NEWS ARCHIVE
CAN ANYONE SAVE THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX?
The future of the British Grand Prix is once again in the spotlight and it now appears to be just a question of who is going to get the blame for the event disappearing from the F1 calendar in 2005.
THE A1 GRAND PRIX SERIES IS ON THE MOVE
The new A1 Grand Prix series, based in Dubai, has announced that it has deals with six franchise-holders for the winter series which will kick off in the autumn of next year. The franchises sold are for United Kingdom, South Africa, China, Portugal, Pakistan and the Lebanon.
THE ANSWER TO FORMULA 1'S PROBLEMS
Even before the Ford Motor Company announced that it was stopping its Formula 1 activities, Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo launched a scathing attack on Bernie Ecclestone, complaining that Formula One Management and its related companies take too much money out of the sport.
ENGE GOES TO AMERICA
Former F1 driver Tomas Enge is to finish the season racing for Patrick Racing in the Indy Racing League. He will replace Jacques Lazier.
MOSLEY JOINS US HEAVY-HITTERS IN DEARBORN
Max Mosley is to deliver the keynote address at the Society of Automotive Engineers's Motor Sports Engineering Conference in Dearborn, Michigan, at the end of November.
COULTHARD TO JOIN RACE OF CHAMPIONS
David Coulthard and former World Rally Champion Colin McRae are to join the stars taking on Michael Schumacher, Sebastien Loeb and Jeff Gordon in the Race of Champions in December in Paris's Stade de France.
JORDAN AND RENAULT
There is talk at the moment of Eddie Jordan doing a deal with Renault over engines for 2005.
RALF AND PIZZONIA
The BMW Williams team has decided to give Ralf Schumacher another chance in Japan, apparently because the team partly to blame for delaying the decision whether Ralf should complete the Chinese Grand Prix.
BOURDAIS CONTINUES TOWARDS CHAMP CAR TITLE
Sebastien Bourdais wants to win the Champ Car series this year and used that as a springboard to move to Formula 1 next year.
RACE REPORT - MICHAEL BOMBS... BUT THE RED FLAG STILL FLIES IN SHANGHAI
Chinese GP - Race Report
PIZZONIA BACK IN THE WILLIAMS?
Ralf Schumacher did a good job in Shanghai, up until lap 37 when he collided with David Coulthard at the hairpin.
SUNDAY PHOTOS
Chinese GP - Sunday Photos
SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Chinese GP - Sunday Press Conference
RACE INCIDENTS FROM SHANGHAI
Chinese GP - Race incidents
RACE RESULTS
Chinese GP - Race Results
SWITZERLAND CLEARS WAY FOR AN F1 BID
The lower house of the Swiss parliament has voted in favour of changing the law to allow F1 in Switzerland. The aim, if the money can be found, is to use the sport to boost Swiss tourism. The plan was proposed by politician Ulrich Giezendanner, a member of the People's Party.
PANTANO MANAGEMENT SAYS CONTRACT BROKEN
Giorgio Pantano's split with Jordan Grand Prix has stirred up some trouble with Pantano's management which is claiming that Jordan has broken the contract. Things are complicated by the fact that there is a separate dispute over who controls Pantano's career.
WILLIAMS TEAM ESCAPES ROAD SMASH
The Williams marketing department had a lucky escape on Sunday morning when the van in which they were travelling was hit at high speed by another car on the way to the circuit.
WANT TO BUY A SECOND-HAND RACE TEAM?
Morale at Jaguar Racing is holding up well in Shanghai with a certain amount of black humour about the impending sale or closure of the team. Some wag has now put an advertisement up on e-bay.co.uk which offers the team for £10m.
SATURDAY PHOTOS
Chinese GP - Saturday Photos
SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Chinese GP - Saturday Press Conference
QUALIFYING RESULTS
Chinese GP - Qualifying Results
SEVENTEEN RACES IN 2005
According to FIA President Max Mosley there will be only 17 Grands Prix next year. This is no surprise as the F1 teams have made it very clear that they are not going to do more races unless they get paid considerably more money
CHINESE GP COMES UNDER ATTACK
The prestigious British medical journal The Lancet has launched an attack on the Chinese Grand Prix, calling it "a race to the death" in its editorial.
PRACTICE 4 RESULTS
Chinese GP - Practice Session 4 Results
STODDART ASKS FOR 2005 EXEMPTION
Paul Stoddart has asked the FIA and the other F1 teams to consider granting the Minardi team an exemption from building a new car next year because it will make no difference at all to the grid order.
TRULLI FOR TOYOTA IN JAPAN?
Jarno Trulli did not go to China with the Panasonic Toyota Racing team but it seems likely that the Italian will be driving for the team in Japan in two weeks.
PRACTICE 3 RESULTS
Chinese GP - Practice Session 3 Results
FRIDAY PHOTOS
Chinese GP - Friday Photos
FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Chinese GP - Friday Press Conference
PRACTICE 2 RESULTS
Chinese GP - Practice Session 2 Results
PRACTICE 1 RESULTS
Chinese GP - Practice Session 1 Results
BAR AIMS AT CHINESE MARKET
The British American Racing team exists to publicize the activities of its parent British American Tobacco and it is logical that in the world's biggest cigarette market they company should want to concentrate on its most important brand.
"MASSES OF INTEREST" IN JAGUAR RACING
Tony Purnell, the boss of Jaguar Racing says that there is "masses of interest" in the team, which the Ford Motor Company has decided to discontinue.
A VERY TELLING LITTLE OUTBURST
Flavio Briatore pulled out his six guns during the FIA Press Conference on Thursday in Shanghai and began blasting away when asked to talk about the problems facing the sport.
CONTRACT RECOGNITION BOARD IS DELAYED
The Contract Recognition Board has been delayed and will now not take place until October 16.
ECCLESTONE TURNS ON FERRARI
Two weeks ago in Monza Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo launched a bitter attack on Bernie Ecclestone, saying that he was taking oo much out of the sport and not giving enough back.
JORDAN GOES TO THE BANK FOR CASH
Citibank China is to sponsor Jordan Grand Prix in the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix this week. The Jordans will feature prominent branding from Citibank China.
TIMO GLOCK TO RACE IN CHINESE GRAND PRIX
Jordan announced today that Timo Glock, their official third driver, will be taking over for Giorgio Pantano and will race car 19 in this weekends inaugural Chinese Grand Prix.
A CONTRACT TO BE RECOGNISED TODAY
The Contract Recognition Board meets today in Geneva, Switzerland, to decide whether Jenson Button should drive for Williams or for BAR in 2005 and 2006.
TOBACCO UNDER ATTACK AGAIN IN THE US
The US Justice Department has launched a massive law suit against the major tobacco companies, arguing that the industry deliberately misled the US public about the harmful effects of smoking, starting in the 1950s.
GLOCK IN FOR PANTANO?
Our sources suggest that we are likely to see a change of driver in Shanghai with Giorgio Pantano standing down and Timo Glock taking over.
THE CAR WORLD LOOKS TO PARIS
While F1 is looking to China to boost its fortunes, the major car manufacturers are looking this week to Paris where the Mondial de l'Automobile is expected to attract more than 1.4m visitors in the course of the next two weeks.
MICHELIN IS WORLD'S NUMBER ONE TYRE MAKER FOR THIRD YEAR RUNNING
Michelin may be taking a hammering this year in Formula 1 from its rival Bridgestone, but the French firm remains number one in the world for the third year running,
WHEN DOES TOBACCO SPONSORSHIP STOP?
For most of 2004 there have been attempts going on behind the scenes to get the British government to do something about its Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act of 2002 which makes any person who is party to a sponsorship agreement guilty of an offence if the purpose is to promote tobacco products in the UK.
FOM TAKES OVER TV COVERAGE IN CHINA
A last-minute switch of broadcasters for the Chinese Grand Prix has added a little spice to the lives of those trying to get things organized in time in Shanghai.
A SETBACK FOR WILLIAMS
Williams chief designer Gavin Fisher likes motocross and at this time of year tends to spend a week or two in southern California enjoying a break before the final dash designing next year's car. This year's trip however ended in disaster with Fisher in hospital after a serious accident last Wednesday.
ACTION HERE AND THERE
There was no Formula 1 racing at the weekend but there was no shortage of action for some of those who hope one day to make it into Grand Prix racing.
CHINESE GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
Chinese GP - Preview
GREEN STILL ON TOP
Rising British star Jamie Green won another victory in the Formula 3 Euro Series at Brno on Saturday. The 22-year-old, who has already won the title, beat his ASM team mate Alexandre Premat five seconds in the 15 lap race at the Czech circuit. There will be a second race on Sunday.
AMERICA CONSIDERS COSWORTH SITUATION
The American racing scene's reaction to the announcement that Cosworth is for sale has been measured. In addition to designing and building Formula 1 engines for Jaguar, Jordan and Minardi, Cosworth supplies the engines for the Champ Car World Series and provides General Motors with its Chevrolet engines in IRL.
MINARDI'S CHRISTMAS SALE
Paul Stoddart is preparing for a $5m sell-off of some of his Formula 1 assets at his English factory in Ledbury. The Australian aviation magnate has been an avid collector of Formula 1 cars and equipment for the last 10 years but has now become fed up with "falling over all the cars that are lying around".
NO TRULLI IN CHINA
Jarno Trulli says that he is not going to race for Toyota in China and will start work with his new team next year. This is good news for test driver Ricardo Zonta who will get another three races in which to show his skills.
TIME FOR THE LAWYERS?
The implications of the announcement that the Ford Motor Company is pulling out of Formula 1 are still sinking in and there has not been much time to think through all the varous issues involved.
JORDAN TO ANALYSE ENGINE SITUATION
Eddie Jordan says that his team is analysing the situation withe regard to engines for 2005.
THE CONTRACT RECOGNITION BOARD NEXT WEEK!
The Contract Recognition Board has changed the date of its planned hearing into Jenson Button's contractual status in 2005 and we hear that there will now be a hearing on Wednesday next week.
MINARDI REMINDS FORD OF CONTRACTUAL SITUATION
The Minardi F1 team says that it has a contract in place for next year with Ford-owned Cosworth Racing and that it will be working closely with Cosworth to find a suitable solution to the problem, which could involve a substantial payment in lieu of the engines.
THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE JAGUAR DECISION
The Ford Motor Company's decision to quit Formula 1 and sell its F1-related operations is a setback for the whole sport. It paints F1 in a negative light: Formula 1, Richard Parry-Jones said, was too expensive and was too slow to change.
IS THERE A BUYER OUT THERE?
There seems to be little doubt that there are a variety of companies which might be interested to step in and take control of the company currently known as Jaguar Racing. There has been plenty of speculation in recent weeks over names as it is an open secret that the team was on the market.
THE END FOR JAGUAR RACING
Come what may, there is no future for the team named Jaguar and the striking British Racing Green cars that have graced the circuits in recent years. The team has not been a success and most observers are convinced that the problem was that Ford internal politicking caused more damage than anything else.
JAGUAR RACING AND COSWORTH UP FOR SALE
The Ford Motor Company has announced that Jaguar Racing and Cosworth are up for sale and will leave Formula 1 at the end of the year unless buyers can be found for the two entities, which will be run as going concerns until the end of the year.
COSWORTH AND AMERICA
The Cosworth Racing company has important contracts in the United States of America, supplying all the engines for the Champ Car World Series and providing engines for the Chevrolet operations in the Indy Racing League.
JAGUAR OUT OF F1
The Ford Motor Company has announced that Jaguar Racing is to leave the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, at the end of the year.
RENAULT CONFIRMS VILLENEUVE
Renault F1 has confirmed that Jacques Villeneuve will partner Fernando Alonso for the final three races of the 2004 Formula 1 season, beginning with next week's Chinese Grand Prix.
JAGUAR TO CLOSE BROWN'S LANE FACTORY
The Ford Motor Company will announce today that it is to close its Browns Lane plant in Coventry, which employs 2,000 workers and builds the XK sports coupe and XJ luxury saloon.
ARDEN AND FORMULA 1
There have been rumours in recent days about Arden Motorsport taking over Jordan Grand Prix. This does not seem very likely to happen because Arden boss Christian Horner admits that he does not have the money that is needed to go to Formula 1 in 2005.
MORE PUSHING AND SHOVING ON ENGINES
BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Honda have proposed radical plans for the F1 engine regulations for next year in their bid to stop the FIA imposing two-race engines. At a meeting in Paris on Wednesday they proposed that the rules remain with engines being used for one race weekend only.
GM DAEWOO BECOMES CHEVROLET
General Motors has made the potentially significant decision to rebrand its GM Daewoo range as Chevrolet in Europe and is planning for a new range of cars to be introduced into the European market starting in January.
