Formula One News — April 2001

STRUGGLING Jenson Button has been given something to smile about after being given an award for being Formula One's best newcomer last season.

PEDRO DE LA ROSA's promotion to a full time member of the Jaguar formula one team has been dramatically accelerated with the announcement that he will replace Luciano Burti as Eddie Irvine's team-mate as from the Spanish grand prix at Barcelona on 29 April.

THE progression of Williams engine supplier BMW, which has helped Williams move into a race-winning position, has impressed the team's technical director Patrick Head.

THE lengthy efforts by the British Racing Drivers' Club to ensure that the British Grand Prix remains at Silverstone for the next 15 years could be jeopardized by news that its deal with Octagon, the leisure company which has the rights to hold the race, could come under critical scrutiny from the Labour government.

FERRARI's Luca Badoer topped the times at Mugello on Wednesday as the Italian team found itself in the unusual situation of testing with two other teams.

MIKA HAKKINEN defied cold and damp conditions, and even a flurry of snow, to post the quickest time in testing on Wednesday at the Silverstone circuit.

IN the wake of the British government's decision to investigate last year's deal between the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) and Octagon, the club's president Jackie Stewart has led the calls of disappointment at the move and questioned its necessity.

RALF SCHUMACHER's victory at Imola last weekend has shown his brother Michael that there is another family member in contention for the world title.

NIKI LAUDA has given the strongest signals yet from Jaguar Racing that it will pair Eddie Irvine with Pedro de la Rosa in 2002.

FERRARI's ultra-secret new cylindrical front brake duct is believed to be the cause of Michael Schumacher's early exit from the San Marino Grand Prix.

ROOKIE of the year so far, Sauber's impressive Finn Kimi Raikkonen, was left extremely disappointed after losing his steering wheel in the San Marino Grand Prix - but at least he had a shoulder to cry on.

IT started as a weekend in which Michael Schumacher was intending to get the defene of his world championship firmly back on course.

AFTER the team's disappointing weekend at the San Marino Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello was back in action at their Fiorano test track on Tuesday.

HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN topped the times by more than half a second for Jordan as six teams returned to testing at a Silverstone circuit filled with sponsors and fans on Tuesday.

PROST GRAND PRIX have announced the signing of Frenchman Jonathan Cochet as the team's official test driver for the 2001 season.

JEAN ALESI has shown the reliability of Prost's AP04 by finishing every race of the season so far, but the pace is clearly not there as he has ended at the bottom end of the top-10 every time.

EUROPEAN RACING's former Formula 3000 star Christijan Albers will join Formula One outfit Minardi for a test at Italy's Mugello circuit on Wednesday.

DAVID COULTHARD's title attack continued in San Marino as he scored his fourth podium position in four races, and he now hopes that a stable European season could help it to continue.

MICHELIN's Pierre Dupasquier has put his company's dramatic return win after just four races down to a strong partnership with the impressively developing Williams team.

THE world's first ever purpose-built motor racing circuit, Brooklands, is under threat from development as it struggles to overcome the ill effects of the flooding that gripped Britain in late 2000.

JAGUAR CEO Bobby Rahal has backed under-fire driver Eddie Irvine and hit out at critics that have questioned the Ulsterman's commitment to the cause.

DAVID COULTHARD has predicted that Williams will continue to fight for race wins during the rest of the season after Ralf Schumacher's dominant performance at the San Marino Grand Prix.

WILLIAMS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Patrick Head has said that Ralf Schumacher's win at Imola was a long-overdue reward for team boss Frank Williams' patience during the dark days of 1998.

FORMULA ONE ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has accused Formula One's breakway manufacturers of "missing the boat" in their efforts to take a stake in the series - but backed them to finally agree a deal that will safeguard the future of Grand Prix racing.