JusChev’s blog

HE COMES, HE SEES, HE SHOPS and SHOPS and SHOPS Formula One stars spend $50,000 in whirlwind shopping spree By Joyce Lim September 26, 2009

SOMEBODY must have told them that Singapore is a shopping paradise. If not, some of the top drivers in Formula One drivers would not have gone on a major retail therapy just days before the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. De-stress? Perhaps. But the way these drivers stormed into the store and simply swept the merchandise off the shelves was a sight to behold. Over the past three days, the Puma store at Marina Square was probably the most popular haunt among the F1 drivers. It was visited by Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, David Coulthard, Lucas DiGrassi, Romain Grosjean, Robert Kubica and Christian Klien. Each of them - all Puma-sponsored - spent less than an hour in the store. But by the time they left, the shelves would be half-empty, said store manager Razali Osman, 35. And the final damage? A whooping $50,000 worth of products. Not just for themselves, mind you, but for their friends and loved ones as well. Razali said: 'These drivers came with their friends who also took some stuff, but on the drivers' accounts of course.' One big spender is Vettel. At 3pm yesterday, the Red Bull driver visited the store and grabbed more than $12,000 worth of merchandise from the lastest collection. Retail assistant Muhammad Hilmi, 19, said: 'There were only a few customers in the store at that time. But some of these customers recognised Vettel and approached him for autographs and took photos with him. 'He was very friendly and obliged to everyone's requests.' Hilmi who attended to most of the drivers at the store, felt that Vettel was the friendliest among the group. He said: 'Vettel was very polite. Not fussy. He was always smiling and would always say 'thank you and please'.' Shopping cart So what were in Vettel's shopping cart? Well - take a deep breath - five pairs of the shoes, prices ranging from over $100 to $300; four Rudolf Dassler's jackets which are priced over $600 each; and a $600 Mihara shirt - among others. Hilmi said: 'He took a few items from every collection. And the same stuff from the ladies' collection. He said those were for his girlfriend, Hanna Prater.' Lucky girl. And Vettel appeared to like his purchases very much. When The New Paper team spotted him at the Red Bull Racing pit at about 6pm yesterday, he was already wearing the Cabana Racer II shoes from Puma Archive collection, which he had picked up earlier in the store. Another star driver who left a deep impression with the Puma sales staff is Alonso from Renault. Speed is indeed in the Spaniard's blood. Just like how he drove his F1 car, Alonso came into the store, made a few deft turns around the aisles, pit-stopped at the shoe section, and before anyone knew it, he was out of the place with over $12,000 worth of merchandise. Razali recalled: 'Alonso came with a young, attractive woman and a man. 'They headed straight to their sections and didn't have to think twice about what they want. 'There were about 20 shirts hanging on a rack, and Alonso took about half of them without even batting an eyelid. 'He went for the Rudolf Dassler, our high-end range and Puma Archive. He also took two Usain Bolt jackets. 'His friend took a lot of Ferrari stuff, though.' Ferrari stuff? Hmmm...we wonder why. Maybe Alonso's buddy knows something we don't.

Extracted fron TNP 26/09/09

She's my new fave!

I just have to laugh at the 'models' that she created for the mascara wands.  Ingenious though.  She is my new muse.  However as her vids were done in Cantonese, it took me a moment or two longer to understand her.  All in all, very enjoyable.

She is so different!;) (in a good sort of way)

Brawn denies team orders suggestions

Brawn GP chiefs have strongly denied any suggestion that they used team orders to hand Jenson Button victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Rubens Barrichello had led the way early on, but it was Button who triumphed in the end after he was switched to a two-stop strategy at the first round of pitstops.

Those actions prompted conspiracy theorists to suggest that the team used the strategy to favour Button - something that has been strongly rebuffed by Brawn chiefs Nick Fry and Ross Brawn.

When asked to respond to suggestions that the strategy choice was a deliberate ploy to favour Button's title charge, Fry told AUTOSPORT: "No. Both sides of the garage were racing.

"Listening to what was going on there was huge determination – firstly for Jenson to make the gap, and then on Rubens' side of the garage with a bit of frustration at the end that they didn't make it happen."

Brawn said that the team never expected the switch to a two-stop to favour Button, and it was only poor lap times from Barrichello in his third stint that cost him the victory.

"If you look at the lap times on the tyres and the fuel, there was a period of the race where he was a lot slower than expected," explained Brawn. "And that's what cost him the race because Jenson on more fuel was quicker."

