September 2000

29 September 2000 Alain Prost has confirmed that he will stay at the head of his team next season.

29 September 2000 Bernie Ecclestone denied that he intends to sell part of his shares in SLEC, the company that owns F1's TV and commercial rights. A consortium of manufacturers, possibly consisting of FIAT, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Renault and Ford are rumoured to be interested in buying a 30 percent stake in the company to get back some of the revenues generated by broadcasting F1. After Ecclestone's statement, it looks likely that the consortium will have to try and get the shares from EMTV, the German company that bought 50 percent of SLEC in March and that did not received the expected return from the investment.

28 September 2000 Craig Pollock will keep his job at BAR, on a jobsharing basis with Barry Green. British American Tobacco wanted Barry Green to be the sole team boss but Villeneuve, who is managed by Pollock as well as being his personal friend, is believed to have threatened to leave over the issue.

28 September 2000 Tomas Scheckter, the son of Jody Scheckter, has signed a contract with Jaguar as a test driver.

28 September 2000 The supporters of Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's jailed opposition leader, have threatened to disrupt the Malaysian GP, the last race of the season, in an attempt to have him freed. Ten of thousands of people are expected to take part in protests in several Malaysian towns and cities from the 11th of October. The GP, scheduled on the 22nd of October, is the highest-profile sporting event in Malaysia.

27 September 2000 Zonta's manager has been seen talking to Tom Wilkinshaw at the US GP. The Brazilian driver is set to become McLaren's test driver, but he has not kept it a secret that he would rather race next year. Arrows were expected to confirm Verstappen and De La Rosa for next season, but it now looks like one of the two drives could be Zonta's.

26 September 2000 Altadis, the French company that makes the Gauloises Blond cigarettes, has withrown from the sponsorship deal with Prost. Their place might be takes by Belgian Interbrew, producers of Labatts and Stella Artois beer.

25 September 2000 Argentine group PSN (Panamerican Sports Network) is Minardi's new majority shareholder. PSN is part of a US multimedia society dealing with the broadcast of sporting events via cable, satellite and digital in the whole of Latin America. PSN bought Gabriele Rumi's 70 percent of shares. The headquarters of Minardi will stay in Faenza and giancarlo Minardi (who owns 12 percent of shares) will stay in his position as the head of the team.

24 September 2000 M. Schumacher went on to win the first US GP at Indianapolis after race leader Coulthard was given a 10-seconds stop-go penalty for jumping the start and title rival Häkkinen retired with flames coming out of his engine. Barrichello was second for an exciting Ferrari one-two, while Frentzen fended off Villeneuves's attacks to finish third ahead of the Canadian. Coultahrd salvaged McLaren's honour by finished fifth, ahead of Zonta. The full report of the race is available from the Race Reports section.

The finishing times:

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1h36m30.883s 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari + 12.118s 3. FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda + 17.368s 4. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda + 17.935s 5. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes + 28.813s 6. ZONTA BAR Honda + 51.694s 7. IRVINE Jaguar + 1m11.115s 8. DINIZ Sauber Petronas + 1 lap 9. HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot + 1 lap 10. WURZ Benetton Playlife + 1 lap 11. HERBERT Jaguar + 1 lap 12. GENE Minardi Fondmetal + 1 lap 13. ALESI Prost Peugeot + 9 laps 14. MAZZACANE Minardi Fondmetal + 14 laps 15. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW + 15 laps 16. DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec + 28 laps 17. FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife + 29 laps 18. VERSTAPPEN Arrows Supertec + 39 laps 19. HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes + 48 laps 20. SALO Sauber Petronas + 55 laps 21. BUTTON Williams BMW + 59 laps 22. TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda + 61 laps

23 September 2000 M. Schumacher signed the debut of Formula 1 at Indianapolis by convincingly taking pole position. Barrichello had the second best time for half of the qualifying session, until he was overtaken by current leader of the Drivers Championshiop table Häkkinen. Coulthard put in a late minute attempt at stealing pole position, but only managed second best time, relegating his team mate to third and Barrichello to fourth. Trulli will start from the third row, alongside Button.

The qualifying times:

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m14.266s 2. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m14.392s 3. HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m14.428s 4. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m14.600s 5. TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m15.006s 6. BUTTON Williams BMW 1m15.017s 7. FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m15.067s 8. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m15.317s 9. DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1m15.418s 10. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m15.484s 11. WURZ Benetton Playlife 1m15.762s 12. ZONTA BAR Honda 1m15.784s 13. VERSTAPPEN Arrows Supertec 1m15.808s 14. SALO Sauber Petronas 1m15.881s 15. FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1m15.907s 16. HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot 1m16.060s 17. IRVINE Jaguar 1m16.098s 18. DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec 1m16.143s 19. HERBERT Jaguar 1m16.225s 20. ALESI Prost Peugeot 1m16.471s 21. MAZZACANE Minardi Fondmetal 1m16.809s 22. GENE Minardi Fondmetal 1m17.161s

23 September 2000 Alain Prost confirmed today that he has reached an agreement with Ferrari over the supply of engines for the next season.

22 September 2000 David Coulthard came back in style, after failing to do a good time in the first practice session due to mechanical problems, by clocking the fastest time in the second session ahead of team mate Häkkinen, M. Schumacher, Barrichello, Frentzen and R. Schumacher. The Ferrari duo had dominated the first session.

The combined Friday practice times:

1. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m14.561s 2. HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m14.695s 3. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m14.927s 4. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m15.144s 5. FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m15.226s 6. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m15.249s 7. TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m15.646s 8. BUTTON Williams BMW 1m15.741s 9. GENE Minardi Fondmetal 1m15.806s 10. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m16.147s 11. WURZ Benetton Playlife 1m16.345s 12. IRVINE Jaguar 1m16.546s 13. VERSTAPPEN Arrows Supertec 1m16.572s 14. HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot 1m16.626s 15. ZONTA BAR Honda 1m16.656s 16. SALO Sauber Petronas 1m16.660s 17. HERBERT Jaguar 1m16.670s 18. DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec 1m16.787s 19. DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1m16.838s 20. MAZZACANE Minardi Fondmetal 1m16.902s 21. FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1m17.053s 22. ALESI Prost Peugeot 1m18.213s

22 September 2000 errari dominated the first free practice session as M. Schumacher clocked the fastest time ahead of team mate Barrichello, title contender Häkkinen, Button, Villeneuve and Wurz.

The first Friday practice times:

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m14.927s 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m15.144s 3. HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m15.707s 4. BUTTON Williams BMW 1m15.741s 5. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m16.429s 6. WURZ Benetton Playlife 1m16.486s 7. TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m16.487s 8. FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m16.514s 9. IRVINE Jaguar 1m16.546s 10. HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot 1m16.626s 11. ZONTA BAR Honda 1m16.699s 12. HERBERT Jaguar 1m16.739s 13. GENE Minardi Fondmetal 1m16.754s 14. DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1m16.838s 15. SALO Sauber Petronas 1m16.909s 16. MAZZACANE Minardi Fondmetal 1m16.950s 17. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m17.064s 18. FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1m17.232s 19. VERSTAPPEN Arrows Supertec 1m17.469s 20. DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec 1m17.797s 21. ALESI Prost Peugeot 1m19.400s 22. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 7m14.656s

22 September 2000 Williams have confirmed that 1998 F3000 Champion Juan Pablo Montoya will drive for them next season. The Colombian will replace Button, who has been loaned out to Benetton, and will link up with R. Schumacher.

21 September 2000 Bobby Rahal, who has been confirmed as the new team boss of Jaguar Racing for next season, has warned not to expect miracles. His first goal is to get the company into shape, then he will worry about winning.

21 September 2000 Villeneuve has defended Craig Pollock against the rumours that want him replaced by CART team chief Barry Green. Villeneuve, who is a personal friend of Pollock, said that the team is doing fine and there is no need for change.

21 September 2000 The attempt at taking over the Prost F1 team by Vector Motorsport has collapsed because the Canadian company could not raise the money to complete the deal. The collapse of the deal means that Alain Prost is likely to remain the head of the team next season. Vector Motorsport's head, Marc Bourdeau, said that they still hope to get into Formula 1 in the future.

