Sunday June 1st, 2003
Grid Meeting
The Monaco grid is one of the most compact yet most heavily attended grids of the season and a visit to it was like a visit to the front of a top rock concert. It was easy to be caught up in the waves of people as they mixed and mingled before the start of the race with the odd celebrity dropped in here and there for good measure. Drivers remained astonishingly calm among the commotion as people appeared to not know whether they were coming or going in the crowds but one man who knew exactly where he was going was team boss Eddie Jordan, as he created one of the strangest meetings on the grid this year. Jordan pushed through to part the crowds and allow his special guest Bono, from rock band U2, to meet Bernie Ecclestone. Whether either party knew who each other was remains a good question.
Having a Ball
The Monaco 'Grand Prix Ball' on Saturday night, held at the Salle des Etoiles, saw boy band Blue top the bill with a brilliant on-stage live show while hundreds of well-heeled diners spent their money during an auction held to benefit the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund. The items sold included a 'jetsetters paradise' holiday involving use of Eddie Irvine's boat and private jets to Nice and return from London (£42,000 pounds), a safari holiday in Africa (£33,000), a cricket-lovers holiday in the Est Indies including first class travel and a round of golf with Garry Sobers (£26,000), a long weekend in London staying at the Mandarin Oriental hotel with special excursions (£22,000) and a year's ownership of a racehorse from the stable of top trainer Martin Pipe (£55,000). A Lamborghini car then sold separately for £165,000 pounds. Blue came on stage, thrilled the ladies in the audience and were followed by Kool and the Gang. The evening also contained a break for fireworks when the roof of the famous venue was opened.
Toyota Boat
Toyota made the most of the Friday afternoon 'day off' when they gave an open invitation to their yacht for tea and cakes in the harbour. After a visit to the neighbours to pick up the annual 'Who Works in Formula One' book, many journalists and photographers turned up to join the friendly Ove Andersson and his team as they tried to forget their worst ever performance in qualifying the day before. The luxurious yacht made a comfortable place for interviews and created a story on a day when there were precious others to go around.
Wild Ride
BAR-Honda gave journalists the opportunity to get out on the harbour again on Saturday when they took rides in their Honda-powered speedboat. The boat, which has not yet raced but will take part in a British-based powerboat series this year, looked sleek and speedy and those who braved the waves were certainly treated to a blast. Most of the passengers ended up with their hair a scruffy mess but fortunately most did not have to tux-up to head to the Grand Prix Ball. Unfortunately the drivers refused to go full throttle for much of the ride and although they managed to get the boats jumping out of the water they were not reaching the six-foot jumps that they were boasting about. Some complained, others were quietly relieved.
Celebrity Grid Football
There were enough high-class professional footballers at the track on Sunday to select a 'world team'. They included Fabien Barthez, Laurent Blanc, Rio Ferdinand, Roberto Carlos, Pavel Nedved, Ronaldo and a reported sighting of Ronaldinho. Other 'celebrities' to cause the photographers some excitement included Heidi Klum and British television celebrity Noel Edmunds was also sighted, mostly finding it difficult to gain entry to the paddock because he did not have the correct passes. Barthez and his companion were found again after the race exchanging phone numbers with Australian Mark Webber...
Renault Scooters
Renault came well equipped to nip around the tiny principality of Monaco this weekend when they upped their scooter numbers in preparation for the heavy traffic. Jordan felt quite happy with six of their nippy bikes in the Mediterranean harbour but they were shocked to find that the Anglo-French team had more than five times as many, with their fleet clocking in at an astonishing 32.
Stars and...
One British newspaper columnist who had specially travelled to Monaco for his first and only Grand Prix weekend of the year may have been on the wine a little too much this weekend as, in his diary of events, claims that the studio of British broadcaster ITV had been set up on top of the famous "Stars and Stripes" bar on the harbourside. The bar in question, however, is named "Stars and Bars" and displays memorabilia from past and present Grands Prix and rallies. It has no connection with the United States' national flag.
Published at 18:21:06 GMT
(03-11-2005): 
