August 2002

25 August 2002 Heinz-Harald Frentzen will be back at Sauber next season. The German has signed a one-year contract with the team that first gave him his break into Formula 1 in 1994 in the Brazilian GP. His team mate will be Nick Heidfeld, while Felipe Massa has been offered the position of test driver.

24 August 2002 The deal between BMW and Williams runs out in 2004 and the engine manufacturer might choose to build its own car, rather than renew the deal with WilliamsF1. BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen said that teh first priority is to have as much success as possible and that the decision will be made by the company board. Frank Williams said that it would be a benefit for the team to stay with BMW after the end of the current deal.

23 August 2002 Malayisa has banned tobacco advertising from 2003, with the exception of the Formula 1 GP.

23 August 2002 BMW WilliamsF1 has confirmed that Juan Pablo Montoya has signed a contract to drive for the team for a further two seasons.

22 August 2002 Paul Stoddart denied the rumour reported yesterday that Alex Yoong will not be offered a drive next season. The Australian said that the news was reported incorrectly and that no decision has been made as to next year's Minardi line-up.

21 August 2002 Paul Stoddart has apparently confirmed that Alex Yoong will not be offered a contract for next season. The Malaysian has been replaced for two GPs by BAR test driver Anthony Davidson after underperforming team mate Weber all season. Stoddart said that the team is now looking for an experienced driver and for a driver from the US for 2003. Current driver Mark Weber is rumoured to be about to sign a contract with Jaguar to replace Irvine next year.

19 August 2002 Mika Salo has been penalised 25 seconds and demoted to 15th place because of a pit-lane altercation between him and Pedro De La Rosa. On lap 53 both drivers pitted and the Toyota driver shot out of his pit spot just as De La Rosa was going past, almost causing a collision that was only avoided because De La Rosa braked hard and swerved out of the way in the narrow pit lane. The FIA decided that Salo's move had been unsafe and punished the driver. The FIA stated that Toyota released car number 24 (Mika Salo) after a pit stop before it was safe to do so, contravening Article 66f of the 2002 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

19 August 2002 Eddie Irvine said that he is not close to making a decision about his future, but that it is unlikely that he will be at Jaguar next season. Meanwhile, there are strong rumours that Mark Webber has signed a contract with Jaguar and that the official announcement will be made soon.

19 August 2002 M. Schumacher does not know whether he will want to carry on driving after the end of his contract in 2004, according to his personal manager Willi Weber. Weber also said that Luca di Montezemolo would like to retain the German for a further two years, but discussions about a contract renewal will not take place until 2003.

18 August 2002 Ferrari dominated the Hungarian GP and sealed the fourth Constructors Championship in a row. The star of the show (and of the weekend) was Barrichello, who took the lead convincingly from pole position and held onto it throughout the race, with team mate M. Schumacher following him closely. The victory vindicated the events of the Austrian GP when Barrichello had dominated the weekend, like he did in Hungary, and was then made to let M. Schumacher win on team orders. It also means that Barrichello has moved into second place in teh Drivers Championship. The start of the GP saw Fisichella leapfrog into fourth place, as Montoya started a bad race and lost three positions dropping down to seventh. The Colombian never fully recovered and an excursion onto the gravel during a scrap with Räikkönen spelt the end of his competitiveness, as damage to the bottom of his Williams gave him understeering problems and banished him down to 11th place. R. Schumacher on the other Williams fared considerably better, running virtually alone and finsihing in third place, too far behind the two Ferrari to hope to improve his position and too far ahead the rest of the pack to be bothered by other drivers. McLaren finally found their pace after the second pit stop and managed to finish in the points, denying Fisichella the fourth place he had solidly defended from a mature and aggressive Massa most of the race. Debutant Davidson retired with only 16 laps to go.

The Hungarian GP finishing times:

1. Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Ferrari) 77 laps in 1h41'49"001 (average: 180.364 km/h) 2. Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) +0"434 3. Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-BMW) +13"355 4. Kimi Räikkönen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) +29"479 5. David Coulthard (GB/McLaren-Mercedes) +37"800 6. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Jordan-Honda) +1'08"804 7. Felipe Massa (Bra/Sauber) +1'13"612 8. Jarno Trulli (Ita/Renault) +1 lap 9. Nick Heidfeld (Ger/Sauber) +1 lap 10. Takuma Sato (Gia/Jordan-Honda) +1 lap 11. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col/Williams-BMW) +1 lap 12. Olivier Panis (Fra/BAR-Honda) +1 lap 13. Mika Salo (Fin/Toyota) +2 laps 14. Pedro De La Rosa (Spa/Jaguar) +2 laps 15. Allan McNish (GB/Toyota) +2 laps 16. Mark Webber (Aus/Minardi) +2 laps

17 August 2002 Toyota Team President Ove Andersson confirmed that the team will build an interim chassis, the TF102B, for offseason development. The new chassis will be a marked improvemnet on the existing machine and will incorporate all the lessons learnt during the current season. Next year's Toyota contender will be called the TF102. Andersson also denied that there had been any serious discussion with Cristiano da Matta over a drive next season.

17 August 2002 Barrichello, who had finished behind team mate M. Schumacher in all the Hungarian GP practice sessions, decided to use the qualifying session to prove what he can do. The Brazilian set the new track lap record early on and his team mate failed to catch up with him. In his last lap Barrichello even managed to beat himself by 21 hundreds of a second and set another fastest lap. R. Schumacher was pleased and surprised to have managed to clock the third fastest time four tenths of a second behind the Ferrari, while Montoya on the other Williams had to content himself with fourth best time over a second behind the leader. Fisichella and Trulli qualified in fifth and sixth places, very close to Montoya. Felipe Massa achieved a career best qualification in seventh place, while debutant Davidson failed to beat team mate Webber, but still managed to qualify within 107% of pole time. The McLaren put up an applaing performance, apparently after failing to find the right balance for the car. Coulthard will start the Hungarian GP from 10th place and Räikkönen from 11th. Woking was unavailable to comment on the qualifying performance.

The Hungarian GP qualifying times:

1. R Barrichello (B) 1:13.333 11 laps 2. M Schumacher (B) 1:13.392 9 laps 3. R Schumacher (M) 1:13.746 11 laps 4. JP Montoya (M) 1:14.706 11 laps 5. G Fisichella (B) 1:14.880 11 laps 6. J Trulli (M) 1:14.980 12 laps 7. F Massa (B) 1:15.047 12 laps 8. N Heidfeld (B) 1:15.129 12 laps 9. J Button (M) 1:15.214 11 laps 10. D Coulthard (M) 1:15.223 12 laps 11. K Räikkönen (M) 1:15.243 12 laps 12. O Panis (B) 1:15.556 11 laps 13. J Villeneuve (B) 1:15.583 11 laps 14. T Sato (B) 1:15.804 11 laps 15. P de la Rosa (M) 1:15.867 12 laps 16. E Irvine (M) 1:16.419 10 laps 17. M Salo (M) 1:16.473 11 laps 18. A McNish (M) 1:16.626 11 laps 19. M Webber (M) 1:17.428 9 laps 20. A Davidson (M) 1:17.959 11 laps

16 August 2002 Russian firm Gazprom, the largest gas company in the world, has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Minardi. It is the most important Formula 1 sponsorship deal ever entered into by a Russian firm.

16 August 2002 M. Schumacher will donate 1 million euros to help the people hit by the flooding in Germany. The announcement will be made during a program broadcast by German TV station ARD aimed at collecting money for the flooding victims.

16 August 2002 Ferrari is still ahead of the rest after the Hungarian GP second Friday free practice session. McLaren and Williams managed to sort out their set up problems somehow, allowing R. Schumacher to clock the third best time and Räikkönen the fourth, in front of a very good Fisichella and Sato. The notoriously dirty Hungaroring played its tricks on several drivers and most of the first part of the session was a series of spins and trips on the grass and gravel. Anthony Davidson, in his F1 debut, was the star of the show, managing to do in one session what Yoong had failed to do for the rest of the season and clocking a faster time than team mate Webber. It is to be seen whether the young Briton will manage to keep the pace up for the qulifying session, but the omens are good.

The Hungarian GP combined Friday free practice times:

1. M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:16.346 41 laps 2. R Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:16.952 36 laps 3. R Schumacher BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) 1:17.228 42 laps 4. K Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.298 31 laps 5. G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:17.399 33 laps 6. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:17.598 1.252 43 laps 7. D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.704 26 laps 8. F Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:17.704 41 laps 9. P de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.036 41 laps 10. J Button Renault (M) 1:18.250 34 laps 11. J Trulli Renault (M) 1:18.360 35 laps 12. J Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.388 35 laps 13. E Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.718 32 laps 14. O Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.846 39 laps 15. M Salo Toyota (M) 1:18.890 34 laps 16. JP Montoya BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) 1:18.961 42 laps 17. N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:19.051 32 laps 18. A McNish Toyota (M) 1:19.171 37 laps 19. A Davidson Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:19.490 48 laps 20. M Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:19.526 40 laps

16 August 2002 Not surprisingly Ferrari dominated the Hungarian GP first Friday free practice session. M. Schumacher and Barrichello left third-placed Massa well behind with Villeneuve, Fisichella and Panis clocking the best fouth, fifth and sixth time. McLaren did not seem to have found the right set up and suffered from oversteering throughout the session, relegating Räikkönen in seventh place and Coulthard in ninth. Williams fared no better, with R. Schumacher clocking the 10th best time and Montoya the 15th. Anthony Davidson, who replaced Yoong in the Minardi, clocked the slowest lap time just under than a second slower than Mark Webber on the other Minardi, still a better result than the Malaysian ever achieved.

The Hungarian GP first Friday free practice times:

1. M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:16.755 21 laps 2. R Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.122 13 laps 3. F Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:18.388 22 laps 4. J Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.388 25 laps 5. G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:18.452 14 laps 6. O Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.861 24 laps 7. K Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:19.041 13 laps 8. N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:19.051 21 laps 9. D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:19.125 13 laps 10. R Schumacher BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) 1:19.193 17 laps 11. J Button Renault (M) 1:19.247 15 laps 12. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:19.322 21 laps 13. P de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:19.390 18 laps 14. J Trulli Renault (M) 1:19.663 15 laps 15. JP Montoya BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) 1:19.813 18 laps 16. M Salo Toyota (M) 1:19.884 12 laps 17. E Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:20.112 12 laps 18. M Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:21.027 14 laps 19. A McNish Toyota (M) 1:21.027 15 laps 20. A Davidson Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:21.948 25 laps

16 August 2002 Jacques Villeneuvehas dismissed the rumours that he is planning a return to CART. The Canadian said that only a "golden contract" could lure him away from Formula 1. BAR boss David Richards is trying to convince Villeneuve, the second highest paid driver in Formula 1, to take a pay cut for next season.

15 August 2002 Tom Walkinshaw told British weekly magazine Autosport that he does not think the Arrows team will be exluded from the Championship, despite choosing to miss the Hungarian GP on legal ground. The official reason for missing the race is that the team is trying to settle a new investment deal. However, if FIA decides that the reason Arrows withdrew from the Hungarian GP is insolvency, the team will be excluded from the rest of the Championship.

15 August 2002 Fine weather is expected in Hungary for the GP weekend, despite the devastating rainfalls that are currently plaguing Central Europe. Sunshine is expected throughout the weekend, with temperatures ranging between 24 to 26 degrees. Some light rain could occur on Friday morning.

13 August 2002 The Arrows team will not take part in the Hungarian GP scheduled for the coming weekend. The team announced today that it remains in detailed discussions with potential investors. Arrows has been advised to do nothing that could interfere with these discussions and therefore decided not to race in Hungary.

13 August 2002 Alex Yoong has been dropped by the Minardi team because of his recent poor performance. His place at the Hungarian GP is expected to be taken by BAR test driver Anthony Davidson. Minardi have not made an official announcement about Yoong's position after the Hungarian GP yet. He could be replaced for the rest of the season, or just made to "rest" for one race to allow him to regain his confidence.

12 August 2002 BAR Team Principal David Richards told British tabloid The Sunday Mirror that he would support Jaques Villeneuve's move to CART for one year, should the team and the driver fail to reach an agreement over the Canadian's salary.

12 August 2002 Craig Pollock is one of the people trying to buy the debt-stricken Arrows team. The admission came from the former BAR boss himself, who believes that he has a 80% chance of being successful in his bid.

11 August 2002 M. Schumacher has joined the Modena football team, the local team of the region where Ferrari is based which was promoted into Serie A this season. M. Schumacher said that his interest in the Modena team is to keep fit. He will be training with the players and might even take part in one or two friendly matches.

7 August 2002 Yoong is expecting to be demoted to test driver before the Hungarian GP. The Minardi team said that a decision about the future of the underperforming Malaysian driver will be made on Monday. Yoong failed to qualify in three occasions this season and has been regulalrly outpaced by team mate Mark Webber.

6 August 2002 Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has been involved in a fist fight with a photohgrapher that the Ferrari president accused of harassing him and his family. The accident happened at Massa Cinquale Airport in Tuscany last Wednesday. The photographer, Claudio Cuffaro, who works for the Il Tirreno newspaper, said that he will sue Montezemolo.

6 August 2002 Frentzen will not race in the Hungarian GP. His personal manager, Monty Field, said that an option for the future had come up for the German and that it was best for them to end their relationship with Arrows.

5 August 2002 Craig Pollock, Jaques Villeneuve's personal manager, has denied that the drivers is thinking about a switch to CART.

5 August 2002 Jaguar's team designer John Russell has allegedly left the team following thi season's disappointing performance. Russell had been with Jaguar since the team took over the Stewart outfit.

5 August 2002 A source at Jaguar said that, contrary to rumours, the Jordan team is not set to receive works Cosworth engines next year. Instead, Jordan will receive custom engines in a deal similar to Arrows.

4 August 2002 Felipe Massa's manager, Riccardo Tedeschi, has rejected rumours that the young driver is to be replaced before the Hungarian GP.

3 August 2002 Brian McGuinness, one of the key players in the car import business in Saudi Arabia, has joined forces with Saudi banking and leisure firm tycoon Prince Al-Waleed to form a business consortium to acquire shares in the Faenza-based Minardi. McGuinness' involvement has been confirmed by Paul Stoddart.

2 August 2002 The Arrows team has announced that driver Heinz-Harald Frenyzen has been released from his contract with immediatel effect, apparently because of the financial instability of the team. Frentzen was on a race-by-race agreement with Arrows TWR, which meant that there were no legal problems to his departure. Tom Walkinshaw said that the team did not wish to stand in Frentzen's way when the driver announced that he wished to leave because of uncertainty at Arrows. Walkinshaw also thanked Frentzen for his hard work and wished him best luck for the future. For his part, Frentzen thanked Arrows for the 12 races he has had with the team which, he believes, has real potential. Frentzen's replacement at Arrows will be announced before the Hungarian GP. A possible candidate for the position is Sebastien Bourdais, who recently tested for the team.

2 August 2002 The rumours that CART driver Cristiano Da Matta is set to join Toyota have been gaining strenght. Toyota have allegeldy initiated negotiations with Da Matta's current employer Newman-Haas.

1 August 2002 British weekly magazine Autosport reported that Ford is going to set up a works team with Jordan next season. If the three-year deal does go ahead, the Jordan team will be renamed Jordan-Ford. The engine will be up-to-date specification works Cosworth. Ford already owns the Jaguar team so, with the establishment of the Jordan-Ford team, it would be competing against itself.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande