29 November 1996 Ferrari announced that they have reached an agreement with Sauber to provide the Swiss team with engines for the next two seasons. The deal was announced by Sauber earlier in the month and denied by Ferrari.
29 November 1996 Jos Verstappen has signed for Tyrrell for the 1997 season.
27 November 1996 Designer Ross Brawn, formerly at Benetton, will start working for Ferrari on 2 December.
27 November 1996 The Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Adrian Newey has been charged with manslaughter as well, since he designed the car in which Senna died.
27 November 1996 According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the people accused of Senna's death are: Frank Williams, Patrik Head (Williams technical manager), Federico Bendinelli (administator of Sagis, the company in charge of the race track at Imola), Giorgio Poggi (the Imola track director in 1994), Roland Bruinseraede (race director the day Senna died) and a Williams technician whose name has not been disclosed and who modified the steering wheel of Senna's car, introducing faults which caused Senna's car to fail and caused his death. Apparently Senna himself had asked for the steering wheel to be modified because he wanted it to be lower.
26 november 1996 The San Marino GP at Imola (27 April) and the Italian GP at Monza (7 September) have both been approved and the dates confirmed. The final confirmation will be given on 6 December.
26 November 1996 The Italian press agency ANSA reported that an Italian lawayer has obtained leave to indict Frank Williams, technical manager Patrik Head, race director Roland Bruinseraede and three other people for alleged manslaughter over the death of Ayrton Senna in the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. Allegedly, they knowingly allowed Senna to race in a car with faults. The Williams team said that the ANSA report was the first they heard of the news and they had not received any official communication from Italy.
26 November 1996 Stewart Grand Prix has won undisclosed backing from the Malaysian government for the 1997 season. The Malaysian flag will feature on the front of the Stewart cars. Malaysia hopes that this move will boost its bid for its own Grand Prix in 1999.
21 November 1996 Alesi seems to have "made up" with Flavio Briatore and might stay at Benetton after all.
16 November 1996 Alesi is rumoured to have been offered 2 million dollars to leave Benetton.
12 November 1996 The rumour that Sauber will be using the 1996 Ferrari V10 engine in 1997 has been denied by Ferrari, who are apparently upset by the fact that Sauber announced the deal before it was concluded.
6 November 1996 Lola Cars have confirmed that they will be back in F1 in 1997. They have agreed a 4 year deal with Mastercard International.
5 November 1996 Ferrari extends M. Schumacher's contract until 1999.
4 November 1996 Alesi will be facing a massive pay cut next year (rumour is the cut might be as big as 75% of what he got in 1996). Apparently Flavio Briatore is upset because he missed second place in the Constructors Championship (Benetton was ahead of Ferrari until the very last race). The pay cut might convince Alesi to move to another team (Jordan?) despite his 2 years contract.
Last updated on 25 April 1997 by Federica Massagrande