April 2001

30 April 2001 The accident in which veteran driver Michele Alboreto lost his life was caused by a punctured tyre, according to experts from independent investigating group DEKRA. A sharp object is suspected to have gone into the rear left tyre, causing a gradual loss of pressure that eventually led the Italian driver to lose control of the car. As no technical failure was found with the car, Audi has decided to take part in the Le Mans pre-practice.

29 April 2001 M. Schumacher dominated the first two thirds of the Spanish GP, only to seemingly lose it all to Häkkinen in the final section of the race after problems to his Ferrari. Another unexpected turn of events sent Häkkinen's McLaren up in smoke as the Finn cruised towards the finishing line in his final lap, allowing an ever slowing M. Schumacher to be the first to see the chequered flag before anybody on full laps managed to catch up with him. Coulthard, who had qualified for the first row, was relegated to the back of the grid after stalling his car before the parade lap. Montoya enjoyed his first ever Formula 1 podium and Villeneuve gave BAR the team's first top three finish. Trulli, Coulthard and Heidfeld completed the list of point finishers. The full race report is available from the Reports page.

The Spanish GP finishing times:

1 M. Schumacher Ger Ferrari 1h31'03"305 (average 209.831 km/h) 2 J. Montoya Col Williams + 40"738 3 J. Villeneuve Can BAR + 49"626 4 J. Trulli Ita Jordan + 51"253 5 D. Coulthard Gb McLaren + 51"616 6 N. Heidfeld Ger Sauber + 1'01"893 7 O. Panis Fra BAR + 1'04"977 8 K. Raikkonen Fin Sauber + 1'19"808 9 M. Häkkinen Fin McLaren + 1 lap 10 J. Alesi Fra Prost + 1 lap 11 L. Burti Bra Prost + 1 lap 12 J. Verstappen Hol Arrows + 2 laps 13 F. Alonso Spa Minardi + 2 laps 14 G. Fisichella Ita Benetton + 2 laps 15 J. Button Gb Benetton + 3 laps 16 T. Marques Bra Minardi + 3 laps

28 April 2001 M. Schumacher took pole position for the Spanish GP in front of Coulthard, Häkkinen, Barrichello, R. Schumacher and Trulli.

The Spanish GP qualifying times:

1 M. Schumacher Ger Ferrari 1'18"201 2 M. Häkkinen Fin McLaren 1'18"286 3 D. Coulthard Gb McLaren 1'18"635 4 R. Barrichello Bra Ferrari 1'18"674 5 R. Schumacher Ger Williams 1'19"'016 6 J. Trulli Ita Jordan 1'19"093 7 J. Villeneuve Can BAR 1'19"122 8 H. Frentzen Ger Jordan 1'19"150 9 K. Räikkönen Fin Sauber 1'19"229 10 N. Heidfeld Ger Sauber 1'19"232 11 O. Panis Fra BAR 1'19"479 12 J. Montoya Col Williams 1'19"660 13 E. Irvine Gb Jaguar 1'20"326 14 L. Burti Bra Prost 1'20"585 15 J. Alesi Fra Prost 1'20"601 16 E. Bernoldi Bra Arrows 1'20"696 17 J. Verstappen Hol Arrows 1'20"737 18 F. Alonso Spa Minardi 1'21"037 19 G. Fisichella Ita Benetton 1'21"065 20 P. De La Rosa Spa Jaguar 1'21"338 21 J. Button Gb Benetton 1'21"916 22 T. Marques Bra Minardi 1'22"522

27 April 2001 Williams, who have put themselves forwards as Ferrari's and Mclaren's only serious competitor for the title, have admitted that their traction control system is not quite ready yet. Electronic aids to drivers become legal again from this weekend's Spanish GP.

27 April 2001 David Coulthard confirmed his good form by clocking the fastst time in the second free practice session for the Spanish GP. He finished ahead of a surprisingly good Irvine, Barrichello, Panis, M. Schumacher and Häkkinen.

