August 2001

31 August 2001 M. Schumacher and De La Rosa have had a quiet chat about the accident in the first free practice session to try and understand its dynamics. After the meeting M. Schumacher said that they have worked out what happened. The German said that he could see nothing in the spray, De La Rosa slowed down to let him through but when M. Schumacher saw the Jaguar it was too late to avoid it and hit the car. The current World Champion then said that it is necessary to find a way to avoid a similar situation arising in future. He also confirmed that there are no hard feelings between the two drivers.

31 August 2001 Rain started to pour as soon as the second Friday session for the Belgian GP started. The storm caused large amounts of standing water on the track so that the only driver who managed to better his time was Fisichella, who moved up to fourth place. M. Schumacher was involved in a violent shunt at Eau Rouge when he hit De La Rosa's car from behind in the rain.

The Belgian GP combined free session times:

1. M.SCHUMACHER (Ferrari) 1'48"655 (average 230.867 Km/h) 2. TRULLI (Jordan-Honda) 1'49"404 3. BARRICHELLO (Ferrari) 1'49"456 4. FISICHELLA (Benetton-Renault) 1'50"192 5. HAKKINEN (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'50"239 6. RAIKKONEN (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'50"495 7. R. SCHUMACHER (Williams-BMW) 1'50"801 8. IRVINE (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'51"555 9. ALESI (Jordan-Honda) 1'51"631 10. BUTTON (Benetton-Renault) 1'51"673 11. PANIS (Bar-Honda) 1'52"071 12. FRENTZEN (Prost-Ferrari) 1'52"073 13. DE LA ROSA (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'52"119 14. HEIDFELD (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'52"436 15. VILLENEUVE (Bar-Honda) 1'52"804 16. MONTOYA (Williams-BMW) 1'52"829 17. VERSTAPPEN (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'52"955 18. ALONSO (Minardi-European) 1'55"021 19. MARQUES (Minardi-European) 1'55"099 20. BERNOLDI (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'55"491 21. BURTI (Prost-Ferrari) 2'11"037 22. COULTHARD (McLaren-Mercedes) 12'37"913

31 August 2001 M. Schumacher dominated the first free practice session for the Belgian GP. The German preceeded Trulli, Barrichello, Häkkinen, R. Schumacher and Alesi. Coulthard failed to score a competitive time because he span out early on and damaged his cars.

The Belgian GP first free session times:

1. M. SCHUMACHER (Ferrari) 1'48"655 (average 230.867 Km/h) 2. TRULLI (Jordan-Honda) 1'49"404 3. BARRICHELLO (Ferrari) 1'49"456 4. HAKKINEN (McLaren-Mercedes) 1'50"239 5. R. SCHUMACHER (Williams-BMW) 1'50"801 6. ALESI (Jordan-Honda) 1'51"631 7. RAIKKONEN (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'51"645 8. HEIDFELD (Sauber-Ferrari) 1'52"436 9. MONTOYA (Williams-BMW) 1'52"829 10. FISICHELLA (Benetton-Renault) 1'52"943 11. VERSTAPPEN (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'52"955 12. IRVINE (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'53"087 13. FRENTZEN (Prost-Ferrari) 1'53"320 14. PANIS (Bar-Honda) 1'53"807 15. DE LA ROSA (Jaguar-Cosworth) 1'54"352 16. BUTTON (Benetton-Renault) 1'54"711 17. ALONSO (Minardi-European) 1'55"329 18. BERNOLDI (Arrows-Asiatech) 1'55"491 19. MARQUES (Minardi-European) 1'56"194 20. VILLENEUVE (Bar-Honda) 1'57"639 21. BURTI (Prost-Ferrari) 10'43"872 22. COULTHARD (McLaren-Mercedes) 12'37"913

30 August 2001 Team Principal Niki Lauda said that the Jaguar Racing team plans is planning to replace Bobby Rahal after the end of the curent season.

30 August 2001 Keke Rosberg, Häkkinen's personal manager, said that the Finn will definitely be racing for McLaren next season, despite rumours of retirement.

30 August 2001 Coulthard and R. Schumacher have been fined 500 US dollars each for arriving late to an official FIA press conference. Niki Lauda received a warning (with no fine) for leaving before the press conference was over.

