Friday iWitness in Brazil

Posted on Saturday 20 Oct 2007

So, Claire Williams’ bags have still not arrived in Brazil. The Williams press officer flew with Iberia from London Heathrow to Sao Paulo on Tuesday, since when she’s had to borrow clothes, electrical equipment and even make-up from colleagues. On day one she found the delay frustrating; now, four days later, she is just angry. Be very afraid, Iberia.

With no clothes to wear, Claire was forced to turn down an invite from UK broadcaster ITV to attend their annual press officers’ dinner on Thursday night. Williams F1’s Director of Engineering Patrick Head went in her place, which made the voting for “sexiest technical boffin” a little one-sided!

Rubens Barrichello gave Honda’s race team a day to remember on Wednesday, when he took them – more than 100 people – karting and then to a churrascaria for dinner. But his generosity didn’t stop there: he gave everyone an Ipod Nano. Ahem… Nico/Kazuki?

Kimi Raikkonen has been in F1 for seven years, but he appears not to have learnt the art of ‘blagging’ (obtaining freebies). On Wednesday, he celebrated his 28th birthday with a shopping trip in Sao Paulo, but the only thing he bought was a pair of Puma trainers, which he could have had free from Ferrari’s clothing supplier. D’oh!