November 2002

28 November 2002 EM.TV and Merchandising AG are taking legal action against the banks that control the Formula 1 broadcast rights throuhg a majority holding of SLEC. EM.TV had tried to negotiate a deal with the banks, claiming that it still owns a 16.7% stake in SLEC. The deal failed and so EM.TV is now pursuing a claim in the courts. The banks say that they took over Kirch Gruppe's share of SLEC and therefore own it.

28 November 2002 Young Japanese driver Kosuke Matsuura, who finished second in this year’s German Formula Three Championship for Italian team PREMA, will test drive for BAR at Jerez in December. Honda, who supplies engines to BAR, is keen to see new Japanese talent enter Formula 1.

27 November 2002 Results of the first day of testing.

Valencia:

1 K. Räikkönen McLaren Mercedes MP4/17D M 1:12.335 66 laps 2 A. Wurz McLaren Mercedes MP4/17D M 1:12.430 29 laps 3 J. P. Montoya Williams BMW FW24 M 1:12.912 66 laps 4 J. Trulli Renault Renault R202B M 1:13.881 31 laps 5 G. Pantano Williams BMW FW24 M 1:13.898 54 laps 6 M. Gene Williams BMW FW24 M 1:14.164 60 laps 7 N. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas C21 B 1:14.336 46 laps 8 V. Liuzzi Williams BMW FW24 M 1:14.829 29 laps 9 M. Bobbi Minardi European PS01B M 1:16.645 21 laps 10 S. Zlobin Minardi European PS01B M 1:19.759 29 laps

Barcelona:

1 A. Pizzonia Jaguar Cosworth R3 M 1:17.966 53 laps 2 L. Badoer Ferrari Ferrari F2002 B 1:17.978 83 laps 3 O. Panis Toyota Toyota TF102B M 1:18.751 37 laps 4 C. da Matta Toyota Toyota TF102B M 1:19.785 76 laps 5 A. Davidson BAR Honda BAR 004 B 1:20.231 77 laps

27 November 2002 Circuit designer Hermann Tilke has given his approval to the site for the planned new Formula 1 facility in Istambul, Turkey.

27 November 2002 Sir Jackie Stewart has been undergoing treatment for cancer. A spokesman for Stewart said that the operation was completely successful and the doctors are happy with his progress. The operation to remove a pre-cancerous melanoma from his cheek was carried out at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, USA. Stewart’s son Paul and wife Helen were also treated in the same clinic in the past. Paul Stewart had to leave his job at Jaguar when he developed cancer of the colon in 2000, but he is currently living comfortably with the cancer in remission. Helen Stewart was treted for breast cancer and is still currentlly recovering. Sir Jackie Stewart is to stay on the Jaguar board of directors.

26 November 2002 Niki Lauda is the latest Jaguar casulaty. The Austrian has confirmed that he has been replaced as team principal. The decision, that Lauda defined "surprising", was made yesterday night. Lauda, whose place at Jaguar has been taken by Tony Parnell, has been asked whether he would like to stay on in the role of Ford vice-president Richard Parry-Jones' personal advisor. Lauda has not yet accepted the offer.

26 November 2002 Justin Wilson's seat-fitting test was successful. Paul Stoddart said that he is satisfied that the tall driver can fit into the car. Though the official announcement has not been made yet, it seems that Wilson will be one of Minardi's drivers next season.

25 November 2002 The Formula 1 teams are about to start testing again. On Tuesday Ferrari, Jaguar, British American Racing and Toyota will be testing in Barcelona, while Williams, McLaren, Renault, Sauber and Minardi will be in Valencia. Jordan is postoponing the start of its tests to early next year to allow for the engine switch from Honda to Ford, while Arrows, that still does not have an engine or drivers, has not made any announcements regarding its testing plans.

24 November 2002 Justin Wilson is being lined up for a drive at Minardi in 2003. The F3000 champion had impressed in testing last season, but missed out on the chance of a drive because of his size. His 6'3" height meant that he did not fit inside thye cockpit. The driver is currently undergoing a critical seat-fitting in Italy to ensure that he can drive this season.

24 November 2002 German Sunday paper "Welt am Sonntag" published an article saying that the Fiat Auto crisis could have repercussions on Ferrari too. According to "Welt am Sonntag", Fiat is to withdraw 50 million US dollars financing from Ferrari, putting M. Schumacher's contract at risk. This is a strange statement because Ferrari is part of Fiat Spa, not Fiat Auto, and is in a positive financial situation. The article goes on to say that, in future, Ferrari will have to depend solely on its main sponsors Marlboro, Vodafone and Shell to be able to maintain a positive financial balance.

23 November 2002 Despite having submitted a registration form on time for the 2003 season and having (allegedly) paid the deposit, Arrows looks unlikely to be able to race next year. The main problem facing German Grand Prix Racing, the company that bought a majority stake in the Arrows team, appears to be the unability to find an engine for next season. Asiatech, which supplied engines to Arrows in 2001, recently retired from Formula 1 and Ferrari are already supplied Sauber and do not seem intentioned to supplying another team. This leaves Cosworth as the only remaining provider of a custom engine, but the company is currently in litigation with Arrows over the non payment for the engines supplied last year. It is unlikely that Cosworth will want to supply engines to Arrows next season, leaving the team without engine in 2003.

23 November 2002 Jaguar have announced that they will reduce staff by 40 to 60 heads in their Milton Keynes headquarters. The cuts have been forced upon the company by the slowing worldwide economy. A company restructuration will also be carried out.

22 November 2002 Juan Paulo Montoya has carried out a humanitarian visit to a deprived area of North Columbia. Together with his wife Connie Freydell, the Williams driver brought clothes and toys to the children of the village of Napipi, where he announced that he will personally contribute to the construction of a power station for the area.

22 November 2002 Luca Montezemolo has denied that is set to replace Paolo Fresco as CEO of FIAT, owner of Ferrari. Montezemolo said that he is already too busy dealing with Ferrari and with the reintroduction of Maserati to the US market after 12 years of absence.

22 November 2002 Toyota's 2003 contender, the TF103, will be launched on the 8th of January 2003. The two new drivers for the team next season will be Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis. There also rae rumours that the General Manager of Toyota’s engine department, Norbert Kreyer, will be announced as the new Technical Director, while Gustav Brunner will remain as the Chief Designer.

21 November 2002 Felipe Massa is about to sign a contract with Jordan for 2003, according to the driver, though it is not clear whether the contract is for a racing or testing position. Takuma Sato has been warned by Eddie Jordan that he must raise more sponsorship money if he wants to retain is place in the team. Eddie Irvine has also been linked with a possible driver at Jordan. Massa said that everything has been decided and that Eddie Jordan wants him in the team.

21 November 2002 German private TV stations group ProSiebenSat.1 has offered 400 million euros for the Formula 1 broadcast rights from 2004 to 2008. RTL, the TV station that owns the rights until the end of 2003, has also announced that they too are in talks to acquire the broadcast rights from 2004.

20 November 2002 Tomsfed, the Turkish federation of motorsport announced that Istanbul will host a Formula Grand Prix from 2005. A spokeperson for Tomsfed said that the decision was made by Bernie Ecclestone after his August visit to Turkey. Works to build the circuit facilities will start in March or April next yesr.

20 November 2002 Bernie Ecclestone said that he has not yet decided whether to switch off the digital Formula 1 service altoghether, but that a decision will be made soon.

20 November 2002 According to German paper Die Welt the leading new investor in Arrows Grand Prix International has been identified as the chairman of the Emirates airline in Dubai, Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, by Oliver Behring. The paper also reports that 50m Euros have been paid for a 60 percent stake in the Arrows team.

19 November 2002 Briton Ralph Firman, winner of the 1996 Formula 3 Championship, will test the BAR004 for British American Racing in Spain next month.

19 November 2002 Giancarlo Minardi has concluded his trip to Moscow, where he worked on obtaining Russian sponsorship for the team.

19 November 2002 The Digital Formula 1 pay-TV channel will cease operation before next season due to lack of viewer interest. The service was available to subscribers in Germany, France and Italy and, for the first time last season, the UK. The costs associated with the service could no longer be justified given the lack of interest from the public. The costs includes flying the equipment to every race and running it trackside. The equipment will now be used to improve the quality of the terrestrial broadcast.

19 November 2002 The lastest rumour about next season's contenders is that B3, the company run by former Ferrari technical director John Barnard, is developing a new composite materials gearbox for the Williams FW25. It is apparently a design similar to the one used by Arrows last season, itself an evolution of a Barnard design. The decision to use composite materials in the design means that carbon-based components are used intead of alluminium or magnesium. This type of design works well with shock-absorbers and rocker arms in the higher part of the box. This will be central to the aerodynamic development of the FW25, which is taking inspiration from the Ferrari F2002.

18 November 2002 Arrows' bid to put itself into administration has been put on hold after today's High Court ruling. Lawyers for Arrows said they would apply to adjourn the administration petition until Mr Justice Lightman decides if the major creditor Morgan Grenfell has a security over Arrows's assets. The petition was due to be heard on the 2nd of December, but it is now set to begin on the 9th of December at the High Court and is expected to last 10 days. The hearing may lead to Morgan Grenfell appointing an administrative receiver over Arrows' assets. Justice Lightman will also decide whether Morgan Grenfell has a guarantee from Arrows' founder Tom Walkinshaw, a separate defendant to the claim, to recover any shortfall.

18 November 2002 According to Oliver Berhing, Arrows' application to take part in the 2003 Championship has been accepted by FIA. The Governing Body’s World Council will hold its final meeting of the year in December, when they are expecetd to make an announcement about the Arrows situation. Arrows broke the Concorde agreement by failing to partecipate in the last six races of the 2002 season and is still at risk of being fined by FIA for it, or stopped from racing in the 2003 season.

18 November 2002 Shanghai International Circuit Co. has apparently agreed a 40 million dollars loan with the Shanghai branch of the HSBC bank. The money is to be used for the construction of the new Formula 1 circuit facility. China is due to host a GP in 2004. The other state that will eneter the Formula 1 arena in 2004, Bahrain, started work on the new Formula 1 complex on Sunday.

18 November 2002 Max Mosley believes that some teams might not make it to the start of the seasom. He said that it is not only Arrows that is in less than perfect shape.

18 November 2002 Sauber will present their 2003 contender, the C22, on 9 February in Zurich.

16 November 2002 Arrows has met the deadline to register for the 2003 season. The participation of the team in next year's Championship, however, depends on the resolution of the court cases brought by the team's creditors.

15 November 2002 Montezemolo said that he hopes that the Ferrari float on the Stock Exchange will take place between April and May 2003.

15 November 2002 Russian driver Sergei Zlobin is Minardi's new test driver for 2003. Zlobin is sponsored by Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas company, which will enter into a one-year deal with Minardi. The team has not yet announced who the drivers for thext season will be, but Giancarlo Minardi said that hey are waiting to see how Zlobin performs in tests, in view of giving him a drive.

14 November 2002 Rory Byrne, talking to Autosport, said that Ferrari is likely to start the 2003 season using a modified version of the 2002 car.

13 November 2002 Willi Weber, M. Schumacher's personal manager, believes that the current World Champion will continue racing after his contract with Ferrari expires in 2004. Talking to German weekly Sport Bild, he also said that M. Schumacher's wife, Corrina, is not against him continuing racing. Weber, who also is R. Schumacher's manager, then went on to criticise Williams for giving preference to Montoya. In his opinion R. Schumacher is a better driver than Montoya and is more than capable of challenging his brother's dominance of the sport.

13 November 2002 During a hearing brought by Heinz-Harald Frentzen and other creditors to have Arrows wound up by the courts, the company applied to be put into administration. This is equivalent to the US Chapter 11 and protects a company from its creditors for a period of time in order to put in place rescue plans. If the petition is successful, the company will be placed under the day-to-day control and management of an administrator for three months, after which a proposal must be presented to the creditors. The winding-up petition has been adjourned and the proceedings will restart at a court in Birmingham in December. This means that Arrows' new owners might have to start a brand new team, but then they would have to give FIA a 48 million US dollars deposit rather than just the 300,000 euros for partecipation of the existing team in the 2003 Championship.

13 November 2002 The banks that took over the broadcast rights formelly owned by Kirch Gruppe want to ensure that the Concorde Agreement is extended past 2007. Thomas Fischer, a member of the Deutsche Bank board of directors, two representatives of Regional Bayerische Landsbank and one representative each of JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers have been elected to the SLEC council two days ago. Together with the Ecclestone family, that owns the remaining slice of SLEC, they want to take all possible steps to ensure that Formula 1 has a future. These steps will involve fighting off the possibility that the major car manufacturers, under the umbrella company GPWC, will set up a parallel championship in 2008, after the Concorde Agreement expires. To achieve this goal, the Kirch Group creditors will have to offer the manufacturers a considerably larger share of Formula 1 profits than they are currently getting.

13 November 2002 German Grand Prix Racing, a company newly-formed with German and Arab financing, has bought the Arrows team and is about to pay FIA the 300,000 euros required to take part in the 2003 Championship. German Grand Prix Racing has been created by German financial company Asset Trust Partners. The owner of Asset Trust Partners, Oliver Behring, who also is the manager of German Grand Prix Racing, said that he has bought the Arrows team for United Arab Emirates investors, who own 90% of the enterprise. German Grand Prix Racing has acquired 51% of Arrows, including the totality of the stock previously owned by creditor Morgan Grenfell. Tom Walkinshaw, who remains the sporting manager of the team, is left with a minority quote. Oliver Behring will take care of the financial management of the team. As for the drivers for next season, the two names currently in the picture are those of Eddie irvine and Jos Verstappen (who is currently engaged in a court battle with Tom Walkinshaw). The search is also on for a new sponsor, after Orange left last year.

12 November 2002 The Arrows team announced this afternoon that they have agreed and signed contracts with German based investors. The terms of the agreement are being kept confidential and, because of the complexity of teh deal, it might take some times to complete it. The team has also sought the protection of the Court in order to provide the time it needs to achieve completion on the deal.

12 November 2002 Axel von Ruedorfer, of Commerzbank and Mediobanca, said that Ferrari will be floated on the Stock Exchange in the spring of 2003. A few months ago Commerzbank bought a 10% share of Ferrari. The float was delayed because of the poor peformance of the world markets.

11 November 2002 Deutsche Post has announced that the company has decided not to extend its sponsorship deal with the Jordan Formula One team, after having been the team's main sponsor for the last three years. Deutsche Post spokesperson Gert Schukies said that their participating in motor racing has enabled the company to make their brand known internationally, so the goals in terms of communication have been completely achieved and it is a good time to stop.

11 November 2002 Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa and CART driver Tony Kannan won the kart race at the Kartodromo Internacional di Granja Viana near Säo Paulo, Brazil, over the weekend. It was Barrichello's and Kannan's fourth victory in this race, and Massa's second. The three drivers, who competed for the Shell team, won with a 11 hours and 56 minutes time, having run 746 laps.

11 November 2002 The FIA have confirmed on their website that in 2003 the Minardi team will be supplied with the 72-degree V10 Cosworth engine (the one used by the Jaguar team in 2002). Paul Stoddart has apparently already received one engine and is planning to use an evolution of the 2002 chassis with it. No official announcement has yet been made by either Minardi or Ford.

10 November 2002 Niki Lauda, who is the boss of Ford’s Premier Performance Group which looks after Jaguar Racing, Cosworth and PI Electronics, has attacked Tom Walkinshaw for causing the Arrows team's cash crisis. Lauda said that Walkinshaw had given him his personal guarantee at Silverstone that he would pay his debt, then when the date for the first payment came, Walkinshaw refused to pay. Arrows still ows Ford money for the Cosworth engines they used last year. Lauda said that he is going to pursue the payment.

10 November 2002 Arrows is allegedly in talks with German investment company Asset Trust and Partners about a rescue deal. If the deal goes ahead, Arrows could be able to compete in the 2003 Championship. The team must submit its application to race in 2003, which costs 320,000 US dollars, to the FIA by this Friday. Even if the deal is secured, there will still be obstacles in Arrows' way. The FIA is likely to impose penalties on the team for missing out the last part of the 2002 season, an action that breached the Concorde Agreement. Arrows is also facing a serious winding-up petition in the London High Court, as numerous creditors are demanding compensation from the team, including drivers Jos Verstappen and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, sponsors and engine supplier Cosworth.

10 November 2002 Gerhard Berger has stated that the Williams team will not take up the offer to restrict themselves to ten days of private testing a season in order to test on Grand Prix weekends, as per the new regulations. According to Berger, venue testing will be the domain of only the teams unable fund comprehensive test programmes, while the top teams will continue using all possibilities. He also said that BMW is well advanced with the preparations for the 2003 season. The 2003 engine, the P83 V10, was already being run at the end of 2002.

9 November 2002 Mika Häkkinen will not return to motor racing. The Finn told German weekly "Welt am Sonntag" that he is happy with his current lifestyle and wants to dedicate more time to wife Erja and son Hugo.

9 November 2002 British American Tobacco Have denied the rumours that David Richards is set the leave BAR. According to reports, some people at BAR are unhappy with the lack of progress and are blaming Richards for it.

9 November 2002 Arrows have allegedly signed a deal on 26th October with a group calling themselves the "European Consortium". FIA, meanwhile, has given the team a deadline to register for the 2003 Championship, asking for a substantial deposit and reserving the right to exclude them if there are still concerns about their ability to complete a full season.

8 November 2002 Mika Salo told "F1 Racing" magazine that he has been talking to Flavio Briatore about a testing role at Renault in 2003. Briatore wants an experienced driver to partner drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso.

8 November 2002 Recent rumours see Eddie Irvine in a Jordan seat in 2003. Irvine, whose contract with Jaguar was not renewed, is now thought to be a more likely candidate than Takuma Sato, who has the financial support of electronics company Brothers. Irvine has lots of experience with the 2002-spec CR3 Cosworth V10 engines that will power the Jordan cars in 2003.

8 November 2002 A banker who defrauded M. Schumacher has been jailed for four and a half years. He has also been ordered to pay a 30,000 US dollars fine. Monaco-based Stephen Troth stole up to 20 million US dollars from the current World Champion and other bank customers. The fraud was discovered during an internal bank audit. None of the customers had noticed that the money was missing.

8 November 2002 According to German business weekly "Deutsche WirtschaftsWoche", Deutsche Telekom is to cease its sponsorship of the West McLaren Mercedes F1 team by its T-Mobile brand as part of an extensive costs-savings programme. The same issue also reports that German brewer Veltins will cut its WilliamsF1 sponsorship with immediate effect due to falling TV figures.

7 November 2002 Today the FIA released an official statement, confirming that the Belgian GP has been excluded from the 2003 calendar with no recourse. The statement says that the FIA is not receiving any benefits from the tobacco industry and would be glad to see the Belgian GP take place without tobacco advertising. However, since several teams are tied to their tobacco sponsors, removing the sponsors' right to advertise their products without their consent is a breach of contract. Several teams are not yet ready to race without tobacco sponsorship. The statement concludes saying that, if the Belgian government changes the law, the Belgian GP could be reintroduced in 2004.

7 November 2002 There are rumours that Felipe Massa is about to be announced as Ferrari's new test driver, replacing Luciano Burti. The rumour, which was published by German-language Swiss tabloid "Blick", has been denied by Burti.

6 November 2002 Italian drivers Giorgio Pantano and Vitantonio Liuzzi will test for Williams on 26 November in Valencia.

6 November 2002 The Jaguar 2003 contender, the R4, will be unveiled on 13 January 2003.

5 November 2002 Reigning World Champion M. Schumacher is moving to the Swiss canton of Vaud (west), where he has just bought a new house. According to his lawyer, M. Schumacher and his family will move to the house, in a village between Morges and Nyon, next week.

5 November 2002 Asiatech, which supplied engines to Arrows in 2001 and Minardi in 2002, is terminating its involvement in Formula 1 this week. The Asiatech management justified the situation saying that there is no money left to continue the activity. The firm, Asia Motor Technologies France SAS, stopped working officially on 31 October. Over 200 people have lost their job as a result of Asiatech's closure.

5 November 2002 Toyota have finally officially announced that new F. CART Champion Cristiano De Matta will be driving for the team next season. The Brazilian has signed a two-year deal with the Japanese team and will partner Olivier Panis.

5 November 2002 Eddie Irvine is apparently looking to rally to continue his racing career, according to the British press. Irvine, who had his contract not renewed by Jaguar, is apparently already talking to Ford.

5 November 2002 Following the statements by Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs Serge Kubla, Max Mosley has reiterated that there is no chance for the Belgian GP to be included in the 2003 schedule. Belgium will have to wait until 2004 to be considered for re-entry.

4 November 2002 McLaren Technical Director Adrian Newey has expressed worries that the new changes introduced in Formula 1 will increase the sport's operating costs. He believes that the changes in qualifying will push team to develop qualifying cars, designed to maximise the one flying lap available to set the time. He called it "chequebook motor racing" and said he would have preferred to see changes made to the technical regulations as a way of improving the spectacle.

4 November 2002 Serge Kubla, the Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs, believes that it is still possible to salvage the 2003 Belgian GP. He told Belgian newspaper "Het Belang van Limburg" that Bernie Ecclestone had told him there was still time to make alternative arrangements. The FIA World Council will next meet on December 12 to finalise the rule changes and the 2003 calendar. Kubla believes that, if a law is passed in Belgium to allow tobacco advertising in Formula 1, the Belgian GP could be put back into the 2003 schedule.

1 November 2002 Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia have both been signed by Jaguar as drivers for 2003. This leaves Eddie Irvine and Pedro De La Rosa out in the cold without a drive for next season.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande