Formula One News — February 2001

THE news that Neil Ressler is to retire from the Ford Motor Company is not really a surprise.

DAVID COULTHARD has postponed his plans to marry top model Heidi Wichinski in a bid to focus his entire efforts on winning the 2001 World Championship in the McLaren-Mercedes MP4/15 which was unveiled at the Valencia circuit here today.

ARROWS new-boy Enrique Bernoldi underlined his growing reputation when he topped the times on the opening day of testing at Estoril, Portugal, on Wednesday.

FERRARI's sporting director Jean Todt and all the key members of Ferrari's design team will remain with the Italian outfit until the end of 2004, it was confirmed on Wednesday.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER ensured Ferrari's problems on the new F2001 were temporary as he continued development work on the car at Mugello on Wednesday.

ALTHOUGH it is yet to be confirmed it is expected that the European Minardi team will run on Michelin tires this year.

MIKA HAKKINEN's daring overtaking move at the Belgian Grand Prix has been selected as the "MasterCard Priceless Moment of the 2000 F1 season."

THERE was a big surprise on Tuesday when Toyota announced that a "basic agreement" has been reached with Exxon Mobil for a technical partnership in Formula 1.

JEAN-PIERRE BOUDY, the technical director of the old Peugeot Sport, has left the company, which has now been reorganized by its new owner Asiatech.

PROST GRAND PRIX's former chief designer Loic Bigois has departed the team.

THE rumor at the Michelin launch in Paris yesterday was that Alain Prost may be looking at ways of getting Pedro de la Rosa to drive for him in place of signed driver Gaston Mazzacane.

PROST GRAND PRIX announced on Tuesday night they have signed Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa as the team's reserve and test-driver next season.

ONE has to be impressed by the skill with which Craig Pollock and Adrian Reynard run British American Racing from their respective home addresses in Monaco (in the case of Pollock) and the chic Swiss resort of Chesieres (in the case of Reynard).

FERNANDO ALONSO has been confirmed as a European Minardi driver for the 2001 season, by his manager Adrian Campos.

NO sooner has Repsol-YPF left Arrows than word comes from the City of London that Eurobet is unlikely to continue supporting Arrows next year.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES in London is reporting that Bernie Ecclestone may lose the rights to the Formula 1 World Championship after 2010 unless he pays the $360m he has agreed to pay to the federation.

BENETTON technical director Mike Gascoyne believes that the new B201 challenger, unveiled in Venice today (Tuesday), will develop into a car capable of challenging for third place in the Championship by the middle of the season.

ALAIN PROST has praised the design of his new car, declaring: "This year will be completely different to 2000 for Prost."

NIKI LAUDA was confirmed as the new chief executive officer of the Premier Performance Division of the Premier Automotive Group in London on Tuesday.

TRIPLE World Champion Michael Schumacher completed only six laps of testing at the Mugello circuit on Monday as a problem with the engine injection system hindered the new Ferrari F2001 car.

ONE day before the launch of the new Benetton car, the team's managing director Flavio Briatore has admitted they are looking to success in 2002, with this year being more for development.

MICHELIN have said that they do not expect a win in their first season back in Formula One as a tire supplier.

NIKI LAUDA, the retired triple world champion, is expected to be confirmed tomorrow (Tuesday) in a senior management consultancy position with the Jaguar formula one team.

TOYOTA MOTORSPORT president Ove Andersson has indicated that the team is set to start testing their new Formula One car in March.