The Spanish GP combined free practice session times:

1 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m20.107s 2 IRVINE Jaguar 1m20.615s 3 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m20.823s 4 PANIS BAR Honda 1m20.826s 5 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m20.880s 6 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m20.894s 7 DE LA ROSA Jaguar 1m21.184s 8 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m21.259s 9 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m21.401s 10 TRULLI Jordan Honda 1m21.647s 11 RAIKKONEN Sauber Petronas 1m21.786s 12 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1m21.808s 13 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m22.020s 14 FRENTZEN Jordan Honda 1m22.221s 15 ALESI Prost Acer 1m22.843s 16 BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 1m22.888s 17 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 1m22.962s 18 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1m22.971s 19 BUTTON Benetton Renault 1m23.201s 20 ALONSO Minardi European 1m23.801s 21 BURTI Prost Acer 1m23.885s 22 MARQUES Minardi European 1m25.540s

27 April 2001 The straight on the Lausitzring circuit where Michele Alboreto was killed in a tragic accident two days ago will be named after the Italian driver. The announcement was made today by the circuit's director, Hans-Joerg Fischer.

27 April 2001 David Coulthard was fastest in the first free practice session for the Spanish GP. The Scotsman clocked the best time ahead of Barrichello, M. Schumacher, R. Schumacher, Häkkinen and Panis.

The Spanish GP first free practice session times:

1. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m20.388s 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m20.823s 3. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m20.992s 4. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m21.259s 5. HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m21.265s 6. PANIS BAR Honda 1m21.815s 7. MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m22.020s 8. TRULLI Jordan Honda 1m22.194s 9. FRENTZEN Jordan Honda 1m22.221s 10. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1m22.561s 11. RAIKKONEN Sauber Petronas 1m23.042s 12. IRVINE Jaguar 1m23.213s 13. DE LA ROSA Jaguar 1m23.395s 14. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m23.704s 15. BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 1m23.784s 16. ALESI Prost Acer 1m23.979s 17. BURTI Prost Acer 1m24.361s 18. FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1m24.370s 19. VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 1m24.873s 20. ALONSO Minardi European 1m25.199s 21. BUTTON Benetton Renault 1m25.336s 22. MARQUES Minardi European 1m25.540s

27 April 2001 R. Schumacher announced that his first child will be born in November. Yesterday the Williams driver and his partner Cora Brinkmann had announced that they intend to marry.

26 April 2001 The funeral of Michele Alboreto will take place tomorrow at 16:00 in Basiglio, near Milan, where his family lives.

26 April 2001 The cause of the accident that cost the life of Italian driver Michele Alboreto may never be known. A member of the Audi team, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the car was shattered in thousands of pieces and that the black box was severely damaged.

26 April 2001 A special tribute to Michele Alboreto will take place in the Italian town of Parma on Sunday during the kart 6-hour Endurance race. Driver Pippo Bianchi, a personal friend of Alboreto, will take part in the race wearing the red overall used by the Italian driver when he won his last Formula 1 GP with Ferrari at the Nürburgring on 4 August 1985. Pippo Bianchi was the person who took 18-year-old Alboreto to Monza and first gave him the chance to drive a single-seater, starting him off on his racing career.

26 April 2001 The autopsy of Michele Alboreto will be carried out today in Germany, according to a German police spokeperson. The car will also be examined today to try and find the cause of the accident. Two separate inquiries on the accident have been opened, one by Audi and one by Cottbus police. It is not known when Alboreto's body will be released to the family for burial.

25 April 2001 Former Ferrari driver Michele Alboreto, 44, has died following an accident on the Lausitzring circuit near Dresden at 17.30 local time. The driver was testing the Audi R8 prototype built for the Le Mans 24-hours race. Alboreto was driving along the straight when a component of the car failed for unknown reasons, sending the car into a series of tumbles. The driver died while being transported to hospital by helycopter.

Wolfang Ullrich of Audi Motorsport said that it is an unimaginable tragedy. The same car had already been driven for thousands of kilometers without any problem. Ullrich said that the whole team's thoughts go to Michele's family, his wife Nadia and his two daughters Noemi and Alice.

Alboreto had run 194 Formula 1 GPs in his career and was the last ever Italian driver to win in a Ferrari (the German GP in 1985). His best ever Driver Championship position was in 1985 when he finished the season in second place.

24 April 2001 R. Schumacher's driving license has been suspended for 14 days following the speeding fine he received in Austria. The suspension will only become active the day the Williams driver officially takes Austrian residence in june. In the meantime Ralf, who is currently resident in Montecarlo, can still drive with his German driving license.

