July 2000

31 July 2000 The man who disrupted the German GP has been released from jail by the Mannheim police after paying a small fine.

31 July 2000 The organisers of the German GP are expected to be given a hefty fine for failing to control the spectator who ran across the track as a protest against Mercedes. The same person had already been stopped from getting to the track as the formation lap was about to start, but had not been expelled from the circuit premises. He has been arrested and is due to stand trial.

31 July 2000 Fisichella today repeated that he could do nothing to avoid the accident at the start of the German GP. According to the Benetton driver, seen from his car M. Schumacher was like a lorry that suddently gets in front of you on a motorway and brakes.

31 July 2000 Mika Salo will stay at Sauber next season. Asked about rumours saying that he was due to join Toyota as a test driver get the team ready to enter F1 in 2002, the Finn replied that he's happy at Sauber and does not want to spend one year without racing.

31 July 2000 Trulli was given the 10 seconds stop-go penalty in Germany because on lap 28, under yellow flag conditions, Barrichello came out of the pits just as the Jordan was going past the pit lane exit. The two cars were side to side for a split second but Trulli, having the racing line and constant speed while Barrichello was getting up to racing speed, was obviously faster and the Brazilian was left behind. The race officials interpreted it as Trulli overtaking Barrichello and penalised the Italian.

30 July 2000 M. Schumacher as accused Fisichella of having caused the accident that took both drivers out of the German GP at the start. The Benetton driver replied that it would have been impossible for him to avoid the Ferrari because there had not been enough time to brake when M. Schumacher had moved right in front of him.

30 July 2000 According to the German GP organisers, the mad fan who ran across the track causing the safety car to come out the first time was a former Mercedes employee from France who wanted to protest against his dismissal. Apparently about one hour before the race the same fan had tried to block the track with a banner.

30 July 2000 Barrichello worked his way up from 18th on the grid to win a very strange German GP. M. Schumacher was again out at the start after a collision with Fisichella, leaving the two McLaren the run of the field. A bizarre series of events, including a fan clad in a plastic sheet with the Mercedes logo running onto the track and heavy rain falling on only half of the track, caused things to change dramatically. Häkkinen and Coulthard had to settle for second and third position, in front of Button in his best ever result, Salo and De La Rosa. The full report of the race is available from the Race Reports section.

The German GP finishing times:

1. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1h2m34.418sec 2. Mika Häkkinen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +7.452sec 3. David Coulthard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes +21.168 4. Jenson Button (GB) Williams-BMW +22.685 5. Mika Salo (Fin) Sauber-Petronas) +27.112 6. Pedro De La Rosa (Spa) Arrows-Supertec +29.079 7. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW +30.897 8. Jacques Villeneuve(Can) BAR-Honda +47.537 9. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Jordan-Mugen Honda +50.901 10. Eddie Irvine (GB) Jaguar-Cosworth +1:19.664 11. Gaston Mazzacane (Arg) Minardi-Ford +1:29.551 12. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Prost-Peugeot +5 laps

29 July 2000 Coulthard took pole position for the German GP. M. Schumacher put in a last-minute effort to steal second place on the grid from Fisichella. M. Schumacher had crashed his race car in the morning and ran the first part of the qualifying session in his spare car, obtaining fourth position. When Barrichello damaged his car in the qualifying session, having failed to clock a time within 107 percent, M. Schumacher gave him his spare car to allow his team mate to qualify. The German then waited for his race car to be rapaired and improved on his time in the last available lap. Current World Champion Häkkinen was fourth, a good De La Rosa fifth and Trulli sixth.

The qualifying session:

1. David Coulthard (Gbr/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:45.697 2. Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) 1:47.063 3. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1:47.130 4. Mika Häkkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:47.162 5. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows-Supertec) 1:47.786 6. Jarno Trulli (Ita/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1:47.833 7. Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1:48.037 8.Johnny Herbert (Gbr/Jaguar-Cosworth) 1:48.078 9. Jacques Villeneuve (Can/BAR-Honda) 1:48.121 10. Eddie Irvine (Gbr/Jaguar-Cosworth) 1:48.305 11. Jos Verstappen (Ned/Arrows-Supertec) 1:48.321 12. Ricardo Zonta (Bra/BAR-Honda) 1:48.665 13. Nick Heidfeld (Ger/Prost-Peugeot) 1:48.690 14. Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-BMW) 1:48.841 15. Mika Salo (Fin/Sauber-Petronas) 1:49.204 16. Jenson Button (Gbr/Williams-BMW) 1:49.215 17. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1:49.280 18. Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Ferrari) 1:49.544 19. Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Petronas) 1:49.936 20. Jean Alesi (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1:50.289 21. Gaston Mazzacane (Arg/Minardi-Ford) 1:51.611 22. Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1:53.094

28 July 2000 thirteen fans were hurt, none seriously, when lightning struck a camping site near Hockenheim following torrential rain. Circuit officials reported that over five cm or rain had fallen on the circuit in one hour.

28 July 2000 M. Schumacher clocked the fastest lap time in the Friday free practice session, in front of Frentzen, Häkkinen, Barrichello and Coulthard. In the second hour of the session the track was wet because of rain fallen during the interval and only the Jordan drivers managed to improve on the times from the first hour.

The free practice session times (first ten):

1. M. Schumacher (Ferrari) 1'43"532 2. Frentzen (Jordan) 1'43"575 3. Hakkinen (McLaren) 1'44"120 4. Barrichello (Ferrari) 1'44"128 5. Coulthard (McLaren) 1'44"379 6. Trulli (Jordan) 1'44"521 7. Zonta (Bar) 1'44"906 8. Villeneuve (Bar) 1'44"985 9. Fisichella (Benetton) 1'45"048 10. Salo (Sauber) 1'45"094

28 July 2000 The weather is expected to be cloudy but dry and cold at Hockenheim during the weekend.

27 July 2000 Johnny Herbert has decided to leave F1 at the end of the current season and move to CART next year.

26 July 2000 Panis is allegedly in talks with Benetton to replace Wurz after the German GP. Wurz has not scored a single point for over one year and Benetton boss Briatore has publicly criticised the Austrian. The team has already confirmed that Wurz will race in Germany, but have not given any more details further than that. Benetton test driver and British Formula 3 championship leader Antonio Pizzonia has also been mentioned as a possible replacement for Wurz.

26 July 2000 M. Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber, expects the German driver to compete up to the age of 40. He denied that there is a crisi at Ferrari and thinks that M. Schumacher will win the GPs at Hockenheim and Budapest.

26 July 2000 Frentzen has renewed his contract with Jordan for the next two years, alongside Jarno Trulli. Honda will provide engines for Jordan from 2001.

26 July 2000 Häkkinen is happy that his win in Austria has been confirmed, but he is sad for his team. However, he is sure that he and Coulthard will bring the Championship home to McLaren.

25 July 2000 The FIA has reached its verdict on the issue of the missing sticker seal on Häkkinen's car. The Flying Finn is to retain his win and his points, but the McLaren team has been stripped of the 10 points in the Constructors Championship. The team has also been fined 50,000 dollars. Today's decision puts Ferrari back in the lead of the Constructors Championship. McLaren was deemed to be punishable because it is the team's responsability to ensure that the seals are in place. The software in the electronic box was found not to be irregular.

25 July 2000 Peugeot have announced that they are officially leaving F1 on 31 December 2000. Peugeot are selling their whole F1 engine business to Asia Motor Technologies (AMT), who will take on research and development of the engines. AMT have already agreed to provide Arrows with a V10 engine next year.

24 July 2000 Villeneuve has renewed his contract with BAR for a further three years. Strong rumours have it that Panis will be his team mate, replacing Zonta.

23 July 2000 Benetton is likely to start using Michelin tyres from 2001. Michelin already has an agreement with Williams and Jaguar.

21 July 2000 The illness which caused Irvine not to take part in the Austrian GP has been diagnosed as a swollen intestine. Irvine is expected to be fit to race in the German GP next week but, should he not be up to it, Burti will again replace him.

21 July 2000 Olivier Panis intends to go back to racing in 2001. The McLaren driver said that Ron Dennis wants him to stay on as test driver and is prepared to increase his salary, but the Frenchman missed racing too much and is currently in talks with Arrows and BAR.

20 July 2000 FIA released a statement today saying that the electronic box from Häkkinen's car has been examined by the FIA experts in the presence of McLaren-Mercedes representatives. A report has been sent to the stewards of the Austrian GP, who will meet on the 25th of July at 2.00pm in London to discuss it and listen to the case of the FIA experts and of the McLaren-Mercedes representatives. The stewards decisions will probably be made known on that same day. Whatever the decision, McLaren will have the right to appeal against it.

20 July 2000 Flavio Briatore confirmed he has the first option on Jenson Button, whose seat at Williams will probably be taken by Montoya in 2001.

20 July 2000 A new rumour has emerged that Minardi is talking to US publishing group PSN (PanAmerican Sports Network) over a sale of the team. PSN already is a sponsor of Minardi.

20 July 2000 According to an article in British paper Daily Telegraph, five of the world top car producers, including Ford, Toyota and DaimlerChrysler, are set to buy a large percentage of the Formula 1 shares. German society EMTV (that bought 50 percent of the shares from Ecclestone at the beginning of 2000) is said to be planning to sell 50 percent of its shares to the five car producers.

20 July 2000 Alain Prost does not intend to sell a majority share of his team yet. So far Alain Prost has only sold a small percentage of the team to the German group Ctl-Ufa, who have taken up the manamgement of marketing for the team and the sale of advertising space on the cars next season. The statement was made by Prost in reply to media news that claimed he was planning to sell the team due to poor performance.

19 July 2000 Arrows will use Peugeot engines from next season. Tom Walkinshaw is currently in Paris finalising the details with the French company for 2001 and 2002. Next year Arrows will use the Peugeot V10 and will be supported by Asian Motor Technics.

19 July 2000 FIA will not announce their decision about the missing seal from Hakkinen's electronic box until the end of the week. In the meantime, the result of the Austrian GP is still frozen. McLaren maintain that the sticker probably became detached due to vibrations during the race. It is almost certain that some sort of penalty will be given to the team because the absence of the official seal is in itself a regulation breach. The penalty, which can range from a simple warning to the exclusion from the Championship, will be decided after the technicians finish examining the software in the box to determine whether it has been modified. Yesterday FIA representatives visited the McLaren-Mercedes headquarters in Woking, while on Monday they had visited the offices of TAG Electronic Systems, who provide the electronic boxes to McLaren and other teams, including Jordan. Each electronic box carries two official FIA seals, consisting of an adhesive paper strip with the FIA logo, covered with a piece of transparent plastic tape. The seals are designed to break if pressure is applied, but not to become detached even under great pressure. The seal are put on the boxes by FIA representatives on the Thursday preceeding the GP.

18 July 2000 Ricardo Zonta sent a fax to M. Schumacher, apologising for causing his early retirement.

18 July 2000 The work to modify the Monza circuit to comply with new FIA requirements have been completed in only 16 days. The most significant change is at the first Variante, that has now become a sharp bend where drivers will not be able to go faster than 80 km/h. Despite finishing the work, the tests scheduled for 1-4 August have been cancelled. Those scheduled between 29 August and 1 September are confirmed.

17 July 2000 The Benetton team have denied the rumours that the Austrian GP has been Wurz's last GP for Benetton. Briatore was alleged to have warned the Austrian that he would be given another chance only if he performed well at Zwelteg (where he finished 10th). A Benetton spokeperson confirmed that Wurz will definitely race at Hockenheim.

17 July 2000 FIA will announce within 48 hours their decision about the electronic box found without the official seal in Häkkinen's car.

17 July 2000 Scottish driver Dario Franchitti, currenty competing in Indy, will test for Jaguar at Silverstone next week. If the outcome of the test is positive Franchitti, who is a personal friend of Jackie Stewart, might replace Herbert next year.

16 July 2000 Häkkinen's victory at the Austrian GP has been put in doubt. The electronic control box from his McLaren has been sent to London for examination. The box was missing a mandatory FIA seal, which should have been put in after scruteneering. The result of the investigation will be made known before the German GP, scheduled for the 30th of July.

16 July 2000 Doctors in the UK have said there is no immediate cause of concern over Eddie Irvine's condition. His abdominal pains were found not to be appendicite and the Jaguar driver will be released from hospital within 24 hours. He will take part in the German GP.

16 July 2000 Mika Häkkinen stormed away at the start to win the Austrian GP in front of team mate Coulthard, Barrichello, Villeneuve, Button and Salo. Current Championship leader M. Schumacher was taken out at the start when Zonta hit him from behind sending the German into a spin and causing an accident that also took out Trulli and Fisichella. The full GP report is available from the Race Reports section.

The finishing times:

1. Mika Häkkinen (Fin/McLaren) in 1h28'15"818 (average: di 208.792 km/h) 2. David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren) + 12"535 3. Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Ferrari) + 30"795 4. Jacques Villeneuve (Can/Bar) + 1 lap 5. Jenson Button (Gb/Bmw Williams) + 1 lap 6. Mika Salo (Fin/Sauber) + 1 lap 7. Johnny Herbert (Gb/Jaguar) + 1 lap 8. Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi) + 1 lap 9. Pedro Diniz (Bra/Sauber) + 1 lap 10. Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton) + 1 lap 11. Luciano Burti (Bra/Jaguar) + 2 laps 12. Gaston Mazzacane (Arg/Minardi) + 3 laps

15 July 2000 Mika Häkkinen hit back at his critics by convincingly taking pole position ahead of team mate Coulthard. Ferrari did not seem to be able to find the right setup, leaving Barrichello and M. Schumacher to start from the second row of the grid. Trulli had the fifth best time and a surprisingly good Zonta the sixth, just ahead of team mate Villeneuve.

The qualifying times:

1 M. Häkkinen FIN McLaren 1'10"410 (average: km/h 221.184) 2 D. Coulthard SCO McLaren 1'10"795 3 R. Barrichello BRA Ferrari 1'10"844 4 M. Schumacher GER Ferrari 1'11"046 5 J. Trulli ITA Jordan 1'11"640 6 R. Zonta BRA Bar 1'11"647 7 J. Villeneuve CAN Bar 1'11"649 8 G. Fisichella ITA Benetton 1'11"658 9 M. Salo FIN Sauber 1'11"761 10 J. Verstappen HOL Arrows 1'11"905 11 P. P. Diniz BRA Sauber 1'11"931 12 P. De La Rosa SPA Arrows 1'11"978 13 N. Heidfeld GER Prost 1'12"037 14 A. Wurz AUT Benetton 1'12"038 15 H. H. Frentzen GER Jordan 1'12"043 16 J. Herbert ENG Jaguar 1'12"238 17 J. Alesi FRA Prost 1'12"304 18 J. Button ENG Williams 1'12"337 19 R. Schumacher GER Williams 1'12"347 20 M. Gené SPA Minardi 1'12"722 21 L. Burti BRA Jaguar 1'12"822 22 G. Mazzacane ARG Minardi 1'13"419

14 July 2000 Eddie Irvine has been forced to withdraw from the Austrian GP with a suspected appendicite. The Irishman has already flown back to England to see a specialist. His place in the qualifying session and in Sunday race will be taken by Jaguar test driver Luciano Burti.

14 July 2000 Villeneuve has denied that he intends to take a sabbatical this year. The Canadian is rumoured to be asking for a 50 percent payrise from the BAR bosses and also has already received an offer to join Benetton next season. Villenueve wants to solve his contract situation as soon as possible because, in his words, the longer he waits the more everybody else gets nervous. He will make a decision as soon as he feels ready.

14 July 2000 Prost will announce at the end of the month what the future of his team will be. He will say whether he intends to stay in F1, or whether he will sell the team. Prost, who is still looking for a engine for next year, has received two offers for the team. One offer is from an investment group lead by German CLT-Ufa for a 50 percent share of the team, leaving the management of the team to the Frenchman. The other offer is from a financial organisation from south-east Asia, for the whole team. Alesi has already said that if his friend Prost sells all the shares of the team, he will leave.

14 July 2000 According to M. Schumacher, Häkkinen's lack of form this season is due to diminishing motivation. The Finn has spent seven years at McLaren and won two Championship titles with them. The German thinks that the current World Champion needs to change team to find a new environment and a new challenge.

14 July 2000 Coulthard and Häkkinen were fastest in the second free practice session ahead of the Austrian GP. Salo had the third best time and M. Schumacher the fourth. Barrichello, who had the fastest time in the morning, finished with the seventh time.

14 July 2000 Barrichello was fastest in the first free practice session for the Austrian GP. The Brazilian had the best time in front of Trulli, Zonta, Verstappen, M. Schumacher and Coulthard. Häkkinen suffered from engine problems and failed to complete even one lap.

14 July 2000 Jacques Villeneuve might decide to take a sabbatical if he cannot get to drive a car that matches his ambitions, according to Craig Pollock. The Canadian is rumoured to be intending to leave BAR at the end of the season, but the two top teams, Ferrari and McLaren, have already confirmed their drivers for the next two seasons and next season respectively. Villeneuve might take one or two years off Formula 1 waiting for a seat at Ferrari or Mclaren to become available. Pollock is hoping to convince the ex-World Champion that the team is moving forwards fast, so that he will choose to stay with BAR.

14 July 2000 Coulthard said that M. Schumacher should have been disqualified for veering across the track to block the Scot in the French GP. The McLaren driver feels that the stewards should have drawn the line at M. Schumacher's manoeuvre and he fears that drivers could get killed if they refuse to back off and avoid collision.

13 July 2000 Ron Dennis said today in Zeltweg that Häkkinen and Coulthard must both continue to fight on, so they will not be given team orders until it will be mathematically impossible for one of the two to win the Championship.

13 July 2000 Rain is forecast over the Austrian circuit for tomorrow and Saturday. It is expected that the rain will have disappeared by Sunday, leaving cloudy skies and minimum temperature of 23 degrees C.

13 July 2000 Jordan have announced that nexty season's car design will be supervised by new chief engineer Tim Holloway. The development of this year's car is being looked after by Mike Gascoyne, who is due to move to Benetton next season.

13 July 2000 Jenson Button admitted that all the rumours about Montoya taking his place next season are getting to him and preventing him to concentrate on performing well, even though nothing has been confirmed so far.

12 July 2000 Fisichella has admitted that he would like to stay at Benetton next year, but he is also looking around for other options. There are strong rumours that Villeneuve is just about to sign with Briatore's team, possibly with Button as his team mate.

11 July 2000 Bernie Ecclestone met local authorities in Rijeka (Croatia) yesterday to check the race circuit there. Ecclestone, whose wife is Croatian, is planning to include a GP in Croatia, called the Adriatic GP, in the future.

10 July 2000 British tabloid Sunday People claims that Malaysian organised crime is behind Coulthard's air accident in May. According to the paper, a Malaysian underground betting ring is set to lose lots of money if Coulthard wins the Championship. The Sunday people also claims that the same organisation was behind jockey Frank Dettori's air crash, that happened a few weeks after Coulthard's. The police is allegedly investigating the possible Malaysian crime involvement in the two accidents.

5 July 2000 Current World Champion Häkkinen has been ordered to take time off and rest in order to try and get back into shape. Ron Dennis said that the Flying Finn is suffering from psychological tiredeness and needs a holiday.

5 July 2000 Johnny Herbert has admitted of thinking of quitting F1 at the end of the current season in favour of CART.

5 July 2000 Frank Williams is allegedly in talks with Chip Ganassi over getting Montoya into F1. Montoya, who is currently "on loan" to the ChampCar team, is rumoured to be the candidate to replace Button in 2001. Button could be "loaned out" himslef, possibly to Arrows. The young Briton is thought to be not mature enough yet for F1 conpetition at the higher level.

5 July 2000 Villenueve is expected to sign a new contract with BAR for next season. Recent rumours had him looking at McLaren, before Hä and Coulthard were confirmed.

4 July 2000 Alesi has claimed that Peugeot, who supply engines to the Prost Grand prix team, massage the horsepower figures. He said that if the Peugeot engine really has 792 horsepower, then everybody else has 850.

4 July 2000 Coulhard will not be penalised for the rude gesture he made during the race.

2 July 2000 During the drivers conference after the race, Coulthard apologised for a rude gesture he directed to M. Schumacher after the German stopped the Scot from overtaking him with a risky manoeuvre.

2 July 2000 David Coulthard won the French GP ahead of team mate Häkkinen to keep the Championship fight open. Barrichello was third in front of Villeneuve, R. Schumacher and Trulli. Current Championship leader M. Schumacher was forced to retire with a blown engine.

The finishing times:

1. David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren) 1h38’05"538 2. Mika Häkkinen (Fin/McLaren) + 14748 3. Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Ferrari) + 32"409 4. Jacque Villeneuve (Can/Bar) + 1’01"322 5. Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams) + 1’03"981 6. Jarno Trulli (Ita/Jordan) + 1’15"604 7. Heinz Herald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan) + 1 lap 8. Jenson Button (Gb/Williams) + 1 lap 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton) + 1 lap 10. Mika Salo (Fin/Sauber) + 1 lap 11. Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra/Sauber) + 1 lap 12. Nick Heidfeld (Ger/Prost) + 1 lap 13. Eddie Irvine (Gb/Jaguar) + 2 laps 14. Jean Alesi (Fra/Prost) + 2 laps 15. Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi) a 2 laps

1 July 2000 Honda Motor Co announced last Thursday that they have reached an agreement to supply Hoda F1 engines to Jordan Grand Prix from 2001. Honda is already involved in a joint F12 project with BAR.

1 July 2000 The McLaren team has renewed the contract of its two drivers, Häkkinen and Coulthard for the 2001 season.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande