NEWS ARCHIVE
F3000: PANTANO WINS, BOURDAIS TAKES POINTS LEAD
Giorgio Pantano kept the F3000 championship battle wide open by winning the Belgian round of the series. The Italian battled all race with Sebastien Bourdais, who finished second and reclaimed the points lead from Thomas Enge going into the final raound of the series.
SATURDAY PHOTOS
Belgian Grand Prix Saturday Photos
RAIKKONEN FASTEST IN MORNING PRACTICE
Belgian Grand Prix Saturday Morning Free Practice Report
WHAT NOW FOR ARROWS?
om Walkinshaw was not able to run his Arrows cars on Friday at Spa but the Scotsman was hoping to complete the deal to sell a part of his team to a group of American investors in time for the team to be able to compete on Saturday morning. But as one inside source in the team said om"there was a mountain of paperwork...
CHRIS PATTEN HEADS FOR SPA
Grand Prix racing will have a high profile political visitor on Saturday at Spa with the European Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten expected to appear at the track to watch the action.
BOURDAIS CAPTURES F3000 POLE AT SPA
Sebastien Bourdais took a step towards reclaiming the F3000 points lead in Belgium Friday by capturing the pole for Saturday's race.
FRIDAY PHOTOS
Belgian Grand Prix Friday Photos
ARROWS OFFICIALLY PULLS OUT OF BELGIAN GP
Arrows has announced that it will not compete in this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, as it was unable to complete the massive amount of paperwork involved with the pending sale to American Carl Smith and a consortium of US backers.
OASTLER JOINS JAGUAR
Malcolm Oastler has joined Jaguar Racing as Acting Director of Engineering. The Australian engineer will help the team during the development phase of the Jaguar R4 chassis but it is not clear whether he will be retained on a long-term deal.
BARRICHELLO FASTEST AFTER THE FOG CLEARS
Belgian Grand Prix Friday Morning Free Practice Report
NO JUICE FOR ORANGE ARROWS
The Orange Arrows team stayed in the garage when practice for the Belgian Grand Prix began on Friday morning. The session was delayed by an hour because of fog in the Liege area which meant it was impossible for the medical helicopter to land at Liege if there had been a serious accident.
ANOTHER MYSTERY...
Craig Pollock was wandering around the paddock at Spa telling anyone who cared to listen that he has never had any negotiations with Gerald Forsythe and that the American's recent revelations in Canada newspapers about negotiations with Jacques Villeneuve are pure fabrication.
FRENTZEN STAYING IN MONACO
Heinz-Harald Frentzen may have nominated by Arrows to drive at Spa this weekend but the German is staying in Monaco
SALO GOES OUT TO PASTURE
Mika Salo will be paid next year's salary by Toyota and goes into retirement a happy (and wealthy) man as a result. The Finn always said that he would retire at the end of the Toyota deal.
THE SITUATION AT ARROWS AT 0800 CET
Tom Walkinshaw probably did not get much sleep last night. The supposed takeover of the Arrows team by an American investor Carl (or Cal) Smith remains a bit of a mystery as there are one or two people called Smith in the United States...
WAITING FOR FORD
Jordan Grand Prix said at Budapest that there would be an official statement about the team's deal with the Ford Motor Company within a matter of days. Two weeks have slipped by and not a word has been heard from Detroit,
BELGIUM UNDER THE AXE AGAIN
The uncertain future of the Belgian Grand Prix is one of those reassuring certainties in the ever-changing world of Formula 1. Every year there is doubt that there will be another race at Spa.
ARROWS NOMINATES DRIVERS FOR BELGIUM
The deadline to nominate drivers for the Belgian GP was 4 pm local time today, and Arrows nominated Enrique Bernoldi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
CARL SMITH AND ARROWS
The rumors have been circulating in Spa about who the planned new owner of Arrows might be and the latest suggestion is that an American mulitmillionaire named Carl Smith may be the man behind the supposed deal.
PROBLEMS FOR ALONSO?
Amongst all the other issues in Belgium was a question of whether Bridgestone is happy to let Fernando Alonso, a Michelin driver, race for Arrows this weekend.
RED BULL BUYING ARROWS?
The word in the paddock in Belgium is that the new investor in Arrows is none other than Red Bull and that the original plan for Arrows to be transformed into Red Bull Team USA will now go ahead as originally planned.
PANIS TO REPLACE SALO AT TOYOTA
Toyota has announced that Olivier Panis has signed a two year deal for 2003 and 2004, replacing Mika Salo.
ARROWS ANNOUNCE PENDING SALE
Arrows Grand Prix has released a statement today announcing that a letter of intent regarding the purchase of the team has been signed.
