Soccer legend Pele is treated as something of a god in his native Brazil.  This might explain why, when invited onto the start line gantry to wave the chequered flag at the end of Sunday's Brazilian GP, no one dared tell him exactly when he was supposed to wave it. Michael Schumacher crossed the line to win the race, but you could spot the hesitation in the German's body language as he punched the air in the customary victory salute. Where was the flag? Pele had been busy nattering with officials at the time and
finally gave it a rather half-hearted wave a few moments later.

In fact, the first driver to be flagged across the line was none other than our very own Takuma Sato. Technically, this makes the Jordan man the winner, but an appeal would probably not stand up in court! "Of course, it would have been better if I really had won," said Taku when told what had happened. "Maybe it's a good sign for the future." It's a shame the late Kenneth Wolstenholme, the commentator famous for his 1966 Cup Final performance could not have been in Interlagos to talk us through the end of the race: "And here comes Pele. He doesn't think it's all over......"