Sunday March 21st, 2004
I Fought the Wall...
And the wall won. Ralf Schumacher arrived in style for the race, driving his swish BMW 7-series, but he threw all the cred away when he drove straight into the wire fence right in front of his parking slot. Red-faced Ralf got out of the car to inspect the damage and saw that the collision had pushed the sturdy metal obstruction out of its fixings and almost a foot behind the rest of the fence. But at least the move put the competitive German ahead of teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, as the Colombian's 7-series, already parked in its bay, was still an inch behind the fence.
Evening Out
Some of the Formula One journalists were treated to an event-packed Friday night in downtown KL, when the city's mayor invited them to a cocktail reception at the top of the KL Tower. The appropriately named 'Megadeck' atop the needle-like spire hosted the party and gave visitors a tip-top view of the city at night - spiced up this year by the 'KL Nights' light show - and was followed by dinner and a tour of the city. Guest were taken through the KLGP City Celebration zone and Chinatown before being dropped in the heart of the city to party the night away.
Sauber's PM Visit
The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, visited the Sauber team on race day as part of his perks from his current job as advisor to the team's Malaysian sponsor Petronas. He then watched the race from the comfort of Sauber's air conditioned paddock.
Wet and Wild
Jordan were one of the few teams not to stay in the Pan Pacific hotel at the airport - and they made the most of it by having a 'beach barbeque' at their downtown resort on Saturday night. The traditional event - which happens every year on the eve of the Malaysian race - saw race drivers Giorgio Pantano and Nick Heidfeld, as well as team boss Eddie Jordan, let their hair down as the evening drew to the end, and by the close of the night all three had been thrown into the hotel's swimming pool along with most of the race team. Who says Formula One is no fun any more?
Secret Shoppers
Team officials are rarely seen out of uniform so it was little surprise that not many night revellers from Formula One recognised Williams press officer Silvia Hoffer as she swooshed through chinatown after a sortee to the city. Honda press officer Charlie Reid was also spotted downtown having rifled through the markets and there were plenty of pleased people showing off their newly-purchased Gucci, TAG and Rolex watches in the paddock on race day - including a certain team boss who would be hoping his new purchase was waterproof after Saturday night.
The F1 Beat
Organisers of this year's race-opening ceremony included a special performance aimed at putting across "the uniqueness of the Malaysian Multi Racial community" with a group of performers from Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures arranged in a triangle. Not just any triangle, however. "The base of the triangle represents the starting point of the race where all the race cars are at equal par," explained the organisers. "Only one car will emerge as the winner at the end, which is represented as the tip of the triangle." A 'welcoming' beat was played for five minutes, followed by an Indian solo, a silat performance, Malay, Chinese and Siamese. The performance finished with 20 minutes of drum beats. "The movement of all performers represents the movement of time, which is crucial in a Formula One race," added the organisers. "The beat represents the rules and regulations, which must be followed religiously."
Ear Blasters
The Royal Malaysian Air Force promised "an electrifying, sound blasting and terrific" air display during this weekend and they did not disappoint. Even welcoming journalists and teams on the Thursday, the displays continued through the weekend with six Mig 29 supersonic aircraft. The formation group - 'Tedung Selar' - was led by commanding officer Kol Affendi Buang, more simply known by his nickname 'Apai'. 'Jborg', 'Coombear', 'Arrow', 'Ice', who performed a solo aerobatic sequence, and 'Gunjiz' flew the other fighters. The "tight and power-packed" show lasted an ear-blasting 10 minutes - and made most people in the paddock cower inside the air conditioned units to escape the noise.
Published at 11:29:49 GMT
(03-11-2005): 
