Sunday June 15th, 2003

Osbourne Arrives
Cult icon Ozzy Osbourne made a noticeable appearance on the grid for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix as he made a point of meeting as many celebrities as he possibly could. After a confrontation with diminutive Ferrari boss Jean Todt, who surely did not know who the ageing rocker was, he met Michael Schumacher and worked his way down the grid to 11th spot, where he had a special greeting for Scot David Coulthard.

"He shook my hand and gave it 'rock and roll'," said Coulthard. "I had no response. What do you say to that? He was like that movie 'The Walking Dead' (means Return of the Living Dead). I do not want a pint of what he's had to drink! Unbelievable! Jesus. It's incredible how he's so recognisable and how I can't imagine many people are not pleased to see him. He's created that type of living legend vibe."

Osbourne stars in a fly-on-the-wall documentary series about his famous family and television commentator Martin Brundle caught up with him to ask him if he had brought the dogs which appear on the show along to the track. "No," he replied. "They are at home shitting". Classy chap.

Osbourne Again
Ozzy Osbourne was a guest of Renault, but Eddie Jordan was also keen to get in on the action. A keen rock fan himself, Jordan was desperate to get hold of tickets to see the ageing rock singer perform on stage so he sent along an associate to ask for tickets for Jordan and three of his friends. But the Formula One team boss, a personal friend of U2's Bono, Jamiroquai and Lisa Stansfield to name but a few, is little known in the United States. Once Osbourne's men had worked out who Jordan was, however, he was given the tickets with pleasure.

Fathers' Day
Seven of the 20 drivers who lined up on the Canadian Grand Prix grid on Sunday are fathers and four of them celebrated Father's Day by getting into the points. Race winner Michael Schumacher and his second-placed brother Ralf were joined by fellow fathers Rubens Barrichello, in fifth, and eighth-placed Olivier Panis in the points as dads scored 23 points to non-dads 16 points.

Third-placed Juan Pablo Montoya and seventh-placed Mark Webber were both watched by their fathers, who are present at most of the Grands Prix on the calendar so young drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were the only men in the points without a father connection.

Britons Jenson Button and Justin Wilson were also watched by their fathers but they narrowly missed out on a happy end to the day as they were the last two drivers to drop out of the race, while Canadian Jacques Villeneuve managed just 14 laps on the circuit that is named after his father.

Published at 22:39:09 GMT

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(03-11-2005): Australian GP Paddock Gossip (03-09-2005): Greece Finds Site for Formula One Track (03-09-2005): Red Bull Set to Get Honda Engines in 2006 (03-08-2005): Schumacher in Line for Sporting Oscars (03-07-2005): Daily Grapevine Sunday Analysis - Australia

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