing a suitcase of spare parts that he had dragged with him to Canada.
England Latecomers
British journalists are normally quick to rush into the paddock on a Friday morning as they vie for places at Jordan's early-morning press breakfast. But in Canada, there was a notable lack of faces in the yellow team's paddock home because, as tempting as a full English breakfast is, most of the Brits opted to make a late arrival at the circuit in favour of watching England's World Cup match against Argentina in the comfort of their hotel beds. A penalty from captain David Beckham late in the first half ensured the scrappy and toughly contested match was a success for England, and made it an ideal start to the day for the stay-away hacks.
Minardi Fans
Cash-strapped Minardi cannot be criticised for lacking warmth and caring - traits that are typified by team boss Paul Stoddart and run through the entire team. Even in these troubled times, the Australian owned Anglo-Italian team invited a massive 278 members of their Canadian fan club to join them at a restaurant in downtown Montreal for a slap-up meal on Wednesday night. Perhaps the cash injected by the team's new Slovakian test driver helped pay the bar bill.
Published at 15:51:20 GMT
(03-11-2005): 