When asked if he was worried that Barrichello had believed team orders had been used, Brawn said: "I hope not, because we're not. You saw at the first corner that there are no team orders. Rubens made a great start and got past Jenson.

"I'd love to see Rubens win a race and see his crew win a race because it would be great for the team. There is no priority being given."

Speaking about Barrichello feeling unhappy after the race, Brawn added: "It's natural. Any driver who gets beaten and is happy is not a driver I want in the team.

"The fact that Rubens is unhappy is a healthy sign because I'd feel very strange if he was quite content to be second behind Jenson."

Barrichello's poor lap times in that penultimate stint were the result of an unidentified problem on his car which cost him time when he needed to build up a cushion over Button.

Speaking about the reasons for switching Button, Fry said: "Obviously he was shorter on fuel than Rubens, and we assumed he would pull away at the front and build a bit of a gap. When that didn't happen, it was necessary to split them.

"It was something that we had talked about a lot before the race anyway. It was something we had planned for, and it turned out to be the best. We were a little bit worried about [Felipe] Massa and [Sebastian] Vettel, for Rubens that is, and that faded when they both came into the pits together.

"That was a bit of a surprise as we thought Vettel was going to go a bit longer than that. I don't know if they did that deliberately or that was the plan."

Brawn denies team orders suggestions

Brawn GP chiefs have strongly denied any suggestion that they used team orders to hand Jenson Button victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Rubens Barrichello had led the way early on, but it was Button who triumphed in the end after he was switched to a two-stop strategy at the first round of pitstops.

Those actions prompted conspiracy theorists to suggest that the team used the strategy to favour Button - something that has been strongly rebuffed by Brawn chiefs Nick Fry and Ross Brawn.

When asked to respond to suggestions that the strategy choice was a deliberate ploy to favour Button's title charge, Fry told AUTOSPORT: "No. Both sides of the garage were racing.

"Listening to what was going on there was huge determination – firstly for Jenson to make the gap, and then on Rubens' side of the garage with a bit of frustration at the end that they didn't make it happen."

Brawn said that the team never expected the switch to a two-stop to favour Button, and it was only poor lap times from Barrichello in his third stint that cost him the victory.

"If you look at the lap times on the tyres and the fuel, there was a period of the race where he was a lot slower than expected," explained Brawn. "And that's what cost him the race because Jenson on more fuel was quicker."

When asked if he was worried that Barrichello had believed team orders had been used, Brawn said: "I hope not, because we're not. You saw at the first corner that there are no team orders. Rubens made a great start and got past Jenson.

"I'd love to see Rubens win a race and see his crew win a race because it would be great for the team. There is no priority being given."

Speaking about Barrichello feeling unhappy after the race, Brawn added: "It's natural. Any driver who gets beaten and is happy is not a driver I want in the team.

"The fact that Rubens is unhappy is a healthy sign because I'd feel very strange if he was quite content to be second behind Jenson."

Barrichello's poor lap times in that penultimate stint were the result of an unidentified problem on his car which cost him time when he needed to build up a cushion over Button.

Speaking about the reasons for switching Button, Fry said: "Obviously he was shorter on fuel than Rubens, and we assumed he would pull away at the front and build a bit of a gap. When that didn't happen, it was necessary to split them.

"It was something that we had talked about a lot before the race anyway. It was something we had planned for, and it turned out to be the best. We were a little bit worried about [Felipe] Massa and [Sebastian] Vettel, for Rubens that is, and that faded when they both came into the pits together.

"That was a bit of a surprise as we thought Vettel was going to go a bit longer than that. I don't know if they did that deliberately or that was the plan."

Perhaps this provide more info?

Q & A with Jarno Trulli

Four days after the Australian Grand Prix, Jarno Trulli is a happy man again, having been reinstated into third place after the stewards decided to remove the penalty given to the Italian.

The controversy, however, is still ongoing, with the FIA saying that world champion Lewis Hamilton has misled the stewards in Australian.

AUTOSPORT heard Trulli's version of the events.

Q. What is your reaction to the decision of the stewards to give you third place?

Jarno Trulli: Well, I am happy. I am happy because I just wanted some justice, and I am happy I got it. I am happy for myself, for the team - and I have to thank the FIA because it does not happen very often that they reconsider something. It must have been really hard for them, but they had common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have been always honest and it has paid off.

Q. So what happened between Australia and now?

JT: Nothing. We did not appeal. We did not do anything, and I did not make any further comments. I think the FIA was clever enough to understand the situation. They had a very busy end of the race, with so many accidents, and they now had a bit more evidence to understand the case. So they wanted to hear us again, and it just confirmed what happened in Australia as I didn't change my statement. That is it. I don't know what made them change their mind.

