NEWS ARCHIVE
A SIGN OF AFFECTION FROM JEAN TODT
Jean Todt does not always come across as a man with much affection but he obviously feels strongly enough about Michael Schumacher that he is willing to wait until next Spring to see if Michael will agree to a new contract for 2007 and 2008. In normal circumstances Todt would have tied up his 2007 drivers already.
WHY FORMULA ONE HAS A LOT TO LEARN FROM NASCAR
The International Speedway Corporation and its rival Speedway Motorsports have announced that they are buying the merchandising company Action Performance for $245m. Action Performance holds many of the licences for merchandise related to the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
A BIZARRE STATEMENT FROM FOM (WHOEVER THAT IS)
There was a strange press release this evening sent out by Formula One Management and signed by Bernie Ecclestone. The message, however, was not one that seemed to ring true with Ecclestone's views in recent months.
HOW TO STOP THE SCHUMACHER RUMOURS
Michael Schumacher and Ferrari could stop all the rumours about the multiple World Champion retiring at the end of 2006 by announcing a new deal for Schumacher for 2007 or by admitting that Michael is quitting.
CHINA RATIFIES TOBACCO TREATY
The Chinese government has ratified the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, formalising the country's support for the anti-smoking treaty and obligating the Chinese to ban tobacco sponsorship.
A BUSY WEEKEND FOR ALL BUT F1
It was a very full weekend for motorsport with all the major series in action apart from Formula 1. In Germany Sebastien Loeb won his eighth victory of the year to move close to a second consecutive World Championship for Citroen.
MICHELE DUBOSC
Michele Dubosc, the most famous timekeeper in F1 in the 1970s and 1980s has died after a long illness.
RENAULT IN MOSCOW
The Renault F1 team sent a car to Moscow at the weekend and drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella made demonstration runs on a street track laid out on Moskvoretskaya street and across the Moskvoretsky bridge.
MCLAREN MAN HEADS KIWI A1 CHALLENGE
Former McLaren man Bob McMurray is the chief executive of A1 Team New Zealand.
WHY WE SHOULD NOT BELIEVE TOO MANY DENIALS
It is worth noting that while there is much talk of premature rumours of Kimi Raikkonen signing at Ferrari, it is exactly the right moment for Ferrari to make a move.
A NEW FINANCE SCHEME FOR F1
It might seem unlikely that Formula 1 could be saved from itself by a 40-something-year-old American but stories leaking out that Robin Saunders, once the golden girl of city finance, could be making a comeback with a $1.5bn plan to buy control of Formula One from the three banks involved.
MONTOYA TOPS AT MONZA
It was a busy week of testing at Monza where all the Formula 1 teams were in action in preparation for the Italian Grand Prix. Juan Pablo Montoya set the fastest time with a best lap of 1m19.813s after two days of running, during which he completed 170 laps of the track.
FORMULA ONE AND FORMULA ONE BACK IN COURT
The High Court in London is currently quiet, with most of the justices away on their summer recess. At this time of year the courts deal only with interim hearings, which can result in interim orders pending the resolution of a legal action.
DOR TRIES SINGLE SEATERS
It is worth noting that the new A1 Team Switzerland appears to be being run by Care Racing Developments, which is the racing operation run by sportscar racer Frederic Dor from his premises at Gilly, near Nyon in Switzerland.
THE POLITICS OF RED BULL
Red Bull has been a big name in Formula 1 circles for 10 years now but one aim it has always had was to bring a top level American driver into the sport, to help its invasion of the United States drinks markets and specifically the youth market.
WILLIAMS SOUPS UP DESIGN TEAM
Williams has taken on a new chief designer in Jorg Zander, a 41-year-old German who cut his teeth in motorsport at Toyota. In recent years Zander has been in charge of mechanics and transmission at BAR.
TALKS ABOUT QUALIFYING
The Formula 1 team bosses met in Turkey to try to work out what to do about qualifying next year and the opinions seem to be somewhat split, unusual in this age of detente, although the general feeling now appears to be to maintain the status quo with one or two modifications.
RAIKKONEN AT FERRARI (WITHOUT THE QUESTION MARK)
Usually reliable sources are now telling us that Kimi Raikkonen will definitely be moving to Ferrari in 2007, which clearly upsets the applecart of the Formula 1 driver market, unless we are to believe that Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher will agree to be in the same team together.
RAIKKONEN AT FERRARI?
There are reports in Germany this morning that Kimi Raikkonen has signed an option to join Ferrari in 2007. This option is almost certainly dependent on whether or not Michael Schumacher is still with the team or whether the German retires or moves to another F1 operation.
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER ANGLES FOR A NEW CONTRACT
Behind the rumours of Michael Schumacher joining McLaren there appear to be negotiations for the German to stay on for probably two more years with Scuderia Ferrari. Schumacher's current contract with Ferrari runs out at the end of 2006.
TOBACCO PRESSURE INCREASES AGAIN
Although some of the F1 teams think that they can go on with tobacco sponsorship indefinitely, the ever-closing net of anti-tobacco legislation around the world continues to tighten.
WALKER GETS A NEW JOB
Australian Grand Prix big cheese Ron Walker is to be named chairman of the John Fairfax Holdings newspaper group, which includes the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age newspapers.
SHNAIDER TRIES AGAIN TO SOUND SERIOUS
Clearly aware that he has a credibility problem in F1 circles, Jordan team owner Alex Shnaider is trying again to sound like a serious Formula 1 team owner with Bernie Ecclestone's official website Formula 1.com running an interview, trying to explain his strategy in Formula 1.
NANOTECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN F1?
Nanotechnology is the creation and use of materials, devices and systems in the nanometre range. In short, microscopic technology (one nanometre being one millionth of a millimetre).
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMULA ONE AND FORMULA ONE
Research into the behind the scenes activity in and around Formula 1 has revealed some interesting new facts, not least that a company called Formula One Promotions and Administration Ltd is not only applying for the European trademarks of GP1 but is also the holder of the GP2 trademark.
DUTCH INVESTORS TO BUY MINARDI?
The Rotterdam newspaper Het Algmene Dagblad this morning reported that a Dutch group is looking to buy a share of the Minardi team from Paul Stoddart. There were, it seems, meetings in Turkey to this end which included Stoddart and Bernie Ecclestone.
MICHAEL AND MCLAREN
The German press has been known to get a little excited over the years about rumours concerning Michael Schumacher but the revelations that the seven-time World Champion has been talking to McLaren are interesting and pose a number of questions.
A1 TEAM USA - A RED BULL CONNECTION?
Rick Weidinger's A1 Team USA is still to announce its full plans for the coming season but the team has now listed three drivers and it is interesting to note that all three of them are Red Bull drivers.
WEBER DOES A DEAL WITH SEARS
The SuperNova Racing GP2 team will run the German A1 Grand Prix team. The German franchise is owned by Willi Weber, manager of Michael and Ralf Schumacher.
MALAYSIA MOVES ON TOBACCO
The Malaysian cabinet decided last week to ratify the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which will mean new rules for tobacco companies in the country.
DAVIDSON FREE TO GO TO JORDAN
British American Racing boss Nick Fry has given Anthony Davidson a very clear message by saying that "if Anthony feels he cannot wait for the final decision over Jenson, then he is free to secure a race drive elsewhere".
THE DRIVING OF MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
Michael Schumacher is widely accepted as being the greatest driver of his era, although his complete domination of F1 statistics is sometimes mistaken for him being the greatest racing driver of all time.
RACE REPORT - MCLAREN'S SWEET AND SOUR TURKEY
With two laps to go before the end of the Turkish Grand Prix, things were looking as good as they get for McLaren. It was, at that moment, a question of maximum points. Eighteen of them. Amazingly, only one team has scored maximum points at a race this year.
RED BULL'S LITTLE PROBLEM
Red Bull has a problem. The Austrian drinks firm has been sponsoring a young driver programme for the last few years and is keen to be seen to be backing young talent as this is apparently something which appeals to its young customers.
TRAFFICKING IN TURKEY
The Turkish Grand Prix was a great success, with a huge crowd, despite the high costs for spectators, and a big boost for the country's tourist trade. Profiteering from the race did not seem to be too bad in Istanbul, unlike some of the other venues were all prices are hiked dramatically when the F1 circus comes to town.
BUTTON AND THE CONTRACT RECOGNITION BOARD
There remains plenty of talk in F1 circles about Jenson Button and the tug-of-love between Williams and BAR for his services next season. Nothing seems to be happening, which is odd given that it is in the interest of everyone that the matter be sorted out as quickly as possible.
MICHELIN UNHAPPY WITH MASSA TEST
Given the intensity of the tyre war this year, it is not entirely surprising that Michelin is less than happy with the news that Sauber driver Felipe Massa will be testing at Monza this week for the Ferrari team.
SUNDAY PHOTOS
Turkish GP - Sunday Photos
SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Turkish GP - Sunday Press Conference
RACE INCIDENTS FROM ISTANBUL
Turkish GP - Race Incidents
SUNDAY TEAM QUOTES
Turkish GP - Sunday Team Quotes
RACE RESULTS
Turkish GP - Race Results
QUALIFYING REPORT - RAIKKONEN WINS THE DAY
Kimi Raikkonen gave notice that he is still the man to be feared as he set the fastest time in qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix. The Finn put his McLaren on pole, beating the two Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso, although the biggest challenge should have come from Jenson Button.
SATO GOES TO THE BACK OF THE GRID
Takuma Sato has been dumped to the back of the grid for getting in the way of Mark Webber in qualifying on Saturday in Istanbul. The BAR-Honda driver imposed the penalty after Sato cost the Australian around three-tenths of a second.
SATURDAY PHOTOS
Turkish GP - Saturday Photos
SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Turkish GP - Saturday Press Conference
SATURDAY TEAM QUOTES
Turkish GP - Saturday Team Quotes
QUALIFYING RESULTS
Turkish GP - Qualifying Results
SATURDAY PRACTICE - KIMI BLOWS THEM AWAY
Kimi Raikkonen was half a second faster than the rest of the field in the final practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix on Saturday morning. The Finn confirmed that McLaren is still well ahead of the game after F1's midseason break.
PRACTICE 4 RESULTS
Turkish GP - Practice Session 4 Results
PRACTICE 3 RESULTS
Turkish GP - Practice Session 3 Results
GOOD NEWS FOR TURKEY
The Kurdish rebel group PKK, which is fighting for autonomy in an area of south-eastern Turkey, has used the Grand Prix weekend in Istanbul to announce that it is declaring a one-month ceasefire in its campaign to disrupt tourism in the country.
PRACTICE 2 REPORT - ZONTA GOES TOP FOR TOYOTA
Ricardo Zonta set the fastest time of the second session in Istanbul on Friday afternoon, recording a time which was six-tenths faster than that set by McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa.
FRIDAY PHOTOS
Turkish GP - Friday Photos
A LOTUS MUSEUM?
There are plans to open a Lotus Museum at 7 Tottenham Lane in Hornsey, where Lotus founder Colin Chapman built his first cars.
FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Turkish GP - Friday Press Conference
FRIDAY TEAM QUOTES
Turkish GP - Friday Team Quotes
PRACTICE 2 RESULTS
Turkish GP - Practice Session 2 Results
ZETSCHE TO HEAD MERCEDES
Dieter Zetsche, the new boss of DaimlerChrysler, will also take charge of the Mercedes car division and thus will be the man overseeing the Formula 1 programme.
PRACTICE 1 REPORT - DE LA ROSA LEADS THE WAY
McLaren remained on top of the Formula 1 pile in the first practice session in Istanbul with test driver Pedro de la Rosa setting the fastest time of the session, well clear of his team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who knows that he must score as many points as possible in Turkey to maintain a World Championship challenge.
PRACTICE 1 RESULTS
Turkish GP - Practice Session 1 Results
TURKISH GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
Turkish GP - Preview
CHAMP CAR NAMES NEW PRESIDENT
Steve Johnson has been named the new president of Champ Car while former president Dick Eldswick will remain with the company as chief executive officer and chairman.
PANTANO DIVERSIFIES WITH IRL
Former Jordan F1 driver Giorgio Pantano will drive the third IRL car of Ganassi Racing at the two road course races later in the season.
WILLI WEBER DODGES BULLET NUMBER 1
Michael and Ralf Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber has had perjury charges dropped by a Stuttgart court according to the DPA.
ISTANBUL STEPS UP SECURITY FOR GRAND PRIX
Very tight security measures have been set for the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul on Sunday.
FORMER NFL QUARTERBACKS MAKE NASCAR MOVE
Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, two former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks turned Dallas businessmen have formed 'Hall of Fame Racing' and plan to compete in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series next year.
FINAL DAY OF TESTING IN FIORANO FOR FERRARI
Second and last day of testing this week for Ferrari before they leave for this weekends innagural Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul.
BAR ANNOUNCES BARRICHELLO FOR 2006
BAR-Honda has officially announced a multi year deal to sign Rubens Barrichello from 2006.
BARRICHELLO TO BE CONFIRMED SHORTLY
It is anticipated that BAR Honda will confirm the signing of Rubens Barrichello within the next few days. It is anticipated that the team will announce that the Brazilian has joined the team for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
AN INTERIM YEAR FOR WILLIAMS
The long-awaited announcement that Williams will use Cosworth engines in 2006 is no surprise, just as an announcement that the team will run Toyota engines in 2007 and beyond will surprise no-one in F1 circles.
BOURDAIS HEADING FOR A SECOND TITLE
Sebastien Bourdais wants his name in the frame in Formula 1 and the best way he can achieve that is to win in the United States. The current Champ Car champion is doing exactly that and at the weekend won his fourth victory of the season in Denver.
DAVIDSON HOPES FOR A JORDAN
Anthony Davidson has learned the hard way that being a Formula 1 test driver is not enough to get a fulltime drive in the sport.
F1 MEN LEAD A1 TEAM IRELAND
A1 Team Ireland is to be led by former F1 marketing man Mark Gallagher, with backing from a consortium of businessmen. The team will run former Jordan F1 driver Ralph Firman Jr.
ANOTHER IDEA FOR QUALIFYING
The Formula 1 drivers have asked the FIA to consider a new system of qualifying next year.
THE FUTURE OF CAN ARTAM
Can Artam is making noises about being a Grand Prix driver next year.
MINARDI TO RUN CARS AT ZANDVOORT AND IN ADELAIDE
The Minardi team will be running a pair of cars this weekend at Zandvoort supporting the DTM series.
WILLIAMS AND MICHELIN
We believe that Williams and Michelin are in the final stages of negotiating a new deal for 2006.
BAR AND NICK HEIDFELD
There may be some kind of an option for BAR to use Nick Heifeld next year but the German is under a Williams option for some time yet.
MINARDI TO RUN TOCCACELO
Enrico Toccacelo is to become the Minardi test and reserve driver from the Turkish Grand Prix.
ECCLESTONE APPLIES FOR GP1 TRADEMARK
Formula One Promotions and Administration has applied for the pan-European trademark rights to the name GP1 covering 16 categories including organising and staging sports events, broadcasting, sportswear and timing equipment.
RED BULL RACING APPLIES FOR 24 HOUR PERMIT
Red Bull Racing has asked the Bedford Borough Council for permission to run its new windtunnel around the clock.
AMERICANS QUESTION F1 DEAL FOR 2006
Reports from the Associated Press suggest that it is not a foregone conclusion that there will be a United States Grand Prix in 2006. The speedway made a huge investment to get an F1 race and has to decide whether it is going to write this off and give up on F1.
DIAZ TO RACE FOR A1 TEAM MEXICO
Luis Diaz has been confirmed as the lead driver of A1 Grand Prix Team Mexico. The 27-year-old is current racing for Chip Ganassi in GrandAm, although he raced in Toyota Atlantic before moving to GrandAm.
TAHINCIOGLU TO RUN A JORDAN
Jordan will run a demonstration for Formula Renault driver Jason Tahincioglu at the forthcoming Turkish Grand Prix. Tahincioglu will become the first Turkish driver to drive an F1 car.
BUSINESS F1 TAKES A HIT
The magazine Business F1 has run into legal difficulties having published allegations in January about Alan Donnelly, Max Mosley's official representative at Formula 1 Grands Prix.
BERNIE ALL FOR DEMOCRACY
Bernie Ecclestone, the man who has run F1 with an iron fist in recent years, seems to have converted to democracy in recent days, saying that "I want the teams to own the sport".
FERRARI'S PUKKA V8 APPEARS
Ferrari last month tested a prototype V8 engine, which had major vibration problems, but this week the team ran its first real V8 engine, which was given its debut in the hands of Marc Gene, who completed 38 laps around Fiorano in the first shakedown test.
MICHELIN IS AS GOOD AS ITS WORD
Claim forms are now available for those seeking refunds from Michelin for the boycott of the US Grand Prix in June.
WHAT IS THIS?
In a recent press conference the organisers of the planned South African Grand Prix made one very interesting remark, noting that if a race is to go ahead it will have to convince the government to "allow them to advertise" tobacco.
TROUBLE AT MERCEDES
The recent decision by Jurgen Schrempp is to stand down as DaimlerChrysler chairman, three years ahead of schedule, have had some destabilising influences on the Stuttgart company, not least because the chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Eckhard Cordes appears to have decided to follow Schrempp out of the door.
SECOND ANNUAL MINARDI AUCTION
Minardi has announced that it will be holding it's second annual auction of Minardi Formula One memorabilia
ROMANIANS TALK OF FORMULA 1
For most of this year there have been stories coming out of Romania about plans to create a racing circuit in the downtown area of Bucharest, around the famous Parliament Palace, built by the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu before he overthrown in 1989.
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
The International Rugby Board has just announced that it is to invest $53m in the sport to improve the competitiveness of rugby worldwide. The investment is part of the IRB's Strategic Plan to develop the game.
THE BATTLE FOR INTEL
The word in Formula 1 circles for some time has been that chip-maker Intel is keen to come into Formula 1 and is talking to a variety of teams about deals for the future.
GRAND PRIX MASTERS ON THE MOVE
The new Grand Prix Masters World Series aims to kick off in November at Kyalami.
WILLIAMS HEADS FOR ROTTERDAM
Williams is to join Minardi in the "Monaco on the Maas" event on the streets of Rotterdam this weekend.
TOYOTA STICKS WITH LONG BEACH AS IT BEGINS US MARKETING BLITZ
Toyota may be withdrawing from the Indy Racing League and cutting its longtime support for the Formula Atlantic Championship but it will be continuing to support the Long Beach Grand Prix, which it has sponsored since 1980.
BRDC FINANCIAL CONTROLLER CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLEMENT
Stephen Beattie, formerly financial controller of the British Racing Drivers Club, has appeared at Towcester Magistrates Court on embezzlement charges.
KARTHIKEYAN TO STAY AT MIDLAND?
Narain Karthikeyan hopes to stay in Formula 1 next year with the newly-branded Midland team. But a lot of water has to pass under the bridge before that happens. The major problem appears to be money.
VALENTINO ROSSI CONTINUES TO FLIRT WITH FERRARI
Valentino Rossi is a very promotable young man. At 26 he is top of the world in motorcycle racing, having won four consecutive 500cc/MotoGP titles. He is leading this year's championship in dominant fashion and has just signed to ride for Yamaha again in 2006.
A1 HAS SUCCESSFUL FIRST TEST
Fifteen teams turned up for the first collective test for the new A1 Grand Prix series at Silverstone with A1 Team Great Britain setting the pace thanks to the efforts of Robbie Kerr, who set the pace with a lap of the national circuit of 48.888s.
MORE BOMBS IN TURKEY
Two people were killed last night when a bomb exploded in Pendik, a town to the east of Istanbul, about seven miles from the new Formula 1 circuit. The blast followed the recent trend of bombs in the country, being hidden in a garbage bin.
ONE WAY TO HELP FERRARI
Ferrari's need for cash in Formula 1 could be answered if parent company Fiat could sell more cars and to this end the embattled Italian car company has announced plans to launch 20 new models in the next three years in order to turn the company around.
BUTTON'S SABBATICAL YEAR
Reports that Jenson Button could spend a year on the sidelines of F1 should not be taken too seriously.
BARRICHELLO AND BAR
Rubens Barrichello had a multi-million dollar contract with Ferrari for 2006 and had chosen to give it up. It does not take a rocket scientist to work out that the only reason for the 33-year-old Brazilian to do that is because he has a better deal somewhere.
WHY BE A TEST DRIVER?
The announcement that Rubens Barrichello is moving from Ferrari to be replaced by Felipe Massa sends out a clear message in the F1 fraternity: being a test driver these days is a ticket to nowhere.
BUTTON - THE FULL STORY
Jenson Button and his management have made a pig's ear of things in recent days over the question of whether or not the British youngster will move from BAR Honda to Williams in 2006.
A1 TEAM NETHERLANDS SIGNS BLEEKEMOLEN
Jeroen Bleekemolen has been signed as the reserve driver for A1 Team Netherlands, alongside Jos Verstappen.
FERRARI CONFIRMS MASSA
Ferrari has announced that Felipe Massa will race for the team next year, the deal being based on an option that has existed since 2001.
MORE RACES FOR KLIEN
Red Bull Racing has decided that Christian Klien will be given the chance to race for the team again in Turkey and at Monza. Tonio Liuzzi will continue his apprenticeship as the team's third driver and is now expected to take over the second car in Belgium.
IDE WINS AT MINE
Yuji Ide (Mobilecast Impul) won his second victory of the year in Formula Nippin at the weekend, leading home Ronnie Quintarelli (Kondo) by 15 seconds at the end of a long hot race at Mine.
THE POLITICS OF TOBACCO
The European and British anti-tobacco legislation, which came into effect on Monday, may not be as effective as had been planned.
SO WHO WILL RUN MERCEDES-BENZ?
Officially Eckhard Cordes is still the boss of Mercedes-Benz, but sources in Germany indicate that as soon as it became clear that Jurgen Schrempp, the boss of Mercedes's parent DaimlerChrysler, was going to be departing the business, Cordes made his feeling known to the company's supervisory board.
RACE REPORT - GREY MATTER MATTERS
Formula 1 folk do not discuss strategy much these days because it is almost impossible to know what to expect on a Sunday until we have seen a few laps of the race and with a track like the Hungaroring things are much more complicated.
MOSLEY AND THE DRIVERS MEET IN NICE
Max Mosley switched the meeting planned for today from Cannes to Nice to make it easier for the F1 drivers to get there and it seems that things went well.
FERRARI TO RUN TOBACCO BRANDING IN ITALY?
According to reports in the British press Ferrari is going to try to dodge the European tobacco ban, using the argument that the Italian Grand Prix is a national event rather than a cross-border competition.
THE FUTURE OF ECKHARD CORDES
There are ructions going on with the management at DaimlerChrysler following the news that chairman Jurgen Schrempp is to stand down. German newspapers are reporting that Schrempp will be followed out of the door by Mercedes-Benz chairman Eckhard Cordes
