Formula One News — October 2005

Kimi Raikkonen's Suzuka weekend got off to a bad start on Friday morning when the Finn suffered what appeared to be an engine failure just 20 minutes into the first session.

The word in Switzerland is that Sauber's head of vehicle engineering, test team and research and development, Jacky Eeckelaert is on his way to work for Honda, although it is not clear whether this will be Honda or the new second Honda team.

Advanced Micro Devices continues its drive into motor racing with a new deal to become the official technology partner of NASCAR. This will see the organisation using AMD computer technology on and off the track

Former Formula 1 sponsor DHL has signed a deal to sponsor the Penske Porsche in the American Le Mans Series. The new car, which will run in the LMP2 prototype class, will be debuted on October 15 at Laguna Seca by Porsche factory drivers Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr.

Honda is planning to supply a second Formula 1 team in 2006 - and the move makes a huge amount of sense, at least if you are a Honda executive. While many in F1 see the team as being a place for Honda to put Takuma Sato, there is probably a great deal more to it than that...

Honda has yet to come up with an official name for the rebranded BAR and while Honda Racing or something similar would be the obvious choice, there is a possibility that the company may go for something a little more exotic, and given Honda's history, one should not rule out some kind of reference to the word Dream.

The news from Japan is that Dome has now denied that it will be running the second Honda team next year and so speculation has moved on to the Super Aguri organisation, the group of racing teams which are run by former Grand Prix driver Aguri Suzuki.

Japanese GP - Preview

As exclusively reported by grandprix.com, Greece is considering a Formula 1 project. The news has been confirmed by the country's Tourism Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos.

The new Honda-supplied Formula 1 team remains a mystery for the moment but it has emerged that the plans are not related to those being made by the Japanese firm Direxiv.

CSS Stellar Management has signed a deal with India's Karun Chandhok. The company, which manages the careers of many drivers is keen to get into the expanding Indian market.

Heikki Kovalainen is expected to be named as the Renault F1 test driver, following the news that the current incumbent Franck Montagny is leaving the role.

Last year the weather in Suzuka was so bad - because of an incoming typhoon - that the entire day's activities on Saturday were called off.

Honda's announcement that it will be supplying a second Formula 1 team next year and that this will be a new operation is most interesting, given that there is no real evidence to suggest that a new team is up and running.

Gianpaolo Dallara, Jean-Claude Migeot, Bruno Engelric and Luca Birindelli have joined forces to create Asia Racing Technologies, which aims to assist China to nurture its up-and-coming motorsport industry..

Former Cosworth chief designer Nick Hayes headed off to NASCAR in July to become the engine research and development director of Richard Childress Racing, which currently runs Dave Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.

While Formula 1 teams continue to fight with one another and the promotion of the sport remains at the bottom of the "to do" list, the NASCAR Nextel Cup continues to show the way in terms of promoting the sport, particularly to the much-needed new generations.

British American Tobacco has confirmed that it has agreed the sale of its 55% stake in BAR Honda to the Honda Motor Company. The sale, which will be completed on December 31, means that Honda Motor will end up owning 100% of the team, which was established eight years ago.

The rumour in Formula 1 circles is that Honda is on the verge of signing a sponsorship deal with Vodafone for 2007. The British mobile operator has been sponsoring Ferrari since the start of 2002

More details are emerging of Honda's plans in F1 and we hear from Japan that there will be a second team next year, using V8 engines. This is expected to be a new team but there are no further details at the moment of who this may involve.

Japanese car manufacturer Honda has bought out British American Tobacco and will be running a wholly-owned team in F1 next year. The team has yet to be named.

BAR driver Takuma Sato is reported to be driving Japan's entry in the A1 GP series later this year. The suggestion, published on the pitpass.com website, which is well-connected in A1 GP circles, is that Takuma will take over the Japanese car after the F1 season ends in three weeks from now.

There are reports in England that Coca-Cola may be interested in a major sponsorship programme in Formula 1. Such a deal has always made sense from a marketing point of view but nothing was ever possible because of Coca-Cola's aversion to Formula 1's fixation with tobacco.

Paul Stoddart's Oz Jet company is to sponsor the second Ford Performance Racing Falcon for the remainder of the year, starting at this weekend's Bathurst 1000. The OzJet logo will be featured across the sides of the Ford Credit FPR Falcon being driven by Greg Ritter and Cameron McLean.