A SURPRISE FROM TOYOTA
The announcement that Jacques Villeneuve is not going to CART next year has started a domino effect in Formula with Olivier Panis being named as the new driver for Toyota. Mika Salo and Allan McNish are both being dropped
A REALITY CHECK FOR VILLENEUVE
The news revealed by CART team owner Gerald Forsythe that Jacques Villeneuve has turned down a $50m offer from him to race in CART in 2003 and then return to F1 for two more years with BAR is an indication that the top drivers are going to have to pay more attention to the real world.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE TOM WALKINSHAW
Those who have known him for a long time always agree that one can never write off Tom Walkinshaw. He is not dead until they nail the lid down on his coffin. On Wednesday afternoon Walkinshaw announced that he has signed the c"heads of agreemento" with an American investor
CONTRACT TIME!
The beginning of September is traditionally a moment at which options lapse and deals are done and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa usually results in a number of announcements for the future.
HOW THE GERMAN ELECTION COULD AFFECT FORMULA 1
The Germans are preparing to go to the polls to elect a new Chancellor with the two candidates: incumbent Gerhard Schroeder and challenger Edmund Stoiber running close in the opinion polls. Formula 1 could be affected...
VILLENEUVE TURNS DOWN $50M DEAL!
Jacques Villeneuve has turned down a three-year $50m deal to race in CART in 2003 and then return to F1 in 2004 and 2005. According to the Journal de Montreal, the offer came from CART team owner Gerald Forsythe who, as a BAR shareholder, was working in league with David Richards of BAR.
JAGUAR, RED BULL AND AN ARROWS REVIVAL
At the Hungarian Grand Prix there is no doubt at all that there were moves going on to nudge the Ford Motor Company towards selling Jaguar Racing to Red Bull. It was a deal which made a lot of sense for all concerned. It seems now that, for whatever reason, Ford is not going to go down that path.
THE CHANGING FACE OF MONACO
Monaco will be a very different looking place when the Formula 1 circus arrives next year. On Monday a vast 350m long floating platform, which consists of 160,000 tons of concrete, arrived in Monaco. This will be used to double the mooring capacity in the port, around which the Grand Prix is held
THE PRESSURE IS ON MICHELIN
The recent races have highlighted that this year Bridgestone is well ahead of Michelin in terms of performance. This is odd when one considers how good the French tires were last year.
RUSSIANS STRUGGLE TO KEEP F1 DREAM ALIVE
The much talked-about Russian Grand Prix is not quite dead - at least not according to the head of the Moscow Tourist Board Grigory Antyufeyev. He told the Izvestia newspaper that he was sure that the race v"will happen, as we have planned, in 2004 ".
SAUBER OFFERS MASSA A THIRD DRIVER ROLE
Peter Sauber has offered Felipe Massa the job of being the Swiss team's test and development driver. The young Brazilian has yet to decide what to do now that he has lost his seat for 2003.
ARROWS TO MISS BELGIUM
The Arrows team will not be in Spa-Francorchamps this weekend - although the news has yet to made official. But, amazingly, this does not mean that the team is yet dead. The current impasse in negotiation is the same as it was in Hungary.
FORMULA NISSAN MEN HEAD FOR BATTLE AGAIN
The Telefonica World Series by Nissan (aka Formula Nissan) kicks off again this coming weekend at Magny Cours after nearly two months without a race. The battle for the championship is on in the course of the final five races with former F1 driver Ricardo Zonta under threat from Belgium's rising star Bas Leinders.
A CHALLENGER FOR MARIO'S CROWN?
As the final decisions are being made over who will be picked to be finalists in the Red Bull Driver Academy - to find a Formula 1 star from the United States of America - AJ Allmendinger continues to demand attention.
ANDRETTI TO GET NEW ROLE?
Mario Andretti, the Formula 1 World Champion of 1978 and one of America's best known racing names, is to be named a director of the CART organisation shortly. Mario has long been a CART supporter and is currently talking about starting his own team next year, as an offshoot of Newman Haas Racing.
CART NO LONGER AN ALTERNATIVE TO F1
There was much comparison going on between Formula 1 and CART last weekend when CART visited the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal - the first time the two series have used the same track in the same year.
THE LATEST FROM CART...
The word from America is that Gerald Forsythe has offered Jacques Villeneuve a big deal to race next year in the United States - but Jacques has to make his decision within the next 18 hours.
FRENTZEN SIGNS FOR SAUBER
As we suggested would happen yesterday, Heinz-Harald Frentzen has let it be known that he has signed a one-year contract to race for the Sauber Petronas team next season. It is anticipated that Heinz-Harald will replace Brazil's Felipe Massa.
THE FUTURE OF ANTONIO PIZZONIA
When Jenson Button signed for British American Racing a few weeks ago, Antonio Pizzonia's future suddenly looked considerably better than it had before. Pizzonia moved into the position of being Williams's ie"chosen oneev" for the future.