20 September 2000 The public enquiry into the Brands Hatch redevelopment's impact on the environment, nature conservation and transport had been scheduled to start in December.

19 September 2000 Bernie Ecclestone is close to making a deal with major F1 manufacturers to sell them a stake in FOA. Fiat (Ferrari), DaimlerCrhysler (McLaren), Ford (Jaguar) and Renault (Benetton) are all thought to be involved in the deal.

19 September 2000 The UK Labour government has come under attack after the publication of a new book by political journalist Andrew Rawnsley. Rawnsley alleges that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown lied about a donation of 1 million pounds to the party by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone just before the May 1997 elections. As a result of the donation, F1 was made exempt from the tobacco advertising ban. After the donation first came to light in 1997 (dubbed the "cash for favours" row), Tony Blair claimed on TV that it had been repaid to Ecclestone - though the money had not yet been returned at that stage. Gordon Brown had said in a radio interview that he knew nothing in the donation, though he admitted privately that he did. Tony Blair said that he had sought advice about the donation from Standards Commissioner Lord Neil immediately, while in reality he only bothered after the journalists threatened to break the scandal.

18 September 2000 M. Schumacher revealed that he considered quitting F1 in the wake of the death of the young fire marshall at Monza because the whole situation felt just like when Ayrton Senna died.

18 September 2000 David Coulthard said that, following the result of the Italian GP, he expects to be given team orders and told to help team mate Häkkinen to win the Drivers Championship.

17 September 2000 FIA president Max Mosley said that from next season new steps will have to be taken to guarantee safety for all on the circuits. Mosley, who had been shocked by marshall Gislimberti's death, added that F1 will always be a dangerous sport, but that there is a duty to minimise risk. The technology used to ensure that wheels do not come detached from cars needs to be improved, he concluded.

15 September 2000 Alesi, who decided to stay at Prost next season, has called for next year's car to be designed by John Barnard.

14 September 2000 Jordan has signed a sponsorship deal for next season with British fund managers LeggMason.

14 September 2000. ChampCar boss Bobby Rahal could take over management of the Jaguar F1 team, which has had a disappointing first season, from Neil Ressler. Rahal is a big name in the US and his arrival to Jaguar would generate publicity for Formula 1 in the States, where Ford, Jaguar's owner, are based.

13 September 2000 The Monza magistrates have decided to nominate a team of doctors and engineers to work together and determine the dynamics of the accident, the speed with which help was given to the fire marshal and the conformity to safety regulations. The team will work out the speed and trajectories of the cars of Frentzen, Trulli, Barrichello, Coulthard and De La Rosa at the time of impact. They will also examine the on-board computer data. There seems to be certainty that the wheel that killed Paolo Gislimberti came from Frentzen's car. All the wheels that came off the cars during the accident are still being held by police as evidence.

13 September 2000 Wurz's manager Peter Cramer has announced that the Austrian driver might have a drive for next year after all. The details will be made public as soon as the deal is done. Wurz, who should make the announcement before Indianapolis, was rumoured to have a place as McLaren's test driver next year. His drive at Benetton has been taken by Button.

12 September 2000 The autopsy carried out on the body of Paolo Gislimberti has determined that he died of cardiac arrest caused by skull trauma. It appears that the fire marshall tried to turn to his left to avoid the wheel. The magistrates have confirmed that nobody is currently being investigated and that they expect the enquiry to be a long one. The questions for the technical experts are currently being prepared.

12 September 2000 All the cars involved in the accident following which Paolo Gislimberti died have been released back to the teams by the Monza magistrates. Coulthard's car was released this morning, the other four cars had been released last night. The Jordan team, who have presented their condolences to the family of the dead fire marshall, are facing a race against time to get the cars repaired and ready for Indianapolis.

12 September 2000 The British government is to hold a public enquiry into the proposed plans for the redevelopment of the Brands Hatch circuit and their impact on the environment, nature conservation and transport. Brands Hatch was expected to start hosting the British GP from 2002, but the enquiry might mean that the GP will be switched to Donington Park instead.

