AUGUST 16, 1999

Salo to Sauber

MIKA SALO's showing at Ferrari in recent weeks has put the Finn into the F1 spotlight and in Hungary he admitted that he had six offers for drives in 2000. No decision is expected to be taken until the situation at Ferrari is settled but there is little doubt that Michael Schumacher will return and Eddie Irvine will depart for a three-year deal with the new Jaguar F1 team (currently known as Stewart Grand Prix).

Rubens Barrichello is expected to jump across to Ferrari but nothing will be known until the end of August when the option Ferrari has secured on Barrichello's services runs out. Salo is expected to wait until that decision is made before making his move but Sauber seems to be the next best offer available to him. The Swiss team will again use Ferrari-based V10 engines badged as Sauber Petronas V10s and the team is hoping to be able to produce a better package next year so as to score more points. The team has been trying to hire top F1 engineers for some months but there is no sign that any of the big names are going to end up at Sauber for next year and it is already a little too late for any new designer to have much of an effect on the 2000 car which will be designed by the team of engineers at Sauber led by Leo Ress.