THE FUTURE OF JAGUAR RACING
For the last few weeks there have been many rumours about the future of Jaguar Racing and with very obvious problems with Jaguar Cars and a cutback in the Ford World Rally Championship programme, the speculation has tended to be rather negative.
LIUZZI IMPRESSES SAUBER
Vitantonio Liuzzi made an extremely positive impression in his Sauber test at Jerez today, even though it was beset by numerous mechanical problems.
THE 2005 FORMULA 1 DRIVER LINE-UP
The recent spate of signings has calmed down the F1 driver market to some extent with very few seats now available for next year.
WELL, STONE THE CROWS, TRULLI JOINS TOYOTA
Jarno Trulli was telling other teams from the middle of August that he had signed a contract with Panasonic Toyota Racing for 2005.
LIUZZI WILL RUN
Vitantonio Liuzzi will test for Sauber today at Jerez de la Frontera, despite the fact that the Italian youngster had been expecting the test to be a chance to impress the team and convince them that he should be signed up for next year.
FRIESACHER TO TEST FOR MINARDI
Austria's Patrick Friesacher is to test for Minardi later this autumn.
NOW THAT IS A COMEBACK!
When Jacques Villeneuve left Formula 1 a year ago he went out without even a whimper following the decision by Lucky Strike BAR Honda to sign Takuma Sato as Jenson Button's team mate in 2004.
GETTING FRENCH DRIVERS INTO FORMULA 1
There is much angst in France at the moment about the country's dwindling involvement in Formula 1. The major French newspapers are giving Formula 1 less and less coverage and interest is dropping.
WILL LIUZZI TEST?
Vitantonio Liuzzi is down in Spain where he is due to test for Sauber tomorrow. The test was organized in order to assess whether or not Liuzzi could race for the team in 2005.
SAUBER ANNOUNCES VILLENEUVE DEAL
As we suggested would happen earlier today, Jacques Villeneuve has been signed by the Sauber team for 2005 and 2006. The team confirmed the news this afternoon.
NEW SAFETY MEASURES
Although Formula 1 remains stalled on an agreement over reducing the speed of the cars, there was a meeting of the Technical Working Group at Monza and a number of safety changes were agreed.
VILLENEUVE AND SAUBER
With Jacques Villeneuve testing for Renault today at Silverstone there has been the perhaps inevitable speculation that this could change things for next season when Giancarlo Fisichella is due to join Fernando Alonso at Renault F1.
CONTRACT RECOGNITION BOARD DELAYED
The Contract Recognition Board which is due to meet to decide whether Jenson Button should drive for Williams or for BAR in 2005 will not be meeting until the end of October, unless the teams involved can get the legal people in Switzerland to hurry things along.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT JARNO
Jarno Trulli is out of Renault but it seems he is quite satisfied with the situation, the relationship with team having dived in recent weeks with the team blaming the driver and the driver arguing that the car is no good.
RALF MAKES RETURN TO F1
Ralf Schumacher was very quick today in testing at the Silverstone circuit as he stepped back into a Formula One car for the first time since his crash in June at the United States Grand Prix.
VILLENEUVE TEST CONFIRMED
As we exclusively reported on Sunday, Renault F1 announced today - after denying yesterday - that French-Canadian Jacques Villeneuve will test for the team at Silverstone this week.
VILLENEUVE IN ENGLAND
Jacques Villeneuve popped up in England on Tuesday and it is expected that the French-Canadian will test for the Renault F1 team tomorrow if a suitable settlement can be agreed with Jarno Trulli, the man who would have to stand aside if the team takes on Villeneuve for the rest of the season.
RACE REPORT - TIME FOR LUNCH AS WELL?
Italian GP - Race Report
VILLENEUVE TO JOIN RENAULT?
There are strong rumours that Jacques Villeneuve will be named to replace Jarno Trulli at Renault on Tuesday. Our sources say that if the deal is confirmed the French-Canadian will test for the team at Jerez de la Frontera before flying out to partner Fernando Alonso in China.
SUNDAY PHOTOS
Italian GP - Sunday Photos
THE END FOR TRULLI AND RENAULT?
Jarno Trulli had a second consecutive lacklustre race for Renault and while the Italian driver blames the car and the team blame the driver, it is clear that if Renault wants to compete with BAR it needs to do something dramatic as BAR has now moved into second place in the Constructors' Championship.
SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Italian GP - Sunday Press Conference
RACE INCIDENTS FROM MONZA
Italian GP - Race Incidents
RACE RESULTS
Italian GP - Race Results
MONTEZEMOLO ATTACKS ECCLESTONE
Fiat president Luca di Montezemolo appeared at Monza on Saturday afternoon and gave his views about the current political situation in Formula 1. And it did not make comfortable listening for F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone, who was the target for his comments.
SATURDAY PHOTOS
Italian GP - Saturday Photos
SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Italian GP - Saturday Press Conference
QUALIFYING RESULTS
Italian GP - Qualifying Results
PRACTICE 4 RESULTS
Italian GP - Practice Session 4 Results
MOSLEY DISMISSES ARBITRATION THREAT
FIA President Max Mosley says that he is pushing ahead with his plan to have 2.4-litre V8 engines despite the fact that the Concorde Agreement includes a clause which specifically states that Formula 1 will be run for 3-litre V10s until the end of the agreement in December 2007.
MOSLEY WANTS NEW BLOOD IN F1
Max Mosley says he wants to see new teams in F1.
MOSLEY EXPLAINS HIS RETIREMENT U-TURN
FIA President Max Mosley turned up at Monza and explained to the Formula 1 media about his decision to un-retire himself after his announcement at Magny-Cours two months ago when he said that he would stand down from his role in October.
PRACTICE 3 RESULTS
Italian GP - Practice Session 3 Results
PRACTICE 2 REPORT - RAIKKONEN GOES TOP
Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of the Friday afternoon session at Monza, although the Finn's best lap was still slower than the best time achieved by Michael Schumacher in the cooler morning session.
FRIDAY PHOTOS
Italian GP - Friday Photos
FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Italian GP - Friday Press Conference
PRACTICE 2 RESULTS
Italian GP - Practice Session 2 Results
PRACTICE 1 RESULTS
Italian GP - Practice Session 1 Results
FOM TO TAKE OVER MORE TV COVERAGE IN 2005
The latest whisper in Formula 1 circles is that the Formula One group is to increase its role as the host broadcaster of F1 races in 2005. This is great news because it means that the quality of the programming will be assured.
TRULLI WILL DRIVE NEXT YEAR
Jarno Trulli says that he has a deal for next year but will not say with which team the agreement has been made. It is fairly certain however that the contract is with Toyota and it is not clear why the Japanese car manufacturer is waiting to make an announcement.
SIGNS OF CHANGE
The World Rally Championship can sometimes offer indications as to what is happening in Formula 1 and the recent days have seen a lot of pushing and shoving over the future of the Ford Motor Company in the series.
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
Italian GP - Preview
PANIS SIGNS FOR TWO YEARS AS TOYOTA TESTER
Olivier Panis has signed a two-year deal to be Toyota's third driver. He will substitute if either of the two Toyota drivers in 2005 and 2006 is unable to race. It is anticipated that the team will sign Jarno Trulli to race alongside Ralf Schumacher for next year.
VILLENEUVE AND SAUBER
There has been lots of talk about a deal between Sauber and Jacques Villeneuve, but team boss Peter Sauber says that at the moment no decision has been made.
FERRARI SIGNS PUMA AS OFFICIAL SPONSOR
Ferrari has reached a licensing agreement with Puma AG, a world leader in sports clothing as well as a supplier and sponsor to F1 teams such as Williams-BMW, Renault, Sauber, Jaguar, Jordan, and Minardi.
MCLAREN RUNS CHINESE DRIVER
The West McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team gave 20-year-old Chinaman Cheng Congfu has first chance to try Formula 1 power in a demonstration run at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Cheng was at the wheel of a McLaren MP4-17D.
MONTEIRO TESTS FOR MINARDI
Tiago Monteiro was out testing for Minardi at Vallelunga this week, the Portuguese driver setting a best lap of 1m03.810s, just a couple of tenths slower than the best lap achieved by regular driver Gianmaria Bruni.
THE FUTURE OF THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX
The British Racing Drivers' Club has today submitted a written offer to Formula One Management to act as the promoter for the British Grand Prix in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
CONNAUGHT MAKES A COMEBACK
Back in the 1950s construction firm heir Kenneth McAlpine began building racing cars at a workshop in Send, near Woking. The first Connaught was a sports car but for 1951 the company built a Formula 2 car.
GREEN IS EUROCUP FORMULA 3 CHAMPION
Britain's Jamie Green has wrapped up the Formula 3 Euroseries title with four races remaining. The 22-year-old has already accumulated 111 points and cannot now be caught by his closest challenger Alexandre Premat.
WHY BERNIE ECCLESTONE IS WRONG ABOUT DRIVERS
Bernie Ecclestone says that he wants to see former World Champions Jacques Villeneuve and Mika Hakkinen back in the sport. Villeneuve and Hakkinen have both been mentioned in relation to drives for 2005 but at the moment neither seems likely to land a seat that would give them a chance to achieve very much.
BUTTON DEFENDS HIMSELF
Jenson Button has remained silent about his decision to switch from BAR-Honda to BMW Williams next year but he has clearly been unhappy with some of the media coverage he has been receiving and has now set the record straight indicating that "contractually we had some differences.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
The FIA has presented members of the Formula 1 Technical Working Group with three packages of technical measures for consideration, following the failure of the teams to come up with a suitable agreement on how to cut back speeds in F1.
THE F1 BANKS WILL NOT SELL TO BERNIE
There may be reports that Bernie Ecclestone is buying back the Formula One group from the banks involved in the company but this does not make the story any more true than Ecclestone's comments suggesting that F1 is boring because the media reports that it is boring.
WILLIAMS SENDS BUTTON CONTRACT TO CRB
The BMW Williams team has decided to send its 2005 Jenson Button contract to the Contract Recognition Board in order to break the deadlock that exists at the moment.
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER TO TAKE ON JEFF GORDON
NASCAR star Jeff Gordon will go head-to-head with Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher at the Race of Champions in Paris on December 4. The four-time NASCAR champion will take on the seven-time Formula 1 champion on a special course which will be laid own inside the Stade de France.
FINAL DAY OF TESTING AT MONZA
Fernando Alonso topped the times at 1:20.621 in the final day of testing at Monza this afternoon. Alonso is the third driver in the last three days to top the time sheets for the group test - following Michael Schumacher and Antonio Pizzonia.
ARDEN LOOKING FOR AN F1 FUTURE
The news that Dallara is working on a Formula 1 project for a mystery backer has led to all manner of speculation about the new team including some rather unlikely suggestions.
CONTROVERSY IN JAPAN
Richard Lyons hopes to get into Formula 1 next year but his hopes of winning the Formula Nippon series last weekend took a knock when he was punted out of the race at Mine on the final lap after dominating the event.
SCHUMACHER ESCAPES UNHURT AFTER HEAVY CRASH IN MONZA
Michael Schumacher has escaped unhurt after a heavy crash during testing today in Monza.
RALF BLAMES INSURERS FOR DELAYED RETURN
Ralf Schumacher has stated that he is fit and prepared to return to Formula One after fracturing his back ten weeks ago during the United States Grand Prix. Although the German has met with medical examiners and feels fit enough to get back in the car, he says it is insurers that have prevented him from racing at the Italian Grand Prix next week.
SAUBER PLANS TEST WITH LIUZZI
The Sauber Formula One team announced today that they will be testing Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi in the coming weeks as the team seeks a replacement for Giancarlo Fisichella.
TESTING BAN ENDS
After the month long testing ban in August today kicked off the first day of a three day test at the Monza circuit. All ten teams were at the track working hard on their setup for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix on September 12.
LIUZZI TO TEST FOR SAUBER
The new Formula 3000 Champion Vitantonio Liuzzi met with Peter Sauber at Spa and is believed to have had a secret seat fitting with the Swiss team. It is anticipated that the Italian will be seen in one of the Swiss cars for a day of testing at Jerez after the Italian Grand Prix.
NIELSEN STAYS AT RENAULT
Renault F1 sporting director Steve Nielsen has agreed terms for a new contract with the team which will take him to the end of 2006.
BUTTON AND BAR
Jenson Button has signed for Williams for 2005 but the latest suggestion doing the rounds at Spa was that British American Tobacco, the owner of BAR, has decided to break the current deadlock over Button by offering the rising British star a substantial payment
