Formula One News — October 2001

Eddie Jordan likes to keep himself busy away from the Formula 1 circus. Just a few weeks after his £1.4 million investment in Scottish soccer champions Celtic was revealed, the ebullient Irishman was found indulging his passion for music at Britain's MOBO awards.

The Kirch group has confirmed that is now controls 58.3% of SLEC, the holding company of the Formula One group of companies.

Yet again the ownership of British American Racing has been the subject of speculation.

Australian Mark Webber appears unlikely to find a Formula 1 berth for 2002 after a year combining his role in Formula 3000 with that of Benetton's test driver.

The start of air attacks on Afghanistan has led commercial airlines to reroute their flights to Asia although direct flights from Europe to Tokyo should not be affected as they usually fly over the northern parts of Russia.

Dietrich Mateschitz, the boss of Red Bull, has told an Austrian business magazine Format that he is taking over the Arrows Formula 1 team.

If rumors are to be believed there is a new Honda engine being readied for the final round of the 2001 world championship dubbed SS or 'Suzuka Special'.

BMW Williams driver Ralf Schumacher has married his fiancee Cora Brinkmann in a private ceremony at his villa near Salzburg.

F1 hopefuls Justin Wilson and Narain Karthikeyan tested for Jordan on Friday at Mugello, while British F3 driver Anthony Davidson and F3000 driver Darren Manning were behind the wheel for BAR.

Testing continued at the Circuit de Catalunya, in Barcelona, on Friday, the third of four scheduled days of testing prior to the Japanese Grand Prix.

The newly-re-elected FIA President Max Mosley told journalists after the FIA General Assembly in Cologne, Germany that he thinks that Europe has too many races and says that he wants the World Championship to expand to cover the entire globe.

Michael Schumacher has declared himself confident about Ferrari's technological assault on the 2002 world championship already, with the 2001 season yet to draw to a close.

The FIA has confirmed that it will be moving back to Paris next year. Officially the governing body says it will be back in Paris in January but this will probably depend on rebuilding work which we understand is running slightly behind schedule.

A display of photographs documenting the late Ayrton Senna's illustrious career is being planned by his great friend, motor sport photographer Keith Sutton.

Ferrari went testing at Fiorano on Saturday using a brand new radar system which is designed to show drivers whether there are cars ahead of them on the track and whether or not they are running at normal speeds or slowing down.

Casey Mears, the nephew of multiple CART champion Rick Mears, has been named as the replacement for Alex Zanardi by Mo Nunn Racing.

Max Mosley has been elected for a third term as President of the FIA, for the third consecutive time.

The Jordan F1 team says that there is no pressure whatsoever from Honda to sign up the 24-year old Japanese driver Takuma Sato as Giancarlo Fisichella's team-mate in 2002.

The CART team owners met in Houston on Thursday and voted that in 2003 the cars should be powered by 3.5-liter normally-aspirated engines.

The rumor that Arrows may be bidding to land both Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jean Alesi for 2002, thereby sacrificing Jos Verstappen's contract, has come as a shock to two of the parties.

It is only a couple of years since Paul Stewart, Sir Jackie Stewart's son, was diagnosed as having cancer. He is now in remission and the signs are that he will make a full recovery.

Felipe Massa's second test with the Sauber should be enough to clinch the rising Brazilian star the second driver with Sauber next season.

Jacques Villeneuve has confirmed that he is engaged to his latest girlfriend Elly Green.

IN a very curious move the FIA has decreed that all Formula 3000 cars will now be the same size as Formula 1 cars.