24 April 2001 The FIA World Council, in a special meeting in Paris, has confirmed the contract with Slec and FOA (Formula One Administration) for 100 years for the management of the TV broadcast rights. In the same meeting Slec and the Kirch Gruppe (which owns the majority of Slec) have confirmed that Formula 1 will continue to be broadcast on non-pay channels. This way FIA respects the agreement it had made with Ecclestone last year and, at the same time, has reassured the large car manufacturers that had threatened to set up a rival series over the issue of Formula 1 being restricted to pay-TV. According to the Kirch Gruppe, Slec has paid 309 million US dolars to keep the TV broadcast rights. According to spokeperson Hartmut Schultz the money was paid into FIA's account on 11 April.

23 April 2001 R. Schumacher, who won his first GP at San Marino last week, has been fined for driving at 170 km/h on a road with a 100 km/h speed limit in Austria. When the police officers stopped him for speeding, they also found that he was not carrying his driving license with him, so they increased the fine to about 500 pounds. According to Austrian law, the Williams driver could have his driving license suspended for two weeks.

22 April 2001 Bridgestone are allegedly working on modifications to their Formula 1 tyres in an attempt to catch up with rival Michelin's performance.

21 April 2001 After having been unceremonously dropped by Prost in favour of Burti, Mazzacane could be heading for Minardi, according to the Argentine media. Giancarlo Minardi has commented on the rumour saying that Mazzacane made the decision to leave Minardi at the end of 2000 and he does not see him coming back and replacing Marques. Mazzacane has failed to impress so far, but he carries a large PSN sponsorship. He is allegedly also talking to Arrows.

20 April 2001 Ferrari have developed a new braking system to try and counteract Williams' recent performance. Rumours in the pits suggest that problems with the new system were the cause of M. Schumacher's retirement from the San Marino GP. The official explanation from Ferrari put the retirement down to tyre and wheel problems.

19 April 2001 Following Lauda's announcement of the drivers line-up for 2002 Luciano Burti has moved to the Prost team, taking Mazzacane's seat just in time for his home GP in Barcelona. Test driver Pedro De La Rosa takes Burti's place at Jaguar with immediate effect. Burti said that even if he had been told that his Jaguar seat was safe for the whole season, he has chosen to move to a team where he could develop in the long term.

19 April 2001 McLaren topped the tests at Silverstone, with Häkkinen managing to lap faster than team mate and current joint Championship leader Coulthard.

The Silverstone test times:

HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m22.45s COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m22.76s FRENTZEN Jordan Honda 1m23.31s R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m23.63s PANIS BAR Honda 1m23.82s VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m23.95s MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m24.16s BURTI Jaguar 1m24.32s IRVINE Jaguar 1m24.44s FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1m24.91s ALESI Prost Acer 1m26.19s COCHET Prost Acer 1m27.88s

19 April 2001 Jackie Stewart, who is the head of the British Racing Drivers' Club (Silverstone's organising committee), has called for the inquiry into the British GP sell-off to be carried out quickly. He said that the British Racing Drivers' Club decided to hand over the British GP to Octagon, owners of Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Oulton Park and other British circuits, to raise the money to bring Silverstone up to the highest international standards. Octagon agreed to have the British GP staged at Silverstone for the next 15 years in return for the right to organise the GP.

17 April 2001 Twentyfour year old Frenchman Jonathan Cochet, the winner of last season's French Formula 3 Championship, has been signed by Prost for the testing seat shunned by Pedro De La Rosa.

17 April 2001 The Competition Commission is investigating a deal aimed at ensuring that the British Grand Prix is hosted by Silverstone for the next 15 years. British Trade Secretary Stephen Byers is referring the acquisition of certain assets of the British Racing Drivers' Club by Octagon Motorsports (also the owner of the Brands Hatch circuit) for an investigation.

17 April 2001 Ferrari have confirmed that M. Schumacher's retirement from the San Marino GP was caused by an "unrepeatable" defect to the left front suspension. Ferrari have intensified their tests at Fiorano by running three cars (driven by M. Schumacher, Barrichello and Badoer), instead of the two they had originally scheduled. Tomorrow Barrichello and Badoer will test at Mugello.

17 April 2001 Twentytwo year old Dutchman Christian Albers, winner of the 1999 German Formula 3 Championship, will take part in the European Minardi tests at Mugello this week.

