February 2003
February 2003
Test results from Jerez:
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1. R. Schumacher Williams 1:17.592 2. K. Raikkonen McLaren 1:17.995 3. L. Badoer Ferrari 1:18.947 4. C. Da Matta Toyota 1:19.009 5. D. Coulthard 1:19.092 |
28 February 2003 Susan Watkins, wife of F1 doctor Professor Sid Watkins, who is a novelist and biographer, will write the official biography of Bernie Ecclestone. The book, which is scheduled to be released next year, will be published by UK house Ebury Press.
27 February 2003 Panis was quickest in the tests at Jerez, while Villeneuve topped the Imola test times.
Test results from Jerez:
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1. O. Panis Toyota 1:19.080 2. L. Badoer Ferrari 1:19.570/1:20.044 (F2002) 3. D. Coulthard McLaren 1:20.065 4. K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:20.717 5. R. Schumacher Williams 1:20.834 |
Test results from Imola:
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1. J. Villeneuve BAR 1:21.395 2. M. Gené Williams 1:22.650 3. A. Wurz McLaren 1:22.927 4. R. Zonta 1:23.661 |
27 February 2003 Both Ron Dennis and Frank Williams have replied to Mosley's comments about their joint letter. They have released another letter they sent to Mosley in which they say that they are going ahead with plans to challenge the FIA over its 2003 rule modifications through arbitration, unless the FIA did not try to reach an agreement with all teams regarding the rule changes by Wednesday (yesterday). Part of the letter read :
"In the event that the FIA does not confirm that they will seek the agreement of all teams with respect to the recent changes to the Technical and Sporting Regulations that they intend to introduce by close of business today, we will commence Arbitration proceedings under the Concorde Agreement which will resolve these issues in a confidential and dignified manner.
We made our position entirely clear in our letter to the FIA of February 20. We believe that the FIA is in breach of contract, we disagree with a number of the changes you have imposed and we are concerned that the F1 Technical Working Group members have expressed a view that the changes could increase the safety risk."
27 February 2003 Bernard Dudot, the man behind their all-conquering Renault engines of the Nineties, has been re-signed by the outfit after almost six years. He will assist team boss Flavio Briatore in managing the team’s engine unit at Viry-Châtillon in France. Dudot, 62, worked as the Technical Director of Renault Sport between 1980 and 1997 and was the brains behind the V10 engines that won six World Championships between 1992 and 1997 in partnership with Williams.
27 February 2003 Foster has reached an agreement with the San Marino GP organisers to be the title sponsor of the event. Foster, that produces the number one selling beer in London, is already title sponsor of its home race in Melbourne and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
27 February 2003 The Williams team have admitted that all is not well with their 2003 contender, the FW25. The main issue is aerodynamic problems. Yesterday Technical Director Patrick Head admitted to Reuters that there was still plenty of work to do to make the car competitive. The team is still in the process of understanding what is going wrong and it could be something that can be fixed overnight, though it could also be something very complex. Head thinks that these are only teething problems and that the team is in no way in the same kind of trouble as Jaguar was last season.
26 February 2003 M. Schumacher did not have any problems in setting the pace in the test session at Jerez, while Marc Gené topped the times table in Imola. Firman led the way at Silverstone.
Test results from Jerez:
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1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m25.616s 2 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m26.384s 3 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes 1m27.010s 4 PANIS Toyota 1m28.725s 5 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m29.195s |
Test results from Imola:
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1 GENE Williams BMW 1m22.818s 2 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m22.943s 3 DA MATTA Toyota 1m23.127s 4 WURZ McLaren Mercedes 1m23.533s 5 WILSON Minardi Ford 1m23.934s 6 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Ford 1m26.352s |
26 February 2003 Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, Bernie Ecclestone said that the teams have only got themselves to blame for the changes in Formula 1 regulations, due to their lack of initiative in coming up with cost-cutting measure and rule changes of their own.
26 February 2003 Despite Monday's meeting bewteen Berbie Ecclestone and the deputy head of Spa’s regional government, Serge Kubla, the Belgian GP is most unlikely to happen this season. Max Mosley said that the chances of it taking place are "practically nil", though he conceded that it could be reinstated in 2004 if the tobacco problem were resolved.
26 February 2003 The Drivers' pre-race meeting could be shown on TV in the coming Formula 1 season, as a replacement for the scrapped Sunday's warm-up session.
26 February 2003 Max Mosley has invited the teams to agree to scrap the 107% rule, which is deemed incompatible with Formula 1’s new one-lap qualifying format.
25 February 2003 Max Mosley has slammed the Williams and McLaren teams, branding them "irresponsible" for challenging Formula 1’s new regulations. He is particular furious about the fact that Frank Williams and Ron dennis announced to the media that they are taking legal action befopre giving the FIA time to respond. Mosley wrote an open letter to Williams and Dennis, saying amongst other things:
"You both knew perfectly well that, at least until January 15, there was great unease among sponsors, television networks and race promoters about Formula 1. You must also have known that to announce your intention to go to arbitration would add to this unease and revive all the worries of the winter break.
Yet, having instructed solicitors to write to us on February 20 saying that arbitration would commence unless we agreed to compromise by February 26, you went to the world's media on February 20 without waiting for a response, indeed before we even had the letter. How irresponsible.
You waited five weeks after the January 15 meeting without reacting or seeking a meeting. Could you not have waited another six days for our response to your solicitors' letter before once again destabilising the FIA Formula 1 World Championship?"
He then went on with a personal attack on the two team managers, dismissing their letter to him as vague", "unfocused" and "confused". He also said:
"It is impossible to have a dialogue if the response to a carefully considered set of proposals is a collection of vague claims and confused criticisms with no discernable attempt to address the arguments.
You would not meet us. You would not yourselves agree anything significant. What were we supposed to do? No-one wants to implement measures, however necessary, without full discussion, but what else could we do?
By contrast there has been endless discussion with the teams since 15 January and we have done and continue to do all we can to help and co-operate with the teams.
Plainly the best way to deal with the problems of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship would be to discuss new rules rather than the more rigorous implementation of existing ones. But we cannot do that if you refuse to meet us, as you did in December.
If you truly believe that the public want to see computer-controlled cars guided from the pits by anonymous engineers, please think again.
If you don't believe me, hire two halls in any city anywhere in the world and put, for example, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya in one, with both of you plus your electronics experts and your technical chiefs in the other. Invite the public to both halls and see what happens.
The FIA Formula 1 World Championship is primarily a drivers' championship and always has been.
Your main "proactive" work in the past twelve months seems to have been to try to prevent at all costs (including taking Bernie to arbitration) Minardi receiving money which I and at least two leading counsel believe is clearly due to them.
This was money which would have gone to Prost had he continued, never to either of you, yet you are apparently doing your utmost to grab it at Minardi's expense. Furthermore, Ron's public utterances on Minardi speak for themselves."
25 February 2003 Talking to British newspaper The Guardian, Bernie Ecclestone said that he will sue the teams and manufacturers that try to pull out of the Formula 1 Championship before the end of the Concorde agreement in 2007. He is also hoping to renew the agreement until 2015. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo recently accused Ecclesotne of having been the cause of the creation of GPWC because he has been too greedy. Ecclestone replied that he could not predict what would happen to Em.TV and the Kirch group and that at the time it made sense to sell the Formula 1 TVV broadcast rights. He then attacked Luca di Montezemolo asking why he has not been able to solve the problems at Fiat, if he is so clever.
25 February 2003 The deputy head of Spa’s regional government, Serge Kubla, met up with Bernie Ecclestone in London on Monday in a bid to have the Belgian GP reinstated in the 2003 calendar. following the meeting, he said that the possibility of having a GP at Spa this season cannot be ruled out, even if the chances are slim.
25 February 2003 Five new drivers have joined the Toyota Drivers Academy. They are veterans of last year’s young drivers programme Ryan Briscoe and Franck Perera and new faces 21-year-old Katsuyuki Hiranaka and 16-year-old Kouhei Hirate (both from Japan) and 19-year-old Brazilian Roberto Streit.
25 February 2003 The Renault team has announced the extension by 5 years of the sponsorship deal with 3D Systems.
24 February 2003 Bernie Ecclestone, who sill owns 25% of SLEC through a trust, has expressed an interest in buying back the commercial rights to Formula 1 for about one billion pounds ahead of its market flotation. Ecclestone sold 75% of SLEC to the Kirch media group, but the company subsequently went bust, landing the share in the hands of its creditor banks. The deal will go on only if the F1 teams agree to extend the Concorde Agreement and stay in the sport until 2015. This move would counteract the manufacturers threat to set up a parallel championship.
24 February 2003 The Jaguar team has appointed businessman John Hogan as its new Sporting Director. The day-to-day running of the team will be carried out of by David Pitchforth while Head of Vehicle Performance Mark Gillan will take care of all testing and racing responsibilities. Last year all three roles were being taken on by Team Principal Niki Lauda.
22 February 2003 The FIA has finalised the timetable for the 2003 Grand Prix weekends. The teams opting for the Friday’s test session are Minardi, Jaguar, Jordan and Renault.
