iWitness Spa Sunday

Posted on Sunday 16 Sep 2007

Temperatures in Finland regularly sink to minus 50 degrees in winter, so we were surprised to hear Keke Rosberg - who is as Finnish as the reindeer in Lapland - complaining about the plus seven degrees at Spa-Francorchamps. “I rode a scooter to the paddock today,” he said, “and I have never been so cold. I couldn’t move my fingers when I got here.”

Toyota, ATT Williams’ engine partner, are celebrating 50 years in motorsport this weekend. They wheeled out their stars of yesteryear at a party in the Spa paddock on Saturday evening, but the line of the night goes to F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone. “I love going to Japan,” he said, “because everyone there is my height!”

Bookshops around the world are preparing for an influx of literature about Lewis Hamilton. One official autobiography is being released (written by Alan Henry), along with six unofficial titles. Is it important to sales that Lewis wins the Championship? Probably not. Ker-ching!

English golfer Paul Casey is at Spa. Famous for getting a hole in one at last year’s Ryder Cup, Paul headed to the local golf course on Saturday evening with Spyker drivers Adrian Sutil and Sakon Yamamoto. “Actually,” said Paul, “Sakon’s got quite a good swing.” If ever the day job doesn’t work out.