17 April 2001 Niki Lauda has announced the Jaguar line-up for 2002. Eddie Irvine and Pedro De La Rosa will be the two drivers, but Lauda did not say whether the team would retain Luciano Burti as a test driver. The announcement is likely to have a negative effect on the already low morale within Jaguar.

16 April 2001 The organisers of the San Marino GP have confirmed that the number of people attending the race was down by about 20 percent compared to last year. The organisers have blamed the bad weather for the reduction in public.

16 April 2001 British American Tobacco is allegedly trying to sell all or part of British American Racing through investment bank Goldman Sachs.

15 April 2001 R. Schumacher took the lead at the start of the San Marino GP to seal the first ever Formula 1 win of his career. His brother dropped to seventh place early on and then had to retire after problems with his car. Coulthard went on to finish second to put himself in the joint lead of the Drivers Championship table, while Barrichello rescued four precious points for Ferrari. Häkkinen finished fourth after a lacklustre race and the two Jordan of Trulli and Frentzen took the last two points spots. Last race revelation Montoya retired with car problems. The full race report is available from the Reports page.

The San Marino GP finishing times:

1. R.SCHUMACHER (Williams-BMW) 1h30'44"817, average 202.062 km/h 2. COULTHARD (McLaren-Mercedes) + 4"352 3. BARRICHELLO (Ferrari) + 34"766 4. HAKKINEN (McLaren-Mercedes) + 36"315 5. TRULLI (Jordan-Honda) + 1'25"580 6. FRENTZEN (Jordan-Honda) + 1 lap 7. HEIDFELD (Sauber-Ferrari) + 1 lap 8. PANIS (Bar-Honda) + 1 lap 9. ALESI (Prost-Ferrari) + 1 lap 10. BERNOLDI (Arrows-Asiatech) + 2 laps 11. BURTI (Jaguar-Cosworth) + 2 laps 12. BUTTON (Benetton-Renault) + 2 laps

15 April 2001 Coulthard topped the warm-up times this morning in Imola, with M. Schumacher down to only the sixth best time, behind R. Schumacher, Häkkinen, Heidfeld and Barrichello.

The San Marino GP warm-up times:

1 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m26.440s 2 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m26.727s 3 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m26.836s 4 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1m26.929s 5 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m26.941s 6 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m26.948s 7 FRENTZEN Jordan Honda 1m26.954s 8 RAIKKONEN Sauber Petronas 1m27.492s 9 PANIS BAR Honda 1m27.534s 10 TRULLI Jordan Honda 1m27.575s 11 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 1m27.728s 12 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m28.035s 13 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m28.142s 14 MAZZACANE Prost Acer 1m28.404s 15 BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 1m28.639s 16 IRVINE Jaguar 1m28.655s 17 ALESI Prost Acer 1m29.347s 18 MARQUES Minardi European 1m29.480s 19 BUTTON Benetton Renault 1m29.593s 20 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1m29.623s 21 BURTI Jaguar 1m30.030s 22 ALONSO Minardi European 1m30.150s

14 April 2001 It was McLaren day at Imola, as Coulthard stormed ahead to take pole position in front of team mate Häkkinen. Current World Champion M. Schumacher not only had to settle for second row, but also ended up behind younger brother Ralf. Trulli qualified in fifth position ahead of Barrichello. The qualifying session was influenced by the weather conditions, with threatening clouds at the start that pushed all teams out straight away to try and take advantage of the drying track, then with random patches of sunshine that dried out the wet track towards the end of the session.

The San Marino GP qualifying times:

1. COULTHARD (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'23"054, average 213.822 km/h 2. HAKKINEN (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'23"282 3. R.SCHUMACHER (Williams-BMW) 1'23"357 4. M.SCHUMACHER (Ferrari) 1'23"593 5. TRULLI (Jordan-Honda) 1'23"658 6. BARRICHELLO (Ferrari) 1'23"786 7. MONTOYA (Williams-BMW) 1'24"141 8. PANIS (Bar-Honda) 1'24"213 9. FRENTZEN (Jordan-Honda) 1'24"436 10. RAIKKONEN (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'24"671 11. VILLENEUVE (Bar-Honda) 1'24"769 12. HEIDFELD (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'25"007 13. IRVINE (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'25"392 14. ALESI (Prost-Ferrari) 1'25"411 15. BURTI (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'25"572 16. BERNOLDI (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'25"872 17. VERSTAPPEN (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'26"062 18. ALONSO (Minardi-European) 1'26"855 19. FISICHELLA (Benetton-Renault) 1'26"902 20. MAZZACANE (Prost-Ferrari) 1'27"750 21. BUTTON (Benetton-Renault) 1'27"758 22. MARQUES (Minardi-European) 1'28"281

13 April 2001 M. Schumacher pleased his supporters by clocking the fastest time in the second free practice for the San Marino GP, ahead of team mate Barrichello and younger brother Ralf. Häkkinen had the fourth best time, with Brazilian GP winner Coulthard in 11th place after going out with 12 minutes to go and revelation Montoya relegated to last place after mechanical problems. The second free practice session was run on a dry track, the rain having died out.

The San Marino GP combined free practice times:

1. M.SCHUMACHER (Ferrari) 1'25"096, average 208.691 km/h 2. BARRICHELLO (Ferrari) 1'25"372 3. R.SCHUMACHER (Williams-BMW) 1'25"829 4. HAKKINEN (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'26"341 5. PANIS (Bar-Honda) 1'26"535 6. RAIKKONEN (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'26"552 7. IRVINE (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'26"599 8. VILLENEUVE (Bar-Honda) 1'26"739 9. TRULLI (Jordan-Honda) 1'26"923 10. BURTI (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'26"933 11. COULTHARD (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'27"132 12. HEIDFELD (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'27"142 13. FRENTZEN (Jordan-Honda) 1'27"406 14. ALESI (Prost-Ferrari) 1'27"437 15. FISICHELLA (Benetton-Renault) 1'28"322 16. MAZZACANE (Prost-Ferrari) 1'28"586 17. BUTTON (Benetton-Renault) 1'28"902 18. ALONSO (Minardi-European) 1'28"931 19. BERNOLDI (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'29"273 20. MARQUES (Minardi-European) 1'29"589 21. VERSTAPPEN (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'29"750 22. MONTOYA (Williams-BMW) 1'39"812

13 April 2001 Barrichello beat team mate M. Schumacher to clock the fastest time under the rain in the first hour of the free practice session for the San Marino GP, ahead of Häkkinen, Coulthard, Trulli and Frentzen. Williams brought a light note to the session by printing "Keep your distance" on their cars' rear wings, a reference to the several rear-end collision accidents they have recently been involved in.

The San Marino GP first free practice session times:

1. BARRICHELLO (Ferrari) 1'31"998, average 193.035 Km/h 2. M.SCHUMACHER (Ferrari) 1'33"418 3. HAKKINEN (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'33"911 4. COULTHARD (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'33"978 5. TRULLI (Jordan-Honda) 1'34"119 6. FRENTZEN (Jordan-Honda) 1'34"549 7. RAIKKONEN (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'35"153 8. PANIS (Bar-Honda) 1'35"390 9. IRVINE (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'35"683 10. VILLENEUVE (Bar-Honda) 1'36"192 11. BERNOLDI (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'36"521 12. FISICHELLA (Benetton-Renault) 1'37"231 13. HEIDFELD (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'37"727 14. R.SCHUMACHER (Williams-BMW) 1'37"837 15. BUTTON (Benetton-Renault) 1'38"256 16. MAZZACANE (Prost-Ferrari) 1'38"382 17. MONTOYA (Williams-BMW) 1'39"812 18. ALESI (Prost-Ferrari) 1'39"961 19. MARQUES (Minardi-European) 1'41"116 20. BURTI (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'41"867 21. ALONSO (Minardi-European) 1'50"761 22. VESRTAPPEN (Arrows-Asiatech) no time

12 April 2001 Imola has been under wet weather for the last few days and the rain is expecetd to hit the free practice session for the San Marino GP tomorrow.

12 April 2001 Geoff Willis, chief designer of Williams, in an interview with magazine Motorsport News replied to accusations from other teams that there is something wrong with Williams' new braking system. Willis said that the rear-end collisions the Williams F1 cars have been involved in recently are not related to the braking system but to the fact that the cars were loaded with fuel, a situation that forced the drivers to brake early.

11 April 2001 Gerhard Berger of BMW has warned that despite Montoya's stunning performance in Brazil, Williams will not pose a real threat to Ferrari and Mclaren until next season.

11 April 2001 Ex-Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert will partner Ralf Kelleners and Didier Theys in the Le Mans 24 Hours race in a Audi R8. It is the first time Herbert takes part in the Le Mans race since he won it with Mazda in 1991.

11 April 2001 The Catholic Church has denied that a mass will be held inside the Imola circuit on Easter day, which falls on the day of the San Marino GP. Previously the Church had complained about the race being scheduled for Easter Sunday in a predominantly Catholic country.

10 April 2001 Plans for the construction of a circuit suitable for Formula 1 racing in Nagatino, near Moscow, have been given the go ahead. Work is expected to start within three months and has been contracted to British firm TWR. Plans for a circuit in Russia, that has never hosted a GP, have been halted six times before.

10 April 2001 According to Ferrari, the performance problem they had in Brazil was due to an error in the car set up that influenced the downforce.

9 April 2001 Frank Williams said that he has no intention of defecting from Formula 1 to the rival series that the main car manufacturers are threatening to set up. BMW provides engines to Williams, but does not actually have a stake in the team, while Fiat fully own Ferrari and Mercedes owns part of McLaren.

9 April 2001 Johnny Herbert will take a test drive with the Champcar Sigma team, with the view of getting a driving contract.

8 April 2001 Bernie Ecclestone has offered the car manufacturers his 25 percent of Slec holding in an attempt to avert the parallel championship crisis, accoding to British tabloid the Sunday Times. A Fiat spokeperson commented that the deal could be acceptable for them.

6 April 2001 Following the car manufacturers' threat to set up a parallel series, Leo Kirch said that he has no plans in place to limit Formula 1 broadcast to pay TV only. Max Mosley had previously said that he will try to ensure that an agreement is reached, but that if it came to a confrontation, the manufacturers would win, provided that they stayed together.

6 April 2001 Frank Saasen, a Dutch M. Schumacher impersonator, has lost a court case against the current World Champion. The court ruled that Saasen must stop pretending to be M. Schumacher on TV and at public events. From now on he will have to make it clear that he is not the Ferrari driver.

6 April 2001 In an interview with the Financial Times Bernie Ecclestone said that the car manufacturers had been offered the option to buy 25 percent of Slec, but they had refused because they thought that the Kirch Gruppe would not be able to raise the money required to buy the majority of the society. Ecclestone commented that it had taken him 30 years to build Formula 1 to what it is today and the manufacturers could destroy it within six months. He also believe that the competition to Formula 1 from a parallel series would be negative for everybody and would represent a danger for the sport.

5 April 2001 Testing has continued in Silverstone, Magny Course and Jerez. Because of the weather conditions at Silverstone, McLaren and Jordan could only manage a few laps.

The Thursday testing time from Silverstone:

1 WURZ McLaren Mercedes 1:32.20s 2 TRULLI Jordan Honda 1m32.40s 3 ZONTA Jordan Honda 1m36.28s 4 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m43.83s 5 PANIS BAR Honda No time

The Thursday testing times from Magny Cours:

1 GENE Williams BMW 1m15.699s 2 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m15.984s 3 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1m16.032s 4 BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 1m16.605s 5 ALESI Prost ACER 1m17.024s

The Thursday testing times from Jerez:

1 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1m21.958s 2 IRVINE Jaguar 1m22.761s 3 BURTI Jaguar 1m23.031s 4 BUTTON Benetton 1m24.360s

5 April 2001 Bernie Ecclestone will remain as president of the executive committee of Slec for a further five years, according to a press release from Slec.

5 April 2001 Antonio Ghini of Ferrari has confirmed that the Italian team is amongst the supporters of the new series. Franco Longanesi Cattani, spokeperson of FIA, said yesterday in Geneva that FIA sees no problem in setting up a new international series, provided that the new series respects the existing regulations, especially the ones concerning safety.

4 April 2001 Villeneuve, Alesi and Fisichella were the fastest in the tests at Silverstone, Magny Course and Jerez.

The Wednesday testing times from Silverstone:

1 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m22.91s 2 PANIS BAR Honda 1m23.50s 3 WURZ McLaren Mercedes 1m24.39s 4 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m24.65s 5 TRULLI Jordan Honda 1m25.92s 6 ZONTA Jordan Honda 1m26.79s

The Wednesday testing times from Magny-Cours:

1 ALESI Prost ACER 1m23.710s 2 RAIKKONEN Sauber Petronas 1m23.711s 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m25.021s 4 GENE Williams BMW 1m26.175s 5 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 1m27.514s

The Wednesday testing times from Jerez:

1 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1m22.713s 2 BURTI Jaguar 1m22.973s 3 IRVINE Jaguar 1m23.358s 4 BUTTON Benetton 1m25.378s

4 April 2001 The Motoring News magazine reports a rumour that Alain Prost and Eddie Jordan have had a series of meetings over Jordan releasing Ricardo Zonta from his testing role so that he can take Mazzacane's driving seat at Prost in the San Marino GP. Mazzacane has failed to impress in the first three races of the season and Jordan is allegedly prepared to release Zonta from his test driver contract if they can find a suitable replacement.

4 April 2001 Paolo Cantarella, president of the European Association of Car Manufacturers (Acea), has made public the association's decision to create a new single-seater championship as soon as possible. The reason behind the decision is the problem of the Formula 1 TV broadcast rights, which have been acquired by the German Kirch Gruppe who theatens to limit Formula 1 broadcast to pay TV. Amongst the supporters of the decision, which was unanymous, are Fiat (Ferrari), DaimlerChrysler (McLaren), Bmw, Renault and Ford. The current Concorde agreement, signed in 1998, ensures the broadcast of Formula 1 free of charge until 2007, but the manufacturers are prepared to terminate it early in favour of concentrating on the new championship.

3 April 2001 Mika Häkkinen's car stalled on the grid of the Brazilian GP, miracolously without causing a pile-up, because of a clutch problem.

2 April 2001 Max Mosley is not feeling optimistic about a quick conclusion to the agreement for Formula 1 broadcast rights and believes that the talks will continue for months. The FIA president said that, whatever the terms of the agreement, FIA will ensure that Formula 1 can still be seen for free.

2 April 2001 Both Niki Lauda and Ralf Schumacher have called for Barrichello to be banned from Formula 1, following the accident on lap three of the Brazilian GP, when the Ferrari driver drove into the back of R. Schumacher's Williams. The German believes that Barrichello is pushing too hard trying to keep up with his team mate, while Lauda wants the Brazilian banned for two races to discourage him from driving too aggressively.

1 April 2001 The race stewards decided that the shunt between R. Schumacher and Barrichello was a normal racing accident and the fault does not lay with either driver, despite Barrichello's claim that R. Schumacher changed his line without looking to see whether anybody was in the way. Both drivers have nonetheless been warned and if they get another warning they will be penalised.

1 April 2001 Jos Verstappen was handed a 15,000 US dollars fine by FIA for causing the accident that took out Juan Montoya while the Williams driver was leading the Brazilian GP. Verstappen said that Montoya braked very early and there was no way he could avoid hitting the Williams. Mika Häkkinen was also given a 5,000 US dollars fine for leaving his car with the steering wheel after he stalled the engine on starting grid. The lack of the steering wheel prevented the track personnel from removing the car from the circuit immediately.

1 April 2001 Coulthard won the Brazilian GP after several changes of lead. Initially Montoya took the lead and kept M. Schumacher at bay until Verstappen ran into the back of his Williams, taking both cars out. Coulthard moved into the lead ahead of M. Schumacher and kept it until it started to rain. After changing to rain tyres the current World Champion was in the lead, but a mistake on his part meant that the Scot went back into the lead and stayed there until the end. Local hero Barrichello rammed R. Schumacher on lap two and took both cars out. Heidfeld finished on the lowest step of the podium, Panis was fourth, Trulli fifth and Fisichella sixth. The full race report is available from the Reports page.

The Brazilian GP finishing times:

1. Coulthard (McLaren) 1h39'00"834 2. M. Schumacher (Ferrari) +16"164 3. Hedifeld (Sauber) +1 lap 4. Panis (Bar) +1 lap 5. Trulli (Jordan) +1 lap 6. Fisichella (Benetton) +1 lap 7. Villeneuve (Bar) +1 lap 8. Alesi (Prost) +1 lap 9. Marques (Minardi) +3 laps 10. Button (Benetton) +7 laps 11. Frentzen (Joradn) +8 laps

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande