Friday April 18th, 2003
Red Star Man
Jordan made the most of their surprise Brazilian Grand Prix victory when they arrived in San Marino – by placing a red star containing the lettering "Brazilian Grand Prix Winners" on the side of their trucks. There were plenty of photocalls in front of the emblem, which was also put on Giancarlo Fisichella's car for an official factory photo earlier in the week, and the team also set up a special trophy presentation after the victory, originally handed to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, was only declared in Paris on Friday.
"I would like to thank the FIA and FOM for arranging this unprecedented gesture," said Eddie Jordan after lining his car alongside McLaren's on the start-finish straight for the trophy handover. But team technical director Gary Anderson was less happy with his day after a difficult qualifying session and said: "The trophy ceremony has been the best bit of the day." Anderson, then, will no doubt be hoping for rain to give the team a chance of a second victory at Imola this weekend.
Fisichella's Football Hero
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was disappointed to miss his beloved Roma's derby victory over Lazio to play in a charity match before this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix - but admitted he was delighted to share the pitch with one of his footballing heroes: Michael Schumacher! "It is exciting to play football with Michael," said Formula One's most recent on-track winner, who watched Roma play Parma last Sunday. "The derby between Roma against Lazio was on the day of the drivers' team game in Imola so it was unfortunate to miss it - but I like playing in these games."
Schumacher scored twice as he led his team of current and former Formula One drivers to an astonishing 6-2 victory against a local San Marino team in the Olympic Stadium of Serraville. He was joined on the scoresheet by three other nationalities with Italians Fisichella and Ivan Capelli, a former Ferrari driver, netting one each and Spaniard Fernando Alonso, a Renault driver, and Brazilian Felipe Massa, one of the Ferrari test drivers, completing the scoring. A crowd of 5,000 turned up to enjoy the game and in doing so raised 21,500 Euros for UNESCO's Champions for Charity.
Irv Swerves the Limelight
Former Formula One driver and Italy resident Eddie Irvine made good his reputation as 'Irv the Swerve' this weekend as he steered around the Imola paddock even though his parents - Edmund senior and Katherine - and sister Sonia all turned up for the race, the latter complete with dazzling blonde hair newly created since last spotted.
Dangerous Distractions
The San Marino Grand Prix programme showed a photograph of Renault boss Flavio Briatore with his former flame Naomi Campbell, apparently taken in Brazil, and his former driver, Gerhard Berger, commented: "I know what Flavio can do and Renault have really impressed me. But he just has to make sure he does not become too distracted. Maybe he needs to make sure that Naomi Campbell stays in sight but out of reach!"
Published at 16:03:56 GMT
(03-11-2005): 
