Formula One News — October 2004

The British Grand Prix is not saved yet, despite stories which suggest that former World Champion Nigel Mansell is going to be involved with a consortium which will guarantee the race at Silverstone for the next seven years.

The plans for a new Formula 1 team to be started in 2006 may be coming from a British-registered company but it seems that Russian money is behind the plan. Our sources say that the F1 project will be undertaken by a privately-owned, Guernsey-registered, holding company called Midland Resources Holding.

As the Formula 1 circus was gathering in Japan for the penultimate race of the season the world was doing its best to disrupt acivities. Those who visited Tokyo on the way to Suzuka were treated to a decent-sized earthquake on Wednesday evening, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale.

There is still some confusion as to the final Formula 1 calendar for next year with various different versions floating about at the moment. The two most likely versions of the calendar both include 19 races and it is believed that at least one (and perhaps three) of the events will eventually be dropped.

Formula Nippon racer Richard Lyons was hoping to make his Grand Prix debut this weekend with the Jordan team at Suzuka but he was not able to raise the money in time to get the drive.

The political landscape in Sao Paulo, Brazil is changing at the moment with elections going on for the job of mayor. The current incumbent Marta Suplicy finished second behind the social democrat Jose Serra.

According to a survey conducted by NOP, Mercedes, BMW and Toyota are the world's most advocated brands. The poll was conducted in 30 countries and involved 30,000 consumers.

There has been a lot of talk about the new Formula 1 team which may be announced this weekend in Japan - but a lot of the stories (including some of our own) have been rathe wide of the mark.

The British Racing Drivers' Club has refused to increased its bid for the British Grand Prix and the ping-pong game of who gets the blame for the demise of the event with the latest statement having lobbed the blame back into Bernie Ecclestone's side of the court.

The Sports Car Club of America has decided that it cannot continue to sanction its ProRally and ClubRally Championships in 2005 because of fears that legal actions in the event of an accident and the cost of insuring against that risk.

The publishing of the 2005 Formula 1 calendar should happen after the forthcoming FIA World Council meeting next week and we hear that when the dates are finally announced there will be three races that will be listed only provisionally.

Takuma Sato has a year to go on his contract with British American Racing and there are no plans to change that situation. Sato has had a promising year with the team but has been overshadowed somewhat by the more experienced Jenson Button.

We hear that there is a potential buyer for the Silverstone circuit, lurking in the background until a decision is made about the British Grand Prix. The newcomers are apparently planning to redevelop the entire facility, perhaps with government help, and plan to create a venue which would have much wider appeal.

Even if a deal can be found for the British Grand Prix in 2005 it seems that futue years are going to be a problem because Bernie Ecclestone is trying to do longer-term deals with the fees increasing at a rate of 10% per annum. There are reports of both five-year and seven-year deals being on offer.

Nelson Piquet Jr became the youngest ever winner of the British Formula 3 Championship at the weekend by finishing runner up at Brands Hatch James Rossiter.

In the light of Bernie's decision to not include the British GP on the preliminary Formula 1 schedule for 2005 there has been a lot of unfavourable comment about the way in which Bernie Ecclestone selects races to be included in the World Championship.

Brazil's Tony Kanaan won the Indy Racing League's championship at the weekend at the California Speedway but finished second in the race to Adrian Fernandez. The Andretti Green driver has won three races this year, the same as team mate Dan Wheldon, Buddy Rice of the Rahal Letterman team and now Fernandez.

There has been a flurry of stories over the weekend about hopes of saving the British Grand Prix with Bernie Ecclestone trying to improve his position by explaining that he offered to split the difference between what he wants and what the BRDC wish to pay with the British government.

Nick Craw has been appointed to be the new President of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS), the organization that links up the US racing scene with the FIA. Dan Cotter, the chairman of ACCUS, said that Craw was one of 12 candidates who were considered for the job.

The bid for a Grand Prix for the city of Hyderabad has been axed. This is not really a surprise following the defeat last Spring of the state's chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in local elections.

Rt Hon Richard Caborn MP, the British Minister for Sport and Tourism has rejected calls for the British government to step in and fund the British Grand Prix.

Flavio Briatore is reported to be talking about a bid to buy Cosworth Racing from the Ford Motor Company. This might sound like a nice idea but it is going to be very expensive.

Panasonic Toyota Racing has announced that Jarno Trulli will race for the team in the last two races of the season, the Grands Prix of Japan and Brazil. In Suzuka Trulli will race alongside Olivier Panis, who has already signed a contract to be the team's third driver next season.

The British Grand Prix debacle, which we forecast yesterday, was inevitable, given the parties involved in the negotiations. The race will no doubt return one day to the Formula 1 calendar but that is not likely to happen until Bernie Ecclestone, Jackie Stewart and/or British Prime Minister Tony Blair have moved on.