Russian cosmonaut Vassili Vasiyevich Tsibliyev was a guest at this race. On Friday he met with Mika Hakkinen and the two men swopped uniforms, with Vassili wearing a race suit while Mika tried on a space suit for size. Vassili was the man who held the MIR space station on course after a collision and having survived the MIR, he faced another frightening challenge on Saturday when he was a passenger in the McLaren two seater F1 car.

A JV TREE

The Nurburgring circuit honoured reigning world champion Jacques Villeneuve on Thursday by planting a tree with a plaque bearing his name in the Champions Avenue leading to the track.

ROSSET TROUBLES

Tyrrell’s Riccardo Rosset is not having the best of seasons and this weekend his troubles started before he even got to the track. Firstly, it took him about 20 minutes to get through Passport Control and then he had an argument at the hire car desk. The receptionist told the Brazilian she did not have time to deal with his problem as they were expecting a lot of customers for the grand prix. When Rosset explained he was in fact a Grand Prix driver, the staff did not believe him.

ARROWS TEST DRIVER IN ACTION

Stephen Watson became the first South African since Jody Scheckter in 1980 to drive a Formula One car under contract on Monday (September 21), when he shook down the three Danka Zepter Arrows A19 cars to be used at this weekend's Luxembourg Grand Prix. The test took place at Santa Pod in the English midlands, when the three chassis to be used for the penultimate round of the FIA Formula One World Championship at the Nurburgring were undergoing their final shake-downs before being transported to the German track.

"It was an amazing experience," said the 24 year-old, who grew up in Durban. "Even having done some Formula 3000 racing, nothing could have prepared me for the sensation of driving a Formula 1 car. The acceleration and stopping power of the Danka Zepter Arrows just can not be described to anyone who hasn't experienced it themselves. The feedback from the team after the shake-down was very positive." Watson has been doing some public relations work for the team and has also attended a number of races this year. "My exposure to sponsors and the experience of public engagements have been invaluable to me. By all accounts these have been very successful."

NEW F3000 CHAMPION

Colombian driver Juan-Pablo Montoya is this year’s FIA F3000 champion after coming third in Saturday’s final round of the championship. His task was made much easier when his only rival for the title was forced to start from the back of the grid. West Competition driver and McLaren F1 test driver Nick Heidfeld qualified on pole position. However, it was later discovered that because of an innocent mistake, his fuel did not conform to the regulations. It was a hopeless task starting from the back, but he drove a great race to come from 32nd place to ninth at the flag.