16 August: Turkish Grand Prix Preview - Red Bull Racing
It is a tradition in just
about every country in the world that, on returning to school after the Summer Break, children are asked to write an essay about
what they did in the Holidays. Obviously, as grand prix drivers, there was no way Coulthard, Klien and Liuzzi were actually going to
put pen to paper, but they told us what they have been up to since last we met in Budapest.
DAVID COULTHARD - A SUITABLE
BUOY It was a case of "hello sailor" for our DC, as he headed off for the Isle of Wight to take part in the famous
Cowes Week sailing regatta. David was on the Hugo Boss yacht, skippered by Olympic gold medallist, Ben Ainslie. Also on board was
Davina McCall, former wild-child MTV presenter, British TV Big Brother hostess and now, mumsy hair colouration advertiser. The
"Open" race was run over a 50 mile course in the Solent and the Hugo Boss boat was leading its class until struck by
something called "a bad windshift!"
David then went to Scotland, where he stayed for two days with friends at Skibo
Castle, the famous venue for pop singer Madonna's wedding to film director Guy Ritchie. Rumours that David pranced round the castle
singing, "Like a virgin, touched for the very first time, oooh oooh oooh!" have not been confirmed. He then headed home to
spend time with his family in Twynholm, Scotland. As DC is the only F1 pilot to have driven around the new Turkish track since it
was finished (in a road car,) we had hoped to bring you his views of the circuit. However, despite the fact that the inventor of the
telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, was Scottish, all lines to Twynholm appeared to be down. Maybe David was not in Scotland at all,
but on the famous tropical island of Incommunicado.
TONIO LIUZZI - MESSIN' ABOUT IN MESSINA Wherever you live in the
world, you are bound to have seen a television commercial for an Italian product, olive oil or pizza maybe, which features a large
family of impossibly beautiful young people and remarkably healthy geriatrics, all laughing and joking while enjoying a meal in an
olive grove. Well, it seems that these commercials are all based around the lives of the Liuzzi family. Tonio travelled to Sicily to
see his family at their holiday home, near Messina. "It's the first time I had been there for twelve years and I met a lot of
the friends I grew up with," said Tonio. "Some of them, I had not seen for twelve years," added the brilliant
mathematician. Our Italian driver also celebrated his 25th birthday while he was there and was showered with gifts at a lunch for
his extended family, as aunts and uncles and cousins all piled in to a local restaurant. His favourite present was a new watch given
to him by a mystery girl - but Tonio wasn't giving anything away about that… Prior to Turkey, Liuzzi has been back in the Milton
Keynes factory filming a TV documentary for the Discovery Channel.
CHRISTIAN KLIEN - DE-STRESSING IN SARDINIA After
Hungary, Christian made the short journey over the border to his native Austria, with his father and grandfather and after a week,
he packed his bags and his girlfriend and headed south for Sardinia. Sensibly, he steered clear of the part of the island famous as
a Eurotrash haven for supermodels and super-egos. "I just wanted to have a quiet time on the beach and get away from the stress
of Formula 1," he said. "There was no way I wanted to go clubbing," he added, which must have come as good news for
the island's seal population! Klien obviously managed to clear his mind of the stresses and strains of the real world as, when asked
what he got Tonio for his birthday, he replied: "Oh shit I forgot all about it!" And the best thing about your break,
Christian? "I didn't have to go anywhere near Milton Keynes!"