FRENTZEN AND SAUBER
The suggestion that has been doing the rounds - that Eddie Irvine has signed a new long-term deal with Jordan Grand Prix and the suggestion that Toyota is still going to do a deal with Cristiano Da Matta, would seem to open the way for Heinz-Harald Frentzen to join Nick Heidfeld at Sauber next year.
FORD AND JAGUAR RACING
So Ford Motor Company sources say that there are no plans to sell Jaguar Racing. In some ways this is not a surprise because those who think back three years will remember that Jacques Nasser went to the German GP and denied the very existence of any plan to turn Stewart Grand Prix into a Jaguar team
ARROWS TRIAL ADJOURNED UNTIL THE AUTUMN
The case between Arrows and Morgan Grenfell, which was due to take place on Wednesday, has been adjourned until at least October. The big issue facing the team therefore is the winding-up petition issued by Champion Recruitment Limited.
BRITISH ORGANISATIONS FORM BODY TO PROMOTE THE SPORT
The Motor Sports Association, the national governing body of motor sport in Britain, has joined forces with the Motorsport Industry Association to establish the Motorsport Strategy Development Group to combine the efforts of the sport and the industry in the years ahead.
F1 COMMENTATOR SHEENE HAS CANCER
Barry Sheene has been commentating on motor racing for some years in Australia after emigrating from Britain after his competition career on two wheels and on four wheels ended in the late 1980s.
F1 STARS TO RAISE MORE MONEY FOR SEP 11 VICTIMS
Michael Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella and others will join forces with big names from the fashion world in a football match in Italy on September 11 this year to raise money for the victims of the terrorist attacks a year ago.
MONTOYA TO REMAIN AT WILLIAMS THROUGH 2004
As expected, Williams-BMW has confirmed that Juan Pablo Montoya will remain with the team for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
FARRELL MOVES IN AT SUBARU
Steve Farrell, who has been in charge of mechanical design at British American Racing in recent months, has moved to a job with BAR's sister company the 555 Subaru World Rally Team.
RED BULL AND JAGUAR
Stories are now beginning to leak out that Dietrich Mateschitz is, as we suggested last weekend, planning to buy Jaguar Racing from the Ford Motor Company. The rumors suggest that the Red Bull boss could be willing as much as $100m.
BARNARD AND JAGUAR
It has been nearly a year since John Barnard was involved in Formula 1 as anything more than a sub-contractor.
TAG HEUER SIGNS FISHER
The Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has signed an endorsement contract with rising American star Sarah Fisher.
VILLENEUVE'S CATCH 22
Jacques Villeneuve has always been a very independent character and while this has made him a popular figure with race fans, it does have its drawbacks.
MEANWHILE IN THE HIGH COURT...
This morning in Court 19 of the High Court in London Justice Sir Gavin Lightman was due to preside over another hearing in the ongoing case between Morgan Grenfell and Arrows Autosport.
WHO WILL RED BULL PICK IN AMERICA?
The Red Bull F1 Driver Search initiative will be presented to the world on Thursday, September 26 at the United States Grand Prix and Danny Sullivan, the scheme's director, is promising to reveal the names of the 15 to 20 young American racers who will be given the chance to win the Red Bull sponsorship deals in Europe.
FORMULA BMW TO EXPAND
Formula BMW could be expanding into Britain and America next years. The inaugural Formula BMW series is taking place in Germany this year but BMW wants to expand as quickly as possible so as to create a modern alternative to Formula Ford,
EDS TO SPONSOR F1 IN SCHOOLS COMPETITION .
The giant American technology company EDS has announced plans to become a supporter of the F1 in Schools competition in Britain. The scheme was established earlier this year by Jaguar Cars, BAE Systems and Denford.
MALAYSIA BANS TOBACCO SPONSORSHIP
The Malaysian government has announced plans to ban all tobacco sponsorships next year. Tobacco advertising is already banned but the current law does not stop tobacco firms sponsorsing events.
IRVINE'S NEW FORD DEAL?
The word from Detroit is that Eddie Irvine has somehow managed to negotiate himself a new three-year deal in Formula 1, signing an agreement directly with the the Ford Motor Company. Irvine is expected to drive for the new Jordan-Ford team.
DA MATTA AND TOYOTA
Cristiano da Matta wants to race in Formula 1 next year - and Toyota want to use him but it seems that da Matta's future is controlled somewhat by the Brazilian's team owner Carl Haas. Da Matta has one more year to go in his Newman Haas Racing deal. Sources are suggesting that Haas is asking for a $10m pay-off.
FORMER FORD F1 BOSS ANNOUNCES IRL CHASSIS
Michael Kranefuss, who was in charge of all Ford's Formula 1 activities from 1983 to 1993 has just launched a new business called Falcon Cars. The firm will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
THE ECCLESTONES AND FERRARI
They may not be true but there were reports on the Italian television station RAI on Sunday that the Ecclestone Family is to buy into the Ferrari car company. We heard similar rumors earlier in the week in Budapest but chose not to publish them as we were unable to get any independent confirmation.
A THOUGHT FOR JACQUES VILLENEUVE
CART has just filed its latest quarterly reports which reveal some interesting figures. The company is worth something like $66m based on its Wall Street valuation but according to the accounts it has $136m in current assets.
ANOTHER SON OF A FAMOUS FATHER...
Adrien Tambay won his first race victory last weekend at the Circuit du Pays d'Essay, near Alencon, in Normandy. Tambay (11) is competing in the French Junior Kart Championship and is currently second overall in the series.
THE SECRET OF BMW'S 2003 ENGINE...
Espionage amongst engine companies has long been a feature of Formula 1 but BMW's Dr. Mario Theissen says that he does not believe in trying to force his staff not to take secrets elsewhere.
SUNDAY PHOTOS
Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday Photos
JORDAN GETS FORD!
Eddie Jordan has confirmed that Jordan Grand Prix will have Ford engines in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
HONDA, JORDAN AND FORD
Honda has announced that, as expected, it will not be supplying the Jordan team with engines next season.
SCHUMACHER FASTEST IN MORNING WARMUP
Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday Warmup Report
BOURDAIS BOUNCED BY CZECH
Czech driver Tomas Enge has moved into the lead in the International Formula 3000 Championship following his victory at the Hungaroring. Enge's fourth victory of the year gives him 51 points
NINETEEN INTO 17 DOES NOT GO
Bernie Ecclestone said last week that there are two slots on the Formula 1 calendar in 2004 and that he has seven different groups bidding to hold a race.
F1 BLIND TO FLOOD THREAT
Motor racing people are famously blinkered when it comes to what is happening in the real world and on Saturday in Budapest all eyes were on the Hungaroring rather than on the Danube river which was rising with each passing hour.
A NICE LITTLE EARNER FOR COSWORTH
CART has announced its plans for engine supply for next year with a $4m deal for Cosworth Racing to sell the organization 100 engines for use in the United States series for the next couple of years.
SATURDAY PHOTOS
Hungarian Grand Prix Saturday Photos
RED BULL AND JAGUAR
Dietrich Mateschitz, the boss of Red Bull was present at the Hungarian Grand Prix and spent a considerable amount of time with Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and with Jaguar Racing boss Niki Lauda.
LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ARROWS?
There are rumors gathering strength in Holland that a compulsory winding-up order will be sought by creditors of the Arrows team in the course of the next few weeks.
FERRARI STILL DOMINANT IN HUNGARY
Hungarian Grand Prix Saturday Morning Free Practice Report
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NELSON
Nelson Piquet, the World Champion of 1981, 1983 and 1987, is 50 today.
JORDAN'S ENGINE PUZZLE
Eddie Jordan has a bit of a problem with engines.
LAUDA WARNS OF MORE PROBLEMS FOR ARROWS
Jaguar Racing boss Niki Lauda has warned that Arrows will have to face a new problem on Monday because Cosworth Racing (which Lauda also oversees) has not been paid.
MICHAEL GIVES $1M TO FLOOD VICTIMS
Michael Schumacher is to donate $1m to a German relief fund for flood victims. The eastern part of Germany has been badly hit in recent days by serious flooding which has killed almost 100 people across central Europe after torrential rains.
FERRARI CONTINUE TO LEAD IN HUNGARY (UPDATED)
Hungarian Grand Prix Friday Afternoon Free Practice Report
FRIDAY PHOTOS
Hungarian Grand Prix Friday Photos
ENGE CAPTURES F3000 POLE
Thomas Enge took another step towards capturing the F3000 championship Friday by taking the pole in Hungary, while his rival and current points leader, Sebastien Bourdais, could only manage sixth.
DAVIDSON SETS NEW F1 RECORD
Anthony Davidson's career as an F1 racer lasted exactly 11 seconds before he ran into trouble. As he accelerated out of the pits after the green light came on on Friday morning he exceeded the 60kph speed limit and was fined $1000.
TESTING - WHAT ARE THE RULES?
There has been much confusion in recent days over the testing regulations for the months ahead in Formula 1. The team bosses have however agreed between themselves that there will be a ban on all testing between the Japanese Grand Prix on October 13 and November 15.
AUSTRALIAN GP BOSS VISITS BUDAPEST
Steven Wright, the acting chief executive of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, was present at the Hungarian GP. It is anticipated that he will soon be named as the man to replace John Harnden.
MINARDI TO TEST RUSSIAN DRIVER
The Minardi team is to test Russian driver Sergey Zlubin as part of the deal between the team and the Russian gas company Gazprom. The company hopes to assist Zlubin to become the first Russian driver in the World Championship
GAZPROM JOINS MINARDI
A visit to the Minardi motorhome in Budapest revealed a large number of Russian guests and the car featured a discreet badge from the giant Russian energy company Gazprom. Gazprom is the world's biggest gas company.
MCLAREN RESTRUCTURES TECHNICAL TEAM
McLaren has announced a new technical structure with Mike Coughlan becoming chief designer and Neil Oatley being promoted to a new role as Executive Director of Engineering
TOWNSEND BELL VISITS FORMULA 1
Sometime CART racer Townsend Bell was a visitor in the Budapest paddock, the San Francisco driver saying that he would like to have a career in Formula 1 in the future.
FERRARI SETS THE EARLY PACE IN HUNGARY
Hungarian Grand Prix Friday Morning Free Practice Report
FLOOD FEARS FADE IN BUDAPEST
Fears that the city of Budapest will be disrupted this weekend by floods are now beginning to fade.
SHELL TO BUILD UP CART PRESENCE?
Word is leaking from the United States of America that Shell is going to have a much bigger presence in CART next year.
TURKISH DELIGHT AT ECCLESTONE REMARKS
Turkey is enjoying much publicity thanks to remarks made by Bernie Ecclestone yesterday that there is a 99.9% chance of a Grand Prix happening in the country.
ALL TALK AT ARROWS
Negotiations to stop the Arrows team going out of business continue, even if the team has now missed a Grand Prix and must face all the implications of that move.
NO CONCESSIONS FOR ARROWS
The FIA Stewards of the Hungarian Grand Prix issued the entry list for the event at 5pm local time on Thursday and there were no Arrows cars listed at all. This means that there can be no argument about whether or not the team
NEW CHIEF DESIGNER FOR JAGUAR RACING
Jaguar Racing will announce shortly that it has signed a deal with Rob Taylor to be the team's new chief designer, replacing John Russell. Taylor has been head of vehicle design at Arrows in recent years.
WHO DRIVES FOR MINARDI NEXT YEAR?
With Mark Webber expected to move from Minardi to Jaguar next year - as part of a deal between Minardi and Ford over the supply of Cosworth engines - the big question is who will take Webber's place as the team leader.
HERTA IMPRESSES MINARDI
Although Bryan Herta will not racing for Minardi in Hungary, the American did impress the team with his recent runs for them at Donington Park.
SILVERSTONE CHANGES PLANS
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone was a big success this year although it is hard to see how the race made a profit given the numbers involved. Various attempts to make the sums add up to a success failed to come up with positive results, based on the number of people who attended and the amount of money they were charged.
FLOODING IN BUDAPEST?
The recent rains in central Europe have had a disastrous effect on several major cities, notably Salzburg and Prague and there are worries that as the water heads down the Danube there could be flooding in Budapest as well.
ECCLESTONE GOES TO TURKEY
Bernie Ecclestone is rumored to be taking a trip to Turkey this week on his way to the Hungarian GP to have a look at the various venues being suggested as possible homes for the proposed Turkish Grand Prix.
REITZLE GETS $2M PAY-OFF
The Ford Motor Company cannot complain much about its Formula 1 program as the money it has spent in recent months on paying off old executives is a huge pile.
ARROWS WILL NOT COMPETE IN HUNGARY
Arrows has confirmed that they will not compete in the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.
IT'S DAVIDSON!
Anthony Davidson will drive the second Minardi this weekend in Hungary and at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. The news will be announced shortly by the team.
DAVIDSON AND MINARDI
The Guardian newspaper is saying that Anthony Davidson will replace Alex Yoong at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Our sources say that this will probably happen but that nothing will be confimed before midday.
POLLOCK FLIES TO LONDON TO TRY TO SAVE TEAM
Craig Pollock will be flying to London tomorrow in a final attempt to save the Arrows team. The Scotsman has the backing from California to save the team from going out of business but negotiations with Tom Walkinshaw
THE LEGAL ISSUES SURROUNDING ARROWS
The current situation with regard to the Arrows team has highlighted once again the flaws that exist in the Concorde Agreement, the secret contract by which the sport is governed.
ARROWS NOT GOING TO HUNGARY?
There are reports that the Arrows team trucks have turned for home while on their way out to Budapest. If that happens there is little doubt that the team will have to miss the event and the implications of that are worrying indeed.
PANTANO WINS FOR CHARITY
F3000 star Giorgio Pantano won Minardi's second annual charity event, Thunder in the Park, Sunday with former WBO Middleweight Boxing champ Chris Eubank as his passanger.
WHO DRIVES FOR MINARDI?
The Minardi team is expected to announce tomorrow who its second driver will be for the next two Grands Prix. It is believed that the team will decide that Alex Yoong needs to take a bit of time off in order to do some more testing,
MINARDI DELAYS DECISION FOR ANOTHER DAY
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart was due to decide on Sunday who will be racing for his team this weekend in Hungary - but that decision appears to have been delayed.
THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON ARROWS...
The Formula 1 world is waiting to see what will happen with the Orange Arrows team this week with reports circulating that talks have ground to a halt between Tom Walkinshaw and potential buyer Craig Pollock.
IRL TO RACE ON F1 COURSE AT INDIANAPOLIS?
With CART issuing its calendar over the weekend, there have been rumors in Indy Racing League circles that Tony George may be about to announce that there will be an IRL race on the road course at Indianapolis next season.
OTHER WHISPERS AT MID-OHIO
There were a variety of rumors doing the rounds at Mid-Ohio over the weekend with the continuing suggestion that Cristiano da Matta will leave Newman Haas Racing to join the Toyota Motorsport F1 team.
PRIESTLEY REMAINS IN SERIOUS CONDITION
Jason Priestley has suffered a broken back, injuries to his legs and an unspecified head injury in a 180mph crash at the Kentucky Speedway.
TRACY AT PLAYERS FORSYTHE?
The word on the street at Mid-Ohio on Sunday was that Paul Tracy will be joining Players Forsythe Racing next season. The Team Kool Green driver says he will not be staying with Michael Andretti's team next year.
WILL ARROWS GO TO HUNGARY?
The mystery over what is happening at Arrows has been continuing all week but now Craig Pollock, the man expected to buy the Arrows F1 team, has thrown some doubt on the future of the team in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Le Matin.
PRIESTLEY SERIOUSLY INJURED IN KENTUCKY SHUNT
Jason Priestley, the actor and F1 commentator at last year's United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis has been seriously injured in a practice crash for the Infiniti Pro Series race at the Kentucky Speedway.
RENAULT IN CHARGE AT ZANDVOORT
Renault-powered teams dominated the qualifying for the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort with pole position going to Brazil's Fabio Carbone in his Fortec Dallara-Renault ahead of three other Renault-engined Dallaras.
TODAY AT DONINGTON PARK...
Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart has some serious business to do as well as he must decide whether or not to replace Alex Yoong, the team's second driver.
SCHUMACHER SIGNS FOR MODENA - BUT WON'T PLAY
Michael Schumacher likes soccer. For some time now he has played for FC Echichens, a small-time soccer team in Switzerland, The problem was that Michael did not spend much time in Switzerland...
WHAT WILL THE NEW FERRARI V10 HAVE IN IT?
Ferrari is developing a new V10 engine for 2003 - and everyone else is getting worried. The men at Ferrari are not talking about what the engine will feature (no surprise there, then).
HONDA TO STRENGTHEN IRL ATTACK
Honda continues to underline its desire to win in both Formula 1 and in the United States of America where the Japanese company will be switching to the Indy Racing League next year.
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE...
Derek Hill, the son of 1961 World Champion Phil Hill, has signed a deal to be managed by Brigitte Hill, the sister of 1996 World Champion Damon and daughter of Graham Hill, the World Champion of 1962 and 1968. Oddly enough, Derek's ambition is to be Formula 1 World Champion.
SAUBER ENGINE COULD GO TO HYUNDAI
The road car engines which have been designed by Sauber Petronas Engineering could end up being sold to Hyundai.
PREMIER 1 STILL GOING...
After several months keeping a profile that was lower than low, the Premier 1 Grand Prix Championship has reappeared to announce that Olympique Lyonnais has signed up to be part of the supposed series.
THE GRAND PRIX OF MOSCOW
It may never happen but the plans for the Grand Prix of Moscow have finally come to light.
ALL CHANGE AT MINARDI (PART II)
There is much speculation at the moment about the future of Alex Yoong at Minardi, but in Formula 3000 the European Minardi team has been undergoing even more change with drivers Alex Muller and Alex Sperafico both having been ditched.
CART SINKS A LITTLE FURTHER
The need for Jacques Villeneuve to sign for Players Forsythe Racing becomes more acute by the day as the share price of Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. sinks on the Wall Street Stock Exchange.
NASCAR BECOMES POLITICALLY-CORRECT?
NASCAR was once the home of the fist-wielding hard men of motor racing with regular punch-ups in the pitlane. The competitors honed their driving skills as bootleggers running moonshine across the Deep South.
BAUMGARTNER TO RUN A JORDAN IN BUDAPEST
The Jordan team has announced that Zsolt Baumgartner, the Hungarian F3000 driver, will have the chance to impress his home crowds at the Hungarian Grand Prix when he will be given the chance to give a demonstration run in a Jordan Honda EJ12 on race morning
THE ROUNDABOUT CONTINUES...
The carousel of rumors about who will drive for Arrows in Hungary continues with the latest idea to surface being that Fernando Alonso, who was being tipped as a possible Minardi driver, being mentioned as a possible signing at Arrows
ARROWS ANNOUNCEMENT TOMORROW?
There are rumors in Formula 1 circles that Arrows will be making an announcement tomorrow with regard to what is going to happen to the team in the future.
CHRISTIAN HEADS FOR LIONS...
The Good old Boys of NASCAR will have some fresh meat next year with the arrival from CART of Brazil's Christian Fittipaldi, who has signed a three-year deal to race for Petty Enterprises in Winston Cup racing.
OBITUARY: JIM CRAWFORD
Jim Crawford has died at the early age of 54. The Scotsman was once a great white hope in Formula 1 but then drifted away from the Grand Prix scene and ended up in the United States where he became a regular competitor in the Indianapolis 500.
FERRARI GOES TO ZANDVOORT, MINARDI TO DONINGTON
This weekend will see two Formula 1 teams running cars at promotional events: Minardi will be at Donington Park for the Thunder in the Park meeting while Ferrari is sending a car to Zandvoort to take part in the hugely-popular Marlboro Masters Formula 3 event.
DON'T FORGET BAHRAIN
The news that China is gearing up for a Grand Prix in 2004 has added pressure to the circuits which want a race in the near-future and more and more serious schemes are beginning to come out of the woodwork.
HOW THE POLITICIANS CAN HELP MOTORSPORT
The news that the British government is finally beginning to take the British motorsport industry seriously is good news - even if it is rather late in the day.
SNAPPER-BOPPER GETS FINED
Tony Stewart has been fined $10,000 for punching a photographer at the recent Brickyard 400 event in Indianapolis.
CHINA BUILDING BIG FOR 2004
The organizers of the planned Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai recently announced that they have a fund of $400m to build a racing circuit in order to welcome Formula 1 in 2004 - and that a deal is in place with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
BRITISH GOVERNMENT MOVES TO SUPPORT MOTORSPORT INDUSTRY
Britain's Department of Trade and Industry has revealed plans for the government to act to help preserve Britain's place as the industry leader in motorsport.
WILSON MISSES MINARDI CHANCE
Formula 3000 Champion Justin Wilson was lining up to drive for Minardi in place of Mark Webber - we hear that a deal had been struck, pending a seat fitting, but when the lanky Englishman went down to Faenza there was no way he would fit in the car.
A LITTLE-KNOWN FACT
Mike Den Tandt is from St-Vith in Belgium, not far from the Spa-Francorchamps racing circuit. He is 19 years old and has been competing in karting since he was five years old.
A MOTOR RACING SCHOLAR
One can win scholarships at academic institutions for many different things but it seems that 13-year-old Freddie Martin-Dye has started a new trend by winning a sports scholarship to the $20,000 a year Cranleigh School in Surrey.
THE SNAPPER-BOPPING SEASON IS UPON US
Things are very quiet at the moment in Formula 1 circles and so much has been made of two incidents in recent days in which leading players in motor racing have attacked photographers.
PAPIS GETS ANOTHER CHANCE
Former F1 driver Max Papis lost his drive in CART earlier this year when the Sigma Automotive team ran out of money.
BOURDAIS AND ARROWS
There is talk that Sebastien Bourdais will give up his hopes of winning the International Formula 3000 title in order to take over Heinz-Harald Frentzen's drive at Arrows.
JAGUAR GETS ALL CLEAR FROM DETROIT
Ford Motor Company bosses in Detroit have informed Jaguar Racing that there is no need to worry about rumors in Formula 1 circles that Jordan Grand Prix is about to be named as a Ford factory team.
MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS
There has been talk for some time that r"a top Formula 1s" has begun design studies for an America's Cup racing yacht and these have resurfaced again in recent days in The Sunday Times in London.
WHY VILLENEUVE COULD GO TO CART
Gerry Forsythe, the boss the Players Forsythe CART team has confirmed that he wants to run three cars in next year's series and that co"we are looking to bring somebody back to our series who has got star powerne".
WHISPERS FROM MUNICH
BMW has had the most powerful engine in Formula 1 this year but problems with electronic systems and tyres have meant that the Williams-BMW team has won only one race so far this year. Everyone involved is keen to do better next year.
MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY JOIN FORCES TO BID FOR WORLD CUP
Melbourne and Sydney have traditionally been in competition to be Australia's bestknown city but the two have now joined forces to bid for the Soccer World Cup in 2014.
WINKELHOCK GIVES MERCEDES FIRST F3 VICTORY
Mercedes-Benz has not had much to cheer this year in Formula 1 but at the weekend Markus Winkelhock, the son of Grand Prix driver Manfred, gave the Stuttgart firm its first win in the German Formula 3 Championship
VILLENEUVE BACK TO CART?
The respected American racing journalist Robin Miller has reported on ESPN TV that CART team owner Gerry Forsythe has been to Europe in recent days to make Jacques Villeneuve a huge offer to return to CART next season.
ANOTHER WIN FOR BOURDAIS
Sebastien Bourdais wants to get into Formula 1 in the next few years and the International Formula 3000 Championship leader is busy adding to his curriculum vitae. His latest victory came on Sunday in the classic Spa 24 Hours.
WHY ALONSO WILL NOT REPLACE YOONG...
The rumors suggesting that Fernando Alonso would be the best man to replace Alex Yoong made a lot of sense but if they were true one would have expected to have seen the Spanish driver joining the Minardi team at next weekend's Thunder in the Park at Donington Park.
NO PROBLEMS FOR MASSA...
Felipe Massa's manager Riccardo Tedeschi says it is ho"simply impossibleos" for the Brazilian youngster to be replaced before the end of the season.
WHY DID FRENTZEN LEAVE ARROWS?
It is being widely reported that Heinz-Harald Frentzen is unlikely to race at the Hungaroring for another team - and that begs an obvious question: why then did Frentzen leave Arrows?
MONTOYA TO DRIVE NASCAR?
NASCAR's biggest star Jeff Gordon has confirmed that there is a plan for him to drive a Formula 1 car in a demonstration at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and that this would include Juan-Pablo Montoya having a run in Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
TWO BIDDERS IN MINARDI NEGOTIATIONS
Although there have been many reports that Minardi is about to be sold to Prince Al Waleed to be run by Brendan McGuinness, it is worth noting that there is another consortium discussing the purchase with Paul Stoddart.
MASSA AND SAUBER
Speculation has been flying throughout the day since the announcement that Heinz-Harald Frentzen had left Arrows. The suggestion that appears to be emerging is that Felipe Massa is to be dropped at Sauber to make way for Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
DA MATTA AND TOYOTA
There are lots of stories flying about at the moment suggesting that Toyota is close to signing a deal for Cristiano da Matta to come to Formula 1 next year. The big question is who is making the decisions at Toyota.
FRENTZEN ON THE MARKET
Heinz-Harald Frentzen has left the Orange Arrows with immediate effect and while this will be a blow to the already struggling team, it is probably a sign that Frentzen has something else to do.
WHY WOULD PRINCE AL WALEED WANT F1?
HRH Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (to give him his proper name) is one of the richest men in the world and has proved in the course of the last 15 years to be one of the mosty astute investors playing with big stakes.
MORGAN GRENFELL SELLS EUROBET
Morgan Grenfell Private Equity has been making up for its losses in Formula 1 activities by selling the Coral Eurobet company.
MCGUINNESS CONFIRMS MINARDI TALKS
Brendan McGuinness has confirmed that he is part of a consortium led by Saudi Prince Al-Waleed are in talks to buy Minardi. In Formula 1 circles this is no surprise as McGuinness has been knocking around the F1 scene for some time, although his efforts have yet to produce any solid results.
ARROWS LOOKING FOR NEW DRIVER AS FRENTZEN GOES
OrangeArrows and Heinz-Harald Frentzen have agreed to go their separate ways. Frentzen informed the team that he no longer wanted to drive for them and, presumably because there was no choice involved, the team agreed to let Frentzen go.
COCHET BACK ON THE RAILS
Jonathan Cochet, the former French Formula 3 Champion and one-time Prost Grand Prix test driver, has been trying to find a way to progress into Formula 1 since the demise of Prost
THE DRIVERS FOR THUNDER IN THE PARK
The now-annual Minardi Thunder in the Park event at Donington Park on August 10-11 will once again give F1 fans the chance to take a look behind the scenes of F1 with the team promising spectators the chance to get close to the drivers and the cars.
ECONOMIC WORRIES ACROSS THE BOARD
A year ago it was the dot.coms, then came the telecoms and then the accounting scandals and now it is the turn of financial institutions to come under the scrutiny of the stock markets. In the last few weeks insurance and banking companies have been hammered
SUHARTO UNLIKELY TO ORGANISE NEW F1 RACE
Tommy Suharto, the man who tried to put Indonesia on the Formula 1 map, is not going to be bidding for any more Grand Prix dates - as he has just started a 15-year prison sentence for ordering the murder of an Indonesian Supreme Court judge
RAHAL LOOKING AT LE MANS?
Former Jaguar Racing team boss Bobby Rahal is rumoured to be looking at the possibilities of running cars in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
WHAT A LOT OF TWADDLE...
The Formula 1 circus is on holiday this week but the many websites connected with the sport have felt the need to keep producing news not seemingly worried as to whether or not there is any logic to any of it.
BRAZILIAN RACERS FACING HARDSHIPS
The seemingly endless stream of young Brazilians racing in Europe could begin to dry up as the country faces economic problems, following the collapse of the banking systems in Argentina and Uruguay and uncertainty over the future because of the forthcoming election in October.
HERTA AND MINARDI
On Sunday we revealed that Bryan Herta would be joining Minardi at the Thunder in the Park event at Donington in the middle of August.
TURKEY CALLS ELECTIONS
We suggested last week that the plans for a Grand Prix in Turkey might be affected by political issues and that appears to have happened with the Turkish parliament voting for new elections to be held in November.