Formula One News — January 2001

JAPANESE rookie Takuma Sato topped the times on the opening day of testing at Jerez on Monday as he made the perfect start to his new role as a British American Racing test driver.

THE first of the new generation, works Honda-engined Jordan F1 cars was unveiled at Silverstone today (Tuesday) just a stone's throw from the British team's factory and at the venue where the car will undergo its preliminary shakedown runs during the remainder of this week.

EDDIE JORDAN has announced that Arrows chief designer Egbahl Hamidy is to join the Silverstone team bat the end of February.

BENETTON's Giancarlo Fisichella has received the award for the best Italian driver in Formula One for the fourth successive year.

FRENCHMAN Jean Alesi tested Prost's new Ferrari engines for the first taste on Monday when he shook down the AP04 chassis at Magny-Cours.

FORMULA ONE supremo Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that the Middle East could host a Grand Prix and said he hopes to tie up a deal this year.

SPANIARD Pedro de la Rosa believes Formula One could pay the price for the backroom changes that have hit the sport this winter.

ITV SPORT have denied speculation that Mark Blundell will be taking over Murray Walker's role as commentator when he retires at the end of the 2001 season.

BRITON David Coulthard has followed Jacques Villeneuve's example by pursuing business interests outside of Formula One.

MCLAREN chief Ron Dennis believes that David Coulthard can step out of team-mate Mika Hakkinen's shadow and become a world champion this year.

JACQUES VILLENEUVE will join forces with his former Williams team-mate Damon Hill this weekend to participate in a 24-hour ski race for charity.

JENSON BUTTON said on Sunday that he will have no divided loyalties in his Benetton this season -- and vowed to beat BMW-Williams duo Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001.

SCOT Allan McNish said on Sunday that he is confident of securing a race drive with Formula One new-boys Toyota in 2002.

COLOMBIAN driver Juan Pablo Montoya is confident he will make an impression in his first season in Formula One with BMW-Williams this year and said that the coinciding introduction of traction control into the sport will make no difference to his performance.

FERRARI ended their annual pre-season break at Madonna di Campiglio in the Dolomites with a giant slalom race and other skiing activities on Friday.

FERRARI sporting director Jean Todt has confirmed that he is set to remain at Ferrari for the rest of his motorsport career -- amid rumors that he will retire at the end of the season.

ONE of the abiding problems for a major multi-national company - be it automotive or anything else - is that the left hand very often doesn't fully know what the right hand is doing.

There have been reports on the Internet that there is to be a reshuffle of the race team management at Ferrari with Britain's Nigel Stepney taking a much bigger role.

BRITON Darren Manning is prepared to wait for his chance in Formula One and believes another year as British American Racing test driver could benefit him.

NIKI LAUDA has said that safety is the most important aspect of Formula One but warned it could ruin the sport's popularity.

FERRARI sporting director Jean Todt has indicated that he will open talks about his future with Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo in the next few weeks and said he has no intention of leaving the team.

MCLAREN chairman Ron Dennis has expressed his respect and regard for British American Racing cofounder Craig Pollock, and believes that his team will have the edge over rival Honda-users Jordan in the 2001 World Championship.

FORMER world champion Jody Scheckter has backed BMW-Williams to end Ferrari and McLaren's dominance of Formula One, but said it could be three years before the big two are toppled.

FORMULA ONE tire suppliers Bridgestone have announced that their president, chairman of the board and chief executive officer Yoichiro Kaizaki will retire.