New appointments at Prost

PROST have announced that Joan Villadelprat has been appointed Managing Director of the team and he will be joined by technical director Henri Durand for the 2001 world championship.

Spaniard Villadelprat, 45, who has spent time at Ferrari and McLaren, will be in charge of daily operations of the team and will work closely with team principal Alain Prost, whose new role will concentrate on "overall supervision and global strategy".

Technical director Durand, a 40-year-old Frenchman, has had key roles at Ferrari and McLaren and will be hoping to change the fortunes of the struggling French team, who finished bottom of the constructors championship last season.