NOVEMBER 26, 2002

Ford to hold media briefing in London

This morning the Ford Motor Company's head of Formula 1 activities Richard Parry-Jones is holding a media briefing at The Landmark Hotel in London and there is speculation that there will be an announcement about the management of the Jaguar Racing operation. The speculation suggests that Niki Lauda may no longer be in charge of the show once the announcements have been made. It is interesting that the invitation sent out to the media named Sir Jackie Stewart as being the other participant in the conference, which would not seem to make much sense given that Lauda is supposed to run all Ford's F1 operations, reporting to Parry-Jones. The return of Stewart to be head of Jaguar would not be a surprise as he is held in great respect in Detroit while Lauda's involvement in the team came about thanks to the involvement of Wolfgang Reitzle, who has long since departed Ford. For some months Lauda has looked like a marked man but Ford sources said that no action was to be expected for some months because of the negative effect that might have as efforts continued to build up the team.

All will be revealed at 11.00 GMT.