Snapshots from the Paddock at the Canadian Grand Prix

The crowd, including the course workers, loves it when Ralf Schumacher posts the fastest qualifying time. It would be the high point of Ralf's weekend. F1 drivers abide by the driver's-ed rule of keeping several car-lengths away from other vehicles. Anywhere except the first corner on the first lap, this qualifies as a tight pack. Ferrari Challenge drivers, on the other hand, go door-to-door from start to finish, get black-flagged, and run one another off the track with some regularity. It's IROC with Ferraris and crazier drivers-what's not to like? Manufacturers fielding F1 teams hosted block parties at night.Team McLaren may not have won the race, but Mercedes-Benz definitely provided a first-rate French-Canadian '80s cover band dressed in reflective jumpsuits. This guy, along with the 308, proves that not everything that wears a Ferrari badge is highbrow. Team flags came out only sporadically during the race, probably to avoid severe beatings from the people in the upper seats who are having their sightlines blocked by a giant-ass flag. Is this predominantly male crowd oogling the Honda S2000, or the girls standing in front of it? Duh. Models were used at the races to promote everything from condoms ("Le Trojan!") to a construction company. The troops march toward the objective awaiting at the main gates: a corridor of vendors selling $100 F1 team T-shirts. Our seats were on a corner that proved particularly eventful, with cars frequently chasing one another on dusty, off-pavement excursions, like a multimillion-dollar Dukes of Hazard episode. I'm gonna git you, you Schumacher boys! Ferrari is the New York Yankees of F1. Or are the Yankees the Ferrari of baseball? Either way, both teams had plenty of fans in Montreal. As a Red Sox fan, I rooted against Ferrari out of principle. Maybe someday F1 will have finishes like the one in the Ferrari Challenge race, which was so close that the timing equipment couldn't decide who won. BMWs were thick on the ground in Montreal during race weekend. Here, a previous-generation 540 is reflected in the curvaceous flank of our 545 in the hotel parking lot.