Spanish GP || June 23 || 15h00 (Local time)

Points, villas, sponsors and tired eyes in Bahrain

Members of the new Spanish team have not slept in up to four nights

By GMM

13 March 2010 - 09:37

Peter Sauber has agreed to pay a modest points bonus to permanent employees of his Swiss F1 team in 2010.

Even without a major sponsor in the wake of BMW’s withdrawal as owner, the 66-year-old Swiss told Blick newspaper that he will pay bonuses in line with F1’s previous points system.

It is believed the bonus is 25 Swiss francs (less than EUR20) per point.

In total contrast, Michael Schumacher’s accommodation in Bahrain this weekend - a private villa with a private beach - has a personal butler at a cost of some EUR6000 per night.

Meanwhile, the logos of the Monster energy drink were added to the helmets of Schumacher and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg ahead of Saturday morning practice.

And there are more than a few tired eyes in the HRT garage on Saturday morning, with reports that the race team worked so hard to prepare Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok’s cars overnight that they did not bother returning to their hotel to sleep.

Spanish reports said some members of the new Spanish team have not slept in up to four nights, including its boss Colin Kolles.