Formula One News — April 2002

Indianapolis has been looking at extending the use of energy-absorbing barriers for the last five years, having fitted its first section of polyurethane energy dissipation walls in Turn Four in 1998.

McLaren and Bloomberg announced a partnership Thursday that includes the international news and information organization providing support and integrated information systems to the TAG McLaren Group's Technology Center, and the West McLaren Mercedes Communications Center.

The popular ESPN auto racing show RPM Tonight reported last night that CART chief executive Chris Pook has been in Europe in recent days meeting with car manufacturers to discuss their involvement in the championship in the future.

Wolfgang Reitzle is expected to ask the Ford board of directors to take the Lincoln-Mercury company off his hands.

The financial dealings of the Kirch group are now being investigated by the German national bank regulator BaKred and it is likely that this could lead to a criminal investigation by the Munich state prosecution service.

Watch out for the public transport maps in Italy. Apparently a clerical error means that maps which have been produced for the Milan metro system show the city's Parco Nord in the wrong place - with Monza being shown to the south of the park rather than where it really is to the north.

There is speculation in THE MONTREAL GAZETTE that the Bombardier company may be discussing taking the title sponsorship of British American Racing.

With Kirch Media having gone into administration on Monday the focus has switched to its sister company Kirch PayTV with rumors circulating that this firm will also have to seek protection because of huge debts.

The well-known American motorsports writer Brock Yates last week mentioned in his column that he had heard that advance ticket sales for the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis were "in the dumper."

The chief executive of DaimlerChrysler, says that the automobile manufacturers could reach a deal with Bernie Ecclestone over the future of Formula 1 if "our legitimate wishes can be satisfied, including that Formula 1 be on free-to-air television."

The Ford Motor Company dumped its chief executive Jac Nasser in October last year but it has now emerged that the move cost the company $17.8m in salary and compensation.

At the recent JavaOne technology conference in San Francisco, the Vodafone representatives all appeared wearing Ferrari shirts and their booth featured a huge photograph of World Champion Michael Schumacher.

France's big hope for the future Sebastien Bourdais was in talks with Sauber in Brazil about the possibility of becoming the test driver for the Swiss team.

The collapse of the Kirch Group will have considerable fall-out in the weeks ahead but at the moment nothing is very clear.

There are not many racing drivers who keep their sponsorship after the end of their racing careers but Niki Lauda was highly successful in this respect and was rarely seen without his Parmalat baseball cap.

With Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa and Enrique Bernoldi in Formula 1 and most of the top names in CART and IRL, plus a whole new crop of drivers in Formula 3000, one would have thought that the Brazilian motor racing market would be saturated.

Telefonica used to be the primary sponsor of the Minardi team, but in recent years the Spanish telecommunications giant has been staying out of Formula 1 although it is still heavily involved in racing in Spain.

The Sodemo-developed Renault Formula 3 engine was dominant last weekend in the opening round of the French Formula 3 series at Nogaro.

BAR is rumored to be about to get a new sporting director as part of the restructuring going on under the new management of David Richards.

The collapse of Kirch could open the way for a settlement between the car manufacturers and the Formula 1 group of companies.

The Duesenberg name will return to Indianapolis this year with Johnny Herbert driving a Duesenberg Brothers Racing effort, sponsored by Western Union.

Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo is to host a Ferrari and Maserati exhibition from the end of this month until the middle of July.

The Renault company has decided to extend the use of its Renault Sport name beyond the realms of motor racing and is to launch a range of electric, folding bicycles bearing the name.

The Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG roadster, which will appear this autumn and is scheduled to be the next Formula 1 Safety Car was unveiled last week at the New York Motor Show.