MAY 31, 2002

Lauda rumors

THERE have been rumors doing the rounds about the future of Niki Lauda at Jaguar Racing for some time - but there is nothing much to back them up. The fact that Wolfgang Reitzle, the man who appointed Lauda to the job of heading the Premier Performance Division, has departed from the Ford fold is seen as something that would weaken Lauda's position but at the moment there is no sign that this is actually happening.

There is a strong argument that even if Ford does want to move Lauda on (and there is no evidence of that so far) it would not be the right time to do it as the team already has a very bad image in terms of management stability and it would be best to keep the existing structure in place until the season is over and the spotlight is not on the team to the same extent as at the moment.

The team may not be showing much in the way of performance at the moment but the first results of the new windtunnel program are still awaited and the team is building up its technical capabilities all the time under Gunther Steiner, who has made a very good impression so far.