GP weekend timetable (local times):
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Friday 08.30 - 10.30 Test session 11.00 - 12.00 Free Practice Session 14.00 - 15.00 First Qualifying Practice Session
Saturday
Sunday |
* Except for Malaysia (15.00), Canada (13.00), Great Britain (13.00), United States (13.00) and Japan (14.30).
21 February 2003 Puma has struck again. After bagging Jaguar, Minardi, Jordan and Sauber, the German sportswear firm has signed a deal with Toyota. The team members will be provided with the footwear needed for the whole 2003 season.
20 February 2003 The FIA have release a terse response to the Williams and McLaren's letter. The full statement read: "Any Formula 1 team is entitled to seek arbitration under the terms of the Concorde Agreement. The FIA is confident that its position will be upheld."
20 February 2003 Frank Williams of WilliamsF1 and Ron Dennis of McLaren have written a letter in which they say that they are deeply concerned that FIA President Max Mosley "is seeking to introduce changes the combined effect of which would undermine the fundamental values of Formula One as the pinnacle of motorsport and a technological showcase". McLaren, Williams and the Technical Working Group, the association that groups the Technical Directors of all teams, also believe some of the changes could lead to dangerous situations for drivers. In particular, they are worried that the reduction from 18.5 hours to 2.5 hours of the time available for the teams to carry out detailed checks between qualifying and racing through the post qualifying impoundment rule, together with the elimination of telemetry which enables the teams to monitor the cars for any serious defects that occur during the race, would have a "serious negative impact" on the safety of all cars. Ron Dennis has accused FIA of trying to "dumb down" Formula 1 and of having introduced wide-sweeping changes to the rules for 2003 without proper consulation with the teams. Frank Williams said that the FIA was "taking an unnecessarily pessimistic view of the future of Formula One" and that some of the changes went right against the spirit of Formula 1.
The full text of the letter and press release are available here (PDF format).
19 February 2003 Both Schumacher brothers topped the lap time table in Barcelona (under the rain) and Imola respectively. M. Schumacher set the new Imola lap time on the F2003-GA while he was at it. Barrichello ran the F2002.
Test results from Barcelona:
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1 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m31.569s 2 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m31.931s 3 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford 1m32.485s 4 ALONSO Renault 1m32.693s 5 FIRMAN Jordan Ford 1m32.716s 6 WEBBER Jaguar 1m33.062s 7 PANIS Toyota 1m34.017s 8 BUTTON BAR Honda 1m34.148s 9 GENE Williams BMW 1m34.189s 10 PIZZONIA Jaguar 1m35.029s 11 DA MATTA Toyota 1m38.810s 12 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m39.766s 13 McNISH Renault 1m54.056s 14 TRULLI Renault no time |
Test results from Imola:
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1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m20.441s 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m21.541s 3 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1m21.749s 4 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas 1m22.117s |
18 February 2003 Italian driver Giorgio Panatano is almost certain to be Jordan's new test driver in 2003. Pantano also is a candidate to be one of the Jordan team's drivers in Formula 3000 this season. Last year he was in the run for the Formula 3000 Championship title, but missed it.
17 February 2003 The Minardi team has finally closed the tyre supply deal with Bridgestone for 2003. Minardi had been forced to test on Avon F3000 tyres because of the lack of a supplier.
16 February 2003 The Jaguar team has elected to test on Fridays, alongside Renault, Jordan and Minardi. According to the new testing rules, the teams that choose to test on Friday have two hours, from 8.30am to 11.30am on each GP weekend. The teams are also restricted to only 10 private testing days a year.
15 February 2003 Octagon Motorsport is committed to complete the work at Silverstone ahead of the British GP, regardless of the rumours about the firm's financial future. US-based advertising firm Interpublic, owner of Octagon Motorsport, has shown concerns at the rate at which it has been losing money. Between January and September 2002, Octagon Motorsport recorded 59 million US dollars in losses.
14 February 2003 Antonio Pizzonia has broken the Valencia lap record, previously owned by Montoya.
Test results from Valencia:
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1. Antonio Pizzonia (Jaguar Racing) 1m10.08s 25 laps 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) 1m11.18s 97 laps 3. Jacques Villeneuve (BAR) B 1m11.32s 75 laps 4. Marc Gené (Williams) 1m11.89s 42 laps 5. Ralf Schumacher (Williams) 1m12.38s 88 laps |
14 February 2003 The TWR Group seems to be going the same way as the defunct Arrows team. The company has been placed in administrative receivership. The collapse of TWR Group, which employs around 500 people, had apparently been triggered by the loss of its 20 million pounds investment in the Arrows team. Rob Hunt, administrative receiver to TWR at PwC, is hoping to sell the business and he has apparently already received a couple of expressions of interest.
