Santa Claus; The Easter Bunny; musicians who can sing. These are just some of my long held beliefs that have been shattered over the years. Today, another one of those tenets was destroyed (unintentionally) by Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun.

Dean, who probably mingled with plenty of folks this weekend in Montreal, reported today that a couple of the ‘celeb’s in the paddock were paid for their appearances! My first reaction was shock since I have grown up believing in the glamor and glitz of F1. I bought the story hook line and sinker that Formula 1 was an elite sport for an elite crowd. How wrong I was.

Even more hurtful was the identity of these paid ‘A’ listers - though in my opinion such a term flatters this pair. Montrealers didn’t get Tomkat or Brangelina. Nope, they got Pam Anderson and P Diddy! Apparently they were a steal at $100,000 and $200,000 respectively.

So, is this what F1 has been reduced to - buying tacky celebrity endorsements to perpetuate the illusion of glamor? Is the sport spending good money on cheesy celebs because it can’t draw the A-list? I’m totally disillusioned but a few thousand bucks and a VIP pass to the next race might make me feel just a bit better.

Are you listening Bernie?

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