December 1998

31 December 1998 Frank Williams will receive a Knighthood for services to motorsport. The only other motorsport personality to have received a knighthood is Sir Jack Brabham.

22 December 1998 Ferrari and Mattel have agreed to produce together a line of toys. A version of the Barbie doll dressed as a Ferrari driver will be produced. The Marlboro ads will be left out of her outfit, given the targeted age group.

21 December 1998 Honda has officially confirmed that they will come back to Formula 1 in the year 2000 with their own car.

20 December 1998 Italian environmentalists have officially asked the Italian ministry for the environment to allow the use of the racing circuits only for 6 days a year, to coincide with major races. For Imola and Monza, this would be the F1 GPs. In 1998 the Monza circuit was fully used for 51 days. Other races and tests would be allowed provided that the noise they produce is not over 65-70 decibel. The six days a year would be considered "special" and the noise level would be allowed to exceed the fixed limit.

19 December 1998 The Russian government has approved a project to organise a F1 GP on the Tula circuit, which might be built by local and foreign investors. The plan is to have a GP of Russia in 2002.

18 December 1998 Panis has started testing again. After the operation to remove the metal pins from his legs he was put on a six-week rest by the doctors. The sixth week has just started but the driver felt ready to go back behind the wheel.

16 December 1998 John Barnard has officially joined the Prost Grand Prix team.

15 December 1998 Dense fog prevented the new Honda-Dallara prototype from having its debut at the Vairano track in Italy.

15 December 1998 Villeneuve has tried out the new BAR car on the Montmelo circuit in Barcelona. Craig Pollock said it was a magic moment when he saw he saw the car coming out officially for the first time.

12 December 1998 Mosley has reached an agreement with the Italian authorities, so the San Marino GP is confirmed. The Hungarian GP is confirmed too, after agreeing that measures to contain the public will be put into place. A decision on the GP of Argentina will be taken in two weeks time.

11 December 1998 The new provisional 1999 F1 calendar has been released by FIA. The GP of China has been replaced with the GP of Argentina. In March, when the final calendar is released, FIA will decide whether to add The Chinese GP as an extra one.

9 December 1998 Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn are rumoured to have been confirmed by Ferrari until 2001.

9 December 1998 Honda has confirmed that the prototype of the new F1 car produced by Gian Paolo Dallara with the aid of Harvey Postletwaithe for the Japanaese firm is ready. The first road test will take place before Christmas, possibly next week, in a secret location in Europe. In mid January the car will be officially tested at Mugello. Honda is planning to enter F1 with its own car in 2000.

8 December 1998 FIA held a meeting today with the F1 teams in London to discuss the constraints put by Bridgestone, only tyre supplier, on testing. The only team missing was Sauber, which had delegated Stewart to represent them. Ferrari and Williams pushed for a differentiation between private and collective tests, while McLaren fully supported Bridgestone's position of providing fewer sets of tyres for less testing. Bridgestone will allow only 50 days of testing in a season with a maximum of three days per testing session and with all the teams present on the same circuit. The teams have not as yet approved the reduction in test time.

4 December 1998 Toranosuke Tagaki is rumoured to have signed a contract with Arrows yesterday in London.

3 December 1998 Coulthard said that next year McLaren should pay more attention to him. During the 1998 season Hakkinen had always been given the best car and the whole team was geared towards the Finn's needs.

3 December 1998 Both Coulthard and M. Schumacher have complained about the new tyres. The two drivers agree that the new tyres make the cars very unstable and play havoc with the aerodynamics, making it very easy to lose control of the car and spin out.

2 December 1998 The US will host a GP in the year 2000. Indinapolis Motor Speedway have been officially told that they will be included in the 2000 F1 calendar.

1 December 1998 Benetton is investing 12 million pounds to build a new wind gallery which will allow the simulation of all possible race conditions.

1 December 1998 Ford has decided to extend its contract with Stewart Racing until 2001.

1 December 1998 The Finnish Post Office is to release a stamp dedicated to World Champion Mika Hakkinen.

1 December 1998 The Indianapolis Motor Speedway company, which manages the Indianapolis race track, wants to organise a US GP for the year 2000. The news has been confirmed by FIA. San Francisco would also like to host a GP and the local promoters are prepared to setup a city circuit.

1 December 1998 Today the testing ban expired and several teams started testing again in Barcelona.

Last updated on 31 December 1998 by Federica Massagrande