14 February 2003 India has expressed an interest in hosting a Formula 1 GP. A British-based consortium headed by businessman Sundar Moolchandani is working to try and secure a race in the country. The designer of Sepang, the new Hockenheim and the upcoming Bahrain circuit, Hermann Tilke, has been called in and has identified an area in Bangalore as the most suitable for a new circuit facility. He had also evaluated Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, but found these locations too hot for motor racing.
13 February 2003 The FIA have proposed a new rule for the 2003 season. Under this rule, refuelling would be banned between the qualifying session on Saturay and the start of the GP on Sunday. The teams would have to start the race with wtahever fuel they have left in the car. The move is likely to affect the choice of pit stop strategy. Max Mosley said that the teams have been informed already and that this new rules implies the cancellation of the warm-up session on Sunday morning. Once the cars are parked in the parc fermé, the mechanics will we allowed to lift the chassis cover only to work on the engine, gearbox and safety systems under strict surveillance. The cars will also have to start the race on the same tyres used for qualifying.
12 February 2003 After the brilliant debut performance, the F2003-GA hit its first snag. M. Schumacher was forced to stop the car after only eight laps because of strange noises coming from the engine. The test session was suspended for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon M. Schumacher clocked a best lap time of 56"807, setting a new Fiorano lap record.
11 February 2003 The new Ferrari F2003-GA had its track debut in style today at Fiorano, where it beat the F2002 debut time by over three tenths of a second in the morning. The F2003-GA ran the Fiorano lap in 58"291. Last year the F2002 lapped in 58"620 on its debut run. In the afternoon M. Schumacher was out again and completed the debut by setting a new lap record of 57"213, beating the lap record of 57"476 set on 12 July 2002 with the fully-developed F2002.
10 February 2003 Ferrari test driver Felipe Massa will be testing for Sauber too. The Brazilain was a driver at Sauber last season, so he knows the team and the car well.
10 February 2003 Puma has signed another sponsorship deal with another team. This time it was Jaguar's turn to receive a full supply of drivers' and crews' shoes from the German sportswear company.
9 February 2003 Sauber presdented the C22 in Switzerland. The aim of the team in 2003 is to classify with the top three teams. To achieve this result a new project approach to the car design was used, said technical director Willy Rampf.
7 February 2003 During the Ferrari presentation Jean Todt revealed that the FIA is planning to install monitoring devices on board the cars to check whether electronic driver aids like traction control and launch control were being used.
7 February 2003 Ferrari have presented their 2003 contender at Maranello. The car has been renamed F2003-GA in honor of Gianni Agnelli, who died in January. These are the details of the car:
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CHASSIS in beehive carbon-fiber composite material. ENGINE 052, V-shaped 10 cylinders with microfused cylinder block. 40 valves, pneumatic distribution. CPACITY 2.997 cc. INJECTION Magneti Marelli digital electronic injection. GEARBOX Ferrari electronically-controlled semiautomatic longitudinal sequential gearbox (sever gears plus reverse) with self-blocking differential. BRAKES self-ventilating carbon brakes. LENGTH 4,545 mm WIDTH 1,796 mm WEIGHT (with driver, oil and water) about 600 kg |
6 February 2003 Felipe Massa is Ferrari's new test driver. He replaces Luciano Burti, who is going back to Formula Nissan racing. Burti will partner other Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer.
6 February 2003 Eddie Jordan has denied the rumours that his team is receiving cash handouts from other teams. The rumours started after last meeting of the Formula 1 Commission, when it was reported that that Formula 1’s richest eight teams had offered money to Jordan and Minardi in a bid to stop them from following Arrows' fate. Eddie Jordan said that the matter was indeed discussed, but that no offer had been made.
5 February 2003 The GP of Bahrain suffered a blow today, as the parliament refused to fund the construction of the Formula 1 facility on the ground that it was "flying in the face of Islamic values". Parliament Services Committee Chairman Isa Al Mutawa said in an interview with the Gulf Daily News paper: "If F1 comes to Bahrain then bets come too and if the resort gets opened, then prostitutes will pour into the country more than before." However, the decision is not final and Shura council, a government-appointed body with 40 members, will now discuss the issue.
5 February 2003 M. Schumacher again left the pack behind when he topped the test times table at Barcelona, ahead of team mate Barrichello.
Test results from Barcelona:
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1. M. Schumacher, Ferrari 1.15.103 105 laps 2. R. Barrichello, Ferrari 1.15.408 54 3. H. Frentzen, Sauber-Petronas 1.16.336 111 4. J. Montoya, BMW-Williams 1.16.630 71 5. O. Panis, Toyota 1.16.945 61 6. M. Gené, BMW-Williams 1.17.234 74 7. D. Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes 1.17.293 30 8. K. Raikkonen, McLaren-Mercedes 1.17.985 40 9. M. Webber, Jaguar 1.18.667 27 |
5 February 2003 Former Formula 1 driver Mika Salo will take place in the Le Mans 24 Hours race with Audi. The Finn will also drive an Audi R8 in the Sebring 12 Hours next month.
5 February 2003 Felipe Massa, who missed out on the last available driving seat for Jordan, is now in the market for a testing role for 2003. The Brazilian could go back to Sauber, but his name has also been linked to Ferrari.
4 February 2003 In the third day of testing in Barcelona Ferrari retained the lead over the other teams. This time it was M. Schumacher's turn to come out on top of the times table.
Test results from Barcelona:
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1. M. Schumacher, Ferrari 1.15.465 85 laps 2. R. Barrichello, Ferrari 1.15.762 65 laps 3. O. Panis, Toyota 1.17.390 51 laps 4. N. Heidfeld, Sauber-Petronas 1.17.480 96 laps 5. J. Trulli, Renault 1.17.560 53 laps 6. M. Gené, BMW-Williams 1.17.678 86 laps 7. A. Pizzonia, Jaguar 1.18.063 40 laps 8. A. McNish, Renault 1.18.445 50 laps 9. J. Button, BAR-Honda 1.18.506 42 laps 10. J. Montoya, BMW-Williams 1.18.903 43 laps 11. J. Villeneuve, BAR-Honda 1.19.001 38 laps |
4 February 2003 Ferrari went straight to the top in the second day of testing at Barcelona (yesterday), with Barrichello beating team mate M. Schumacher.
Test results from Barcelona:
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1. R. Barrichello, Ferrari 1.16.900 64 laps 2. M. Schumacher, Ferrari 1.17.282 88 laps 3. C. Da Matta, Toyota 1.17.563 77 laps 4. J. Trulli, Renault 1.17.778 54 laps 5. J. Button, BAR-Honda 1.17.826 66 laps 6. N. Heidfeld, Sauber-Petronas 1.17.907 94 laps 7. A. Pizzonia, Jaguar 1.18.079 41 laps 8. J. Villeneuve, BAR-Honda 1.18.342 68 laps 9. J. Montoya, BMW-Williams 1.18.511 41 laps 10. R. Schumacher, BMW-Williams 1.18.725 62 laps 11. A. McNish, Renault 1.19.203 64 laps |
4 February 2003 Jordan have confirmed that Ralph Firman is their second driver for 2003, alongside veteran Giancarlo Fisichella.
3 February 2003 Toyota's da Matta topped the times table in the first day of testing at Barcelona.
Test results from Barcelona:
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1. C. da Matta Toyota (M) 56 23 1:17.182 2. J. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 39 38 1:18.043 3. J. Button BAR-Honda (B) 54 30 1:18.139 4. M. Gené Williams-BMW (M) 85 79 1:18.280 5. R. Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 52 17 1:19.800 |
3 February 2003 German sportswear firm Puma, that recently signed a sponsorship deal with Minardi and Jordan, has today signed another sponsorship deal, this time with Sauber. Puma will be the official supplier of outfits for the Sauber Petronas Team.
3 February 2003 There are strong rumours that 27-year-old Briton Ralph Firman is set to take the last remaining driving seat at Jordan. Firman won the Formula Nippon Championship last season. Felipe Massa had been in the frame for teh Jordan seat recently, but it seems that the Jordan officials have had a sudden change of mind to appease sponsor Benson and Hedges who want a British driver.
2 February 2003 Red Bull have extended their sposnorship agreement with Sauber by another 12 months. Red Bull has been sponsoring Sauber for the last eight years.
1 February 2003 Bridgestone has issued a statement explaining why they have not supplied tyres to Minardi for testing. According to Brdigestone, the issue is legal, as they are not allowed to supply tyres until all the hegotiations for a deal have been completed. Bridgestone's statement said that a request for tyres supply from MInardi was received in October 2002 and that it was carefully considered. However, during this time Minardi continued testing using rival Michelin's tyres, so Bridgestone explained its situation to the team. In January Bridgestone agreed to reconsider the issue of supplying tyres to Minardi and sent a proposal to the team. The negotiations are currently ongoing and have not all yet been resolved. Bridgestone is legal unable to supply tyres to Minardi until all formalities have been sorted out. The factor delaying the conclusion of the deal is thought to be a dispute over the final price.
Last updated on
by Federica Massagrande