30 August 2001 M. Schumacher said that he will help team mate Barichello if the situation to do so arises in the last races of the current season.

30 August 2001 McLaren-Mercedes will not announce next season's drivers this weekend as expected, according to Mercedes's spokeperson Wolfgang Schattling. It is expected that McLaren will confirm the current driver line-up (Coulthard and Häkkinen) as soon as all the team decisions are taken. The Mclaren team will also test young Swiss driver Marcel Fässler. Today the Sauber team cancelled the scheduled testing sesion with Fässler to prevent (Ferrari) engine details from falling into McLaren's hands.

30 August 2001 Willi Weber, M. Schuamcher's personal manager, in an intervirew with German paper Bild said that the current World Champion will compete up to the age of 40 and that he will not leave Ferrari.

29 August 2001 Following Alex Yoong's move to Minardi as driver, Magnum Corporation Berhad of Kuala Lumpur has become European Minardi's main sponsor. Magnum Corporation Berhad, whose main activity is 4-number betting in Malaysia, has supported Alex Yoong in his driving career and his entry in Formula 1.

29 August 2001 Niki Lauda has confirmed that both Irvine and De La Rosa will drive for Jaguar Racing next season. Niki Lauda recently replaced Bobby Rahal, who left Jaguar after it transpired that he had offered Irvine to Jordan as a replacement for Frentzen. Rahal said that he would probably have left anyway because of major differences between himself and Niki Lauda.

28 August 2001 Williams BMW will be using a new chassis in Belgium, in an attempt to put R. Schumacher in second place in the Drivers Championship. His older brother M. Schumacher, who has already sealed the 2001 Drivers Championship, vowed to help team mate Barrichello finish second in the Championship.

27 August 2001 M. Schumacher has been given the all-clear by doctors to take part in the Belgian GP next weekend. The German, who has already mathematically won this season's Drivers Championship, complained of neck pain following a crash in testing.

27 August 2001 Alex Yoong has obtained a superlicense and will replace Tarso Marques at Minardi in the last three races of the current season, starting with the Italian GP on 16 September.

25 August 2001 Ken Tyrrell, the founder of the Tyrrell Formula 1 team that ceased to exist when it was acquired by British American Tobacco and became British American Racing, has died in his London home this morning at the age of 77, following a disease. Ken Tyrrell discovered and mentored several talents in Formula 1, including three-times World Champion Jackie Stewart.

24 August 2001 Bobby Rahal has been axed by Jaguar Racing following allegations that he had offered Eddie Irvine to rival Jordan as a replacement for Frentzen. Rahal, who has been with the team only since last December, will return to the US to take care of his interests there, including his ChampCar team. His place is the team is to be filled by Niki Lauda. The split is said to have been amicable.

24 August 2001 M. Schumacher was involved in another major shunt during testing at Mugello, his third accident in a month. The accident was caused by mechanical failure while the Ferrari driver was travelling at 180 mph and sent him spinning in the gravel trap at the first corner. Despite the accident M. Schumacher posted the fastest lap in the test session, ahead of Trulli and Alesi.

24 August 2001 Prost will almost certainly continue using Ferrari engines next year. Prost ha a two-year contract with the Italian team, but the relationship was rumoured to have deteriorated during the 2001 Championship. Sauber, using the same Ferrari engines, consistently outperformed Prost and according to paddock rumours the French team was late with payments to Ferrari.

23 August 2001 Benetton have announced that Jarno Trulli has signed a contract with them for next season. The deal seals the driver exchange with Jordan, who signed current Benetton driver Fisichella yesterday.

23 August 2001 Malaysian driver Alex Yoong is certain to replace Marques at Minardi as soon as he obtains a superlicense. Yoong has been putting in the miles in a marathon session at Mugello in order to complete the required number of miles for driving in Formula 1.

22 August 2001 Giancarlo Fisichella has signed a three-year contract with Jordan, starting from 2002. The Italian struggled with a less-than-perfect Benetton car this season.

22 August 2001 Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen's personal manager, said that the Finn will stay at McLaren next year for a record-breaking tenth season with the team.

20 August 2001 Bobby Rahal has allegedly offered Eddie irvien to Jordan to replace Heinz-Harald Frentzen after the German was sacked by the team. Rahal said that he was only joking, but the Jaguar management is less than impressed.

19 August 2001 M. Schumacher dominated the Hungarian GP to win his second Drivers Championship title in a row with Ferrari. A glitch in the pits caused Coulthard to lose second place in the race and any hope for the Championship. Barrichello's six points meant that Ferrari also sealed the Constructors Championship for the third year in a row. Coulthard settled for third place ahead of team mate Hauml;kkinen, Räikkönen and Heidfeld.

The Hungarian GP finishing times:

1 M. Schumacher Ger Ferrari 1h41'49"675 180,348 2 R. Barrichello Bra Ferrari + 3"363 3 D. Coulthard Gb McLaren + 3"940 4 R. Schumacher Ger Williams + 49"687 5 M. Häkkinen Fin McLaren + 1'10"293 6 N. Heidfeld Ger Sauber + 1 lap 7 K. Räikkönen Fin Sauber + 1 lap 8 J. Montoya Col Williams + 1 lap 9 J. Villeneuve Can BAR + 2 laps 10 J. Alesi Fra Jordan + 2 laps 11 P. De La Rosa Spa Jaguar + 2 laps 12 J. Verstappen Hol Arrows + 3 laps

18 August 2001 M. Schumacher took pole position in Hungary for the Grand Prix that could seal the 2002 Championship. The German lapped faster than title rival Coulthard, team mate Barrichello, younger brother R. Schumacher, Trulli and Häkkinen.

The Hungarian GP qualifying times:

1 M. Schumacher Ger Ferrari 1'14"059 2 D. Coulthard Gb McLaren 1'14"860 3 R. Barrichello Bra Ferrari 1'14"953 4 R. Schumacher Ger Williams 1'15"095 5 J. Trulli Ita Jordan 1'15"394 6 M. Häkkinen Fin McLaren 1'15"411 7 N. Heidfeld Ger Sauber 1'15"739 8 J. Montoya Col Williams 1'15"881 9 K. Räikkönen Fin Sauber 1'15"906 10 J. Villeneuve Can BAR 1'16"212 11 O. Panis Fra BAR 1'16"382 12 J. Alesi Fra Jordan 1'16"471 13 P. De La Rosa Spa Jaguar 1'16"543 14 E. Irvine Gb Jaguar 1'16"607 15 G. Fisichella Ita Benetton 1'16"632 16 H. Frentzen Ger Prost 1'17"196 17 J. Button Gb Benetton 1'17"535 18 F. Alonso Spa Minardi 1'17"624 19 L. Burti Bra Prost 1'18"238 20 E. Bernoldi Bra Arrows 1'18"258 21 J. Verstappen Hol Arrows 1'18"389 22 T. Marques Bra Minardi 1'19"139

17 August 2001 Just like it did in the first session, Ferrari also dominated the second hour of free practice for the Hungarian GP. In the combined lap times table M. Schumacher and Barrichello lead the McLaren of Häkkinen and the Williams of R. Schumacher. Irvine managed the fifth fastest lap time and Alesi proved his worth in the Jordan by clocking the sixth time. Coulthard was not able to take part in second session after damaging his car in the first hour and dropped all the way down to 10th place.

The Hungarian GP combined Friday practice times:

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1'16"651 (average 186.690 Km/h) 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1'16"734 3. HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'16"789 4. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1'17"308 5. IRVINE Jaguar 1'17""409 6. ALESI Jordan Honda 1'17"862 7. FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1'17"896 8. HEIDFELD Sauber Ferrari 1'17"928 9. PANIS BAR Honda 1'17"970 10. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'18"182 11. DE LA ROSA Jaguar 1'18"195 12. TRULLI Jordan Honda 1'18"277 13. MONTOYA Williams BMW 1'18"524 14. FRENTZEN Prost Ferrari 1'18"724 15. RAIKKONEN Sauber Ferrari 1'18"834 16. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1'19"238 17. BUTTON Benetton Renault 1'19"263 18. VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 1'19"368 19. BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 1'19"466 20. ALONSO Minardi European 1'19"992 21. BURTI Prost Acer 1'20"615 22. MARQUES Minardi European 1'20"981

17 August 2001 Ferrari topped the first session lap times with M. Schumacher and Barrichello. Häkkinen and Coulthard, who hit a kerb and damaged his car leaving debris all over the track, followed. R. Schumacher and Heidfeld had the best fifth and sixth lap times. Frentzen on Prost (18th) managed to lap faster than Alesi on Jordan (19th) after the Frenchman span out after only five laps.

The Hungarian GP first Friday practice times:

1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m16.995s (average 185.856 Km/h) 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m17.290s 3 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m17.606s 4 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m18.182s 5 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1m18.456s 6 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1m18.851s 7 TRULLI Jordan Honda 1m19.430s 8 PANIS BAR Honda 1m19.460s 9 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m19.707s 10 RAIKKONEN Sauber Petronas 1m19.971s 11 IRVINE Jaguar 1m19.996s 12 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1m20.308s 13 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 1m20.706s 14 BUTTON Benetton Renault 1m20.935s 15 DE LA ROSA Jaguar 1m21.204s 16 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m21.211s 17 BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 1m21.324s 18 FRENTZEN Prost Acer 1m21.540s 19 ALESI Jordan Honda 1m21.590s 20 BURTI Prost Acer 1m21.986s 21 ALONSO Minardi European 1m22.215s 22 MARQUES Minardi European 1m22.748s

17 August 2001 Benetton have let their option on Fisichella expire. The Italian is now free to choose whether to stay at Benetton-Renault or to move to Jordan or Arrows. Fisichella's personal manager, Gianpaolo Matteucci, said that Fisichella has strong emotional ties with Benetton and would like to stay with the team if they offer him a long-term contract, so he is going to talk to Flavio Briatore about it. Renault has currently offered Fisichella only a 12-months contract.

17 August 2001 Kimi Räikkönen has denied having had talks with Ferrari for a driver seat for next season.

16 August 2001 Dario Franchitti has extended his contract with ChampCars Team Kool Green for another two years, ending speculations that he will move into Formula 1 soon.

16 August 2001 Eddie Jordan has denied sacking driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen by fax. Jordan said that he had spoken to Frentzen and had offered him the chance to race in his home GP at Hockenheim. Monty Field, Frentzen's personal manager, replied saying that the driver had not lied about being sacked by fax.

16 August 2001 Fisichella's personal manager, Gianpaolo Matteucci, said that the Italian driver has received three offers for next year, from Benetton, Jordan and Arrows. Benetton has an option on Fisichella that runs out at midnight tonight, then the driver will be able to make a decision as to what drive he wants to take. Matteucci said that the offer from Jordan is very good, but that Fisichella will also consider staying at Benetton-Renault if they offer him a longer term contract. Currently Renault is offering only a one year contract.

14 August 2001 Jarno Trulli has reached an agreement with Jordan for 2002, according to his personal manager Lucio Cavuto. In Hungary an announcement will be made as to whether the Italian will stay at Jordan or whether he'll go to Renault. Briatore will decide in the next few days whether to confirm Fisichella again or to use his option on Trulli. The other Renault driver, Jenson Button, has already been confirmed for 2002.

13 August 2001 Jean Alesi has confirmed that he has signed a contract with Jordan for the 2002 season. The French driver said that he is very confident of Jordan's potential and that he will have a car that could put him on the podium already in Hungary. Eddie Jordan, on the other hand, said that he still has not decided the line-up for next year.

11 August 2001 Alain Prost has accused Jean Alesi of being childish after the driver broke an agreement not to discuss details of the transfer to Jordan with the media. Prost said in an interview with French paper L'Equipe that he and Alesi had agreed not to give their own personal version of the events, but that ten minutes later Alesi was already telling all in a radio interview. Alesi said that he and Prost had a quick chat afterwards and the driver admitted that perhaps he should not have spoken about the move in the radio interview. Afterwards Prost announced that Alesi will receive a letter from his lawyer. Alesi said that if he gets a letter, Prost will receive a letter from his lawyers.

11 August 2001 Alan McNish has confirmed that he will drive for Toyota next season and warned that the new team will be a force to be reckoned with.

9 August 2001 A new Formula 1 circuit is planned to be built within three years near Instanbul in Turkey.

8 August 2001 Following the signing of Alesi with jordan, Prost Acer has announced that Heinz-Harald Frentzen has joined the team for the rest of the season, replacing Alesi.

8 August 2001 The much-awaited official announcement about Alesi's future has been made. The French driver is now officially working for Jordan and will drive for the team for the rest of the season starting with the Hungarian GP. The contract between Alesi and Prost was terminated by mutual agreement, meaning that there will be no litigation between Prost and Jordan. The announcement puts an end to all the recent speculations following Frentzen's dismissal from the Jordan team. Zonta, who stepped into the driving seat following Frentzen's departure, will resume his testing role.

8 August 2001 H.-H. Frentzen has allegedly been seen at the Prost facility near Paris, raising speculations that he might replace Alesi in Hungary. Alesi is expected to drive for Jordan, who unceremoniously sacked Frentzen before the German GP. If the rumours are true, the two drivers would effectively swap seats.

7 August 2001 Alesi's personal manager has confirmed that the French driver will no longer work for Prost, but did not specify whether he will compete for Jordan in the Hungarian GP.

7 August 2001 Arrows have sterted legal proceedings against online betting firm Eurobet after they pulled out of a sponsorship deal. Eurobet say that there was a get out clause in their sponsorship contract with Arrows and that they had informed the team in October last year that they did not intend to continue sponsoring Arrows in the 2001 season. Arrows still displays the Eurobet logos on the team cars. An extra layer of complexity is added to the situation by the fact that Morgen Grenfell Private Equity, which is an investor in Arrows, also owns Coral, the parent company of Eurobet.

6 August 2001 Ferrari World, Ferrari's official web site, now hosts an online shop selling a variety of Ferrari merchandise, with guaranteed delivery in 45 countries.

6 August 2001 British Formula 3 champion Antonio Pizzonia will test for Williams. The Brazilian, who has also tested for Benetton, could replace current test driver Marc Gené if he manages to impress.

5 August 2001 Jean Alesi has admitted that he has had talks with Jordan over a possible switch to the team that recently sacked Frentzen.

3 August 2001 The move of Jean Alesi from to Prost to Jordan could be concluded during the weekend. Mario Miyakawa, Alesi's personal manager, said that they are all working to agree a solution, but did not want to release any details.

3 August 2001 Alex Yoong has signed a two-year contract with Minardi and will drive in his first Formula 1 GP in Belgium if he obtains a super-license by then. Yoong, the first Malaysian Formula 1 driver, replaces Brazilian Tarso Marques who has so far failed to impress.

3 August 2001 British Motorsport governing body, the MSA, have rubbished speculation that the British GP is under threat. The MSA said that they have heard nothing from FIA. Some people complained about the new park and ride scheme at Silverstone and those comments will be passed on to Octagon.

3 August 2001 Jos Verstappen has called for Enrique Bernoldi to be dropped by the team, calling him the worst team mate he has ever had.

3 August 2001 Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fired by Jordan with a fax. According to the German press the driver received a fax last week telling him that his contract with the team had been terminated with immediate effect. At the time of the announcement it was believed that the sacking of Frentzen followed a heated argument between him and Eddie Jordan. Frentzen said that there had been no discussion and the fax came out of the blue, then everything went into the hands of the lawyers. There had been a difference of opinions between Frentzen and Jordan after the British GP, but no fight. No reason was given for firing Frentzen.

2 August 2001 According to Minardi boss Paul Stoddart, 24-year old Malaysian driver Alex Yoong will definitely replace Tarso Marques before the end of the current season. Yoong will not drive for Minardi in Hungary though, as he still does not qualify for a super-license and cannot put in the required miles in the next three weeks because of the "summer rest" testing ban. Yoong could be in his very first Formula 1 GP in Spa or Monza.

2 August 2001 The FIA has threatened to drop the British GP from the calendar next season following complaints of traffic jams around the circuit on the day of the race. GP organizers Octagon must provide an explanation as to why the jams occurred, or risk losing the GP.

1 August 2001 There will be no night-time Formula 1 GP. The owners of the Sepang circuit had discussed the project of a flood-lit GP with Bernie Ecclestone, but now they have concluded that it would be too dangerous and would cost too much.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande