Formula One News — December 2001

Alex Zanardi has been in a wheelchair since he left hospital in Berlin but the Italian former F1 driver is now looking forward to being fitted with artificial legs so that he begin the process of learning how to walk again.

Someone somewhere decided that the numbering system in Formula 1 should be changed from the system which has existed since 1995.

Rupert Murdoch, the boss of News Corporation, is considering a bid to buy the entire Kirch Group. If that were to happen Murdoch would become the owner of the Formula One group of companies.

Roger Penske has abandoned CART and will run two cars in next year's Indy Racing League.

The FIA has received requests from a number of F1 teams that the race numbers for the 2002 FIA Formula 1 World Championship should follow the order of the previous year.

Following hot on the heels of Silverstone's possible problems over the future status of the British Grand Prix comes news that the long-term prospects for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola might also be in jeopardy.

As we speculated as long ago as last May, British Petroleum is rumored to be entering Formula 1 in 2002 and the recent announcement that Texaco is stopping its involvement with Jaguar Racing would seem to suggest that this is where BP will end up.

The cars will be new in 2002 but the main contenders for the International Formula 3000 series are not going to change.

Eddie Cheever has confirmed that he has a deal to use the technical facilities of the TWR Group, the sister company of the Arrows Formula 1 team.

The image of Brazil has been badly tarnished by the murder of America's Cup yachtsman Peter Blake, during an environmental expedition up the Amazon River.

There is much speculation at the moment about the future supply of engines in CART but we hear from the United States that Cosworth Racing is bidding for a deal to supply one engine to the entire field.

Any serious Formula 1 fan will tell you that the first race to F1 rules was held in September 1946 on the streets of Turin in Italy and that the Valentino Grand Prix was won by veteran Achille Varzi of the factory Alfa Romeo team.

There are unconfirmed reports that Ralf Schumacher is to be charged with careless driving after his recent accident on the autobahn near Cologne.

In recent years Petronas has funded most of the growth of the automobile industry in Malaysia.

There was no great surprise in Formula 1 circles when the Premier 1 organized that it has shelved plans to launch the new F1-lookalike series until March 2003.

It is not surprising that the Malaysian state oil company Petronas is tipped to be buying the Sepang Formula One circuit.

BMW chairman and chief executive Joachim Milberg is to retire at the company's annual meeting next May after three successful years running the company.

Jordan Grand Prix has responded to our story that Benson & Hedges will not be the team's title sponsor next year by saying that "the FIA requested to have the teams' entries at a time when Jordan is still in discussion with a number of companies, including B & H, about the level of their sponsorship for 2002".

Ralf Schumacher had a shunt last week on a German autobahn, crashing a BMW 7 Series into the back of another car and punting it into the car ahead.

Bryan Herta wants to become America's next Formula 1 driver and was recently in England to talk to a variety of F1 teams about a possible job as a test driver.

There has been a lot of complaints amongst the F1 teams about the numbering system which goes against the established norm of the teams being listed in the order in which they finished the Constructors' Championship the previous year.

Yet again the British Grand Prix at Silverstone could be under threat in the wake of renewed speculation that the sport's governing body is poised to drop the race from the 2002 world championship calendar.

Jaguar Racing fuel supplier Texaco has decided to pull out of Formula One after a recent merger with Chevron.

The Formula 1 driver market is currently waiting to see what happens with Prost Grand Prix.