February 1999

26 February 1999 The rumour that Mika Salo will not race for Arrows seems confirmed. He will get an undisclosed amount of money from Arrows for contract violation.

23 February 1999 British American Racing have decided to go for a livery (the same for both cars) with the two cigarette logos, one on each side. The new livery was presented today at Silverstone.

21 February 1999 The Arrows pits at the Albert Park track, where the first GP of the 1999 season will take place in less than two weeks time, carry Toranosuke Takagi's name instead of Mika Salo's. So far Arrows have made no official comments to clarify the matter. The organisers of the Australian GP said that they have been given the names of the drivers by FIA and not by the teams. The official Australian GP programme does not list Salo's name either.

20 February 1999 FIA has ruled that Diniz had respected the terms of his contract when he left Arrows and is therefore free to drive for Sauber.

19 February 1999 Patrick Head said that if FIA insists on trying to get even harder compounds, the drivers will go public and say that the tyres are dangerous. The hard tyres decrease grip on fast corners and several drivers have already spoken out unofficially against them.

19 February 1999 Minardi have announced that they have signed Luca Badoer, who will also carry on working as test driver for Ferrari. The second Minardi seat was the last drive left to fill for 1999.

17 February 1999 Arrows have officially confirmed their deal with Repsol and that De La Rosa will drive for them in 1999.

16 February 1999 Ex F1 driver Carlos Reutemann has decided to enter the race for the presidency of the Republic of Argentina. The elections will take place next October. Reutemann has been region governor and is now a senator.

16 February 1999 Ex Ferrari driver Michele Arboreto will receive next Saturday the special prize the Ferrari Club gives every year to a driver who excelled in driving a Ferrari.

16 February 1999 Max Mosley has hit out at BAR for launching the cars with the two different liveries before the final decision on the matter was taken. He accused BAR of "putting up two fingers to FIA and to the whole of the Formula One establishment".

14 February 1999 Eddie Irvine has been involved in a car accident on the Milan ringroad by the town of Assago. The Ferrari driver was going on holiday with a 21 year old Italian model and a friend when the accident happened. Irvine was unharmed, but the model, who was driving, suffered a whiplash and Irvine's friend, Marcus P., hurt his head.

11 February 1999 Charlie Whiting, FIA's technical delegate, said that Benetton's new braking system is currenlty considered legal. The braking system, Front Torque Transfer (FTT), prevents the car from locking up when braking heavily by transferring the load to wheels which can handle it. Some teams had complained that anti-lock tyres have always been considered illegal. If FIA decides that the system is definitely allowed, other teams will follow suit. Patrick Head said that Williams will develop a similar system if FIA decides that it is legal.

11 February 1999 Apparently last night in Barcelona Arrows signed Pedro De La Rosa as second driver for 1999. According to De La Rosa the deal was reached thanks to the sponsorship of petrol company Repsol, but Arrows has so far refused to comment on the news.

11 February 1999 The latest rumours say that the Arrows A20 will be presented in late April, just before the San Marino GP. Arrows will race with last year car in the first two races of the 1999 Championship. The team presented the A20, an evolution of last year's A19, unofficially by having Mika Salo driving it for a few laps in Barcelona. The launch has been delayed because due to the take-over Arrows needs to close the deals with the new sponsors, a process which is expected to take a few weeks.

8 February 1999 McLaren today presented the 1999 challanger, the MP4-14, in Barcelona. The car is based to a large extent on last year's Championship winner model. Arrows are the last team left to launch the 1999 car and announce the driver lineup.

7 February 1999 The new Minardi M01 was presented today in Barcelona. Team president Gabriele Rumi, owner Gian Carlo Minardi and Telefonica (Marc Gené's sponsor) manager Manuel Garcia Duran were present. The name of the second driver will be announced in the next few weeks.

6 February 1999 British American Racing will have to respond to FIA about trying to race with two different liveries during a meeting which will take place on 12th March. BAR might now go for a new paintwork advertising one brand of cigarettes on one side of the car and the second brand on the other.

5 February 1999 Spaniard Marc Gené has been signed as one of Minardi's drivers. The second driver will be annunced after the launch, scheduled for the 7th of February.

4 February 1999 Argentinian Gaston Mezzacane (23) is the new Minardi test driver. Mezzacane has been driving in F3000 since 1996 and his contract with Minardi says that the Italian team will support his career development. He will take part in the tests of the new Minardi M01 in Barcelona between 8 and 10 February.

3 February 1999 British American Racing have lost their bid to run with two different liveries. BAR claimed they were trying to protect their commercial rights.

1 February 1999 Today the new Jordan model 199 was presented. It uses a Ford V10 3.0 liters engine. It is 950 mm high, 4550 mm long and weights 600 kg fully loaded with the driver in. Jordan driver Damon Hill said that he expects to do better than last year with the new car.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande