Formula One News — September 2002

Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Formula 1 career is settled for next year but until a new car is built the German driver is not going to be racing. Firstly he has to settle the outstanding lawsuit with Eddie Jordan over his contract for 2002 and secondly he cannot fit in the Sauber chassis

The Lausitzring filed for protection against its creditors recently but it nows seems that the debts are too big to be able to save the company and the whole project is expected to go into receivership shortly. It is believed that there are several potential buyers for the facility in the old East Germany.

A recent FIA statement confirmed that Arrows has complied with the request for a written explaination of the recent goings on at the team, and the governing body is reviewing the explaination.

Six of the Formula One teams tried to kick off a four day test at Monza Tuesday, but heavy rain prevented anyone from completing a full dry day of testing.

Jos Verstappen was kicking around the paddock in Spa and there were lots of rumours of talks with a variety of different teams. The reality is that Verstappen does not have many choices.

The FIA Foundation has moved into its new offices on London's Trafalgar Square and as the new organisation becomes more organised we would expect to see some major new initiatives coming out of the Foundation, a charity which is funded by the lease of the F1 commercial rights to Formula One Management.

There has been much talk in recent months about the damage that Ferrari domination is doing to Formula 1 - but this is not to look at the bigger picture. THe question is not that one team is ahead of the rest but that all the way down through the field it is increasingly hard for one driver to overtake another.

<b>Belgian Grand Prix Sunday Race Report</b>

Spa-Francorchamps is one of the classic racing facilities in the world and has hosted a Grand Prix most years since the first event in 1925. It is widely considered to be one of the best racing tracks in the world

Six CART teams announced in Denver on Sunday that they are committed to be involved in the series next year: Fernandez, Forsythe, Newman Haas, Patrick, Rahal and Walker. However it is significant that Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Kool Green and Morris Nunn Racing have not announced their intentions.

With Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button already confirmed as BAR drivers for next year, there is already speculation about what will happen in 2004 when Villeneuve's deal ends.

Reports are coming out of Russia about plans for a new bid for a Formula 1 Grand Prix with Moscow being ditched and St Petersburg being picked as the venue. Bernie Ecclestone was reportedly back in Moscow last week trying to talk to Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor.

<b>Belgian Grand Prix Sunday Race Notes</b>

<b>Belgian Grand Prix Sunday Photos</b>

ernie Ecclestone says that the Arrows team cannot go on forever unless a new investor can be found.

Prince Khaled al Waleed turned up for the Belgian GP at Spa and after coutesy calls to Bernie Ecclestone and McLaren the Prince settled down for a meeting with Minardi's boss Paul Stoddart.

<b>Belgian Grand Prix Sunday Warmup Report</b>

The one subject about which there was almost no conversation at Spa was the future of the Asiatech engine company. No-one appears to be interested in running the engines - even if they are free...

There is talk in automotive circles that former Ford Motor Company boss Jac Nasser could pop again as the new boss of Fiat Auto. The Italian giant is in need of a major revamp and Nasser is a man who is not afraid to go into battle to cut costs.

The Minardi team is to give Bryan Herta a solid testing opportunity at the end of the season, during the post-season month of testing. The Californian driver had a run in a Minardi at the recent Thunder in the Park event and got a taste for Formula 1 and hopes to be able to put together a deal to race for the team next year.

The Formula 1 team bosses have not met for several months now and as a result there has been some confusion about what is going to happen about the testing regulations for next year.