Q. Are you surprised that Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from the results?

JT: I don't know the evidence or what they investigated on. I cannot comment on it. I am just happy I got my position and what I did on the track. Honestly, it was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand. But again I would like to thank the FIA because they had the strength to reconsider the case, giving new evidence and understanding what was going on. I never lied, I was always honest in my statements and I never changed it.

Q. It was a crazy weekend in Australia.

JT: It was a troubled weekend. We pushed really hard to get the best possible result on track. We were all pleased, and we are still pleased with what we achieved last Sunday. Unfortunately we were left facing a controversial end to the race.

Q. There's a Youtube video of the incident when you went off. Can you talk us through what happened?

JT: It was my mistake when I went off. I was trying to slow down because this year we have a rule that you need to stick with a certain speed which is on the display. And on that particular part of the track I was caught out by a shadow.

We have the safety car line which gives you the exact time you have to do, so I was trying to respect that. I was trying to concentrate on that. I missed the braking point by a little bit with the cold tyres and I went a little bit wide. Obviously Lewis got me. Nothing wrong in that, because I obviously lost a position.

The problem came afterwards when, between turn 4 and turn 5, Lewis suddenly slowed down quite a lot. At this stage I didn't know why but my thought was that he was having trouble because he pulled over to the right side of the track, while he should have been on the left.

And he was slowing down more and more, so I overtook him at 80km/h. So we were basically stopped. And before overtaking him I went next to him to make sure that I was not breaking the rules. So what happened is that I went in front of him and I opened the radio to tell the team what was going on because I didn't want to get a penalty. And that's it. That's all I can say.

Q. The radio conversation is on Youtube now, and the team told you to stay behind him...

JT: I knew because I already had this problem before. I knew that I couldn't get the position, that's pretty clear. But if the car in front of you has a problem, like it looked from me... I didn't know what happened before, I just read what Lewis said to the press. At that stage it looked like he had mechanical troubles.

Q. Did the team tell you to give him his position back?

JT: At that moment, no. I called the team asked what was going on and the team said "Okay, stay there". Because the team has to go back to Charlie (Whiting) to see what is going on. I knew that I should have given the position back, but the rules say that if the car in front of you cannot keep a certain speed to follow the safety car or is in trouble, you can overtake that car.

I didn't know what was his problem. If he wanted he could have overtaken me. I let him by. When I overtook him I moved to the left side and he didn't overtake me.

Q. So you think he was taking some precautions?

JT: I think from what I read on the press, because I cannot say much more than that, was not sure about it and he was told to stay back. That's the only thing I can tell you because I read it. But at that stage I didn't know.

I think the stewards didn't have all the evidence, because they got a bit more evidence now. We gave them our radio communications. They have the McLaren communication. They have the data from the car.

The funny thing is that I was called to go to the stewards just after the press conference, so I didn't know anything about what McLaren and Lewis had said after the race. And my statement matched exactly that statement from McLaren. So that's very clear. I told the truth straight away and it corresponds exactly to what the data log of the car says.

Q. Are you disappointed that perhaps Lewis has not explained the situation clearly?

JT: Yeah, but this is more up to him and not down to me. I knew that I told the truth and all the evidence show that I didn't break the rules. This is very clear. I said the same things twice. I proved it with every kind of evidence and, on top of that, there was evident from the other team, so that just confirms my statement.

Q. Are you surprised the FIA has taken so long to solve the issue?

JT: It's difficult to judge because there was a lot going on for the FIA. I cannot judge what was the problem. For sure they didn't have enough evidence then. It's good that they reconsidered it. It means they really understand that there was something that they missed then. Just after the race things were probably a bit too chaotic for them. That's all I can think.

Q. Are the drivers clear about what you can do behind the safety car if a car goes off the track in front of you?

JT: It has happened to me already. I was warming up the tyres in this heavy rain in Japan and I spun. And I didn't get the position back, I stayed where I was. So for me, it's very clear. It's expressively written in the rules. It says that if the car in front cannot keep a reasonable pace to stay close to the safety car, and slows down too much, then the car behind can overtake.

The thing is not that I want to overtake. I saw Lewis slowing down and pulling apart, that was the other thing. He pulled apart, and I thought he was having a problem. So I went next to him and I was trying to make sure it was right. But obviously when you are there you don't start talking to the other driver. I didn't want to overtake him, but he didn't get the position back.