11 September 2000 Magistrate Antonio Tanga has been assigned to the enquiry into the death of voluntary fire marshal Paolo Gislimberti alongside Salvatore Bellomo. The drivers involved in the crash have already spoken to the magistrates.

10 September 2000 Monza magistrate Salvatore Bellomo has ordered that the cars involved in the accident at the second corner are impounded by the police as part of the inquiry in the death of the young fire marshal.

10 September 2000 A dreadful accident marred the Italian GP. A young fire fighter, Paolo Gislimberti, 33, married, was killed after being hit by flying debris during an accident involving several cars on the second corner. M. Schumacher went on to win the race in front of Häkkinen, R. Schumacher, Verstappen, Wurz and Zonta. The full report of the race is available from the Race Reports section.

The finishing times:

1. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari - 1h27m31.638 (ave speed 210.286 kph) 2. Mika Häkkinen (Finland) McLaren +3.810 3. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams +52.432 4. Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Arrows +59.938 5. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Benetton +1.07.426 6. Ricardo Zonta (Brazil) BAR +1.09.292 7. Mika Salo (Finland) Sauber +1 lap 8. Pedro Diniz (Brazil) Sauber +1 lap 9. Marc Gené (Spain) Minardi +1 lap 10. Gaston Mazzacane (Argentina) Minardi +1 lap 11. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Benetton +1 lap 12. Jean Alesi (France) Prost +2 laps

9 September 2000 M. Schumacher and Barrichello claimed the first row of the grid for Ferrari, while Häkkinen had the third best time, after having been plagued by problems with his car. Villeneuve clocked exactly the fourth best time, enough to displace a disappointed Coulthard to fifth position on the grid, alongside Trulli.

The qualifying times:

1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m23.770s 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m23.797s 3 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m23.967s 4 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m24.238s 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m24.290s 6 TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m24.477s 7 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m24.516s 8 FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m24.786s 9 FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1m24.789s 10 DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec 1m24.814s 11 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Supertec 1m24.820s 12 BUTTON Williams BMW 1m24.907s 13 WURZ Benetton Playlife 1m25.150s 14 IRVINE Jaguar 1m25.251s 15 SALO Sauber Petronas 1m25.322s 16 DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1m25.324s 17 ZONTA BAR Honda 1m25.337s 18 HERBERT Jaguar 1m25.388s 19 ALESI Prost Peugeot 1m25.558s 20 HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot 1m25.625s 21 GENE Minardi Fondmetal 1m26.336s 22 MAZZACANE Minardi Fondmetal 1m27.360s

8 September 2000 Barrichello still has the best time after the second Friday session, but M. Schumacher moved up to second place, displacing Trulli to third. Häkkinen went out for the second session, but only managed fourth best time, ahead of team mate Coulthard, who span out of the session. Irvine had the sixth fastest time.

The combined Friday practice times:

1 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m25.057s 2 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m25.117s 3 TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m25.390s 4 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1m25.553s 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m25.796s 6 IRVINE Jaguar 1m25.907s 7 DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec 1m25.912s 8 DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1m25.981s 9 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Supertec 1m26.020s 10 SALO Sauber Petronas 1m26.293s 11 BUTTON Williams BMW 1m26.452s 12 HERBERT Jaguar 1m26.634s 13 GENE Minardi Fondmetal 1m26.638s 14 FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m26.763s 15 FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1m26.809s 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m26.906s 17 ZONTA BAR Honda 1m27.070s 18 WURZ Benetton Playlife 1m27.093s 19 HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot 1m27.135s 20 MAZZACANE Minardi Fondmetal 1m27.468s 21 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m27.852s 22 ALESI Prost Peugeot 1m27.904s

8 September 2000 Barrichello set the fastest time in the first Friday session of the Italian GP at Monza. Trulli had the second best time, M. Schumacher the third, Coulthard the fourth, De La Rosa the fifth and Verstappen the sixth. Current Championship leader Häkkinen did not go out in the first session.

The first Friday practice times:

1 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m25.124s 2 TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m25.390s 3 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m25.546s 4 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m25.796s 5 DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec 1m25.912s 6 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Supertec 1m26.463s 7 FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda 1m26.763s 8 FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1m26.809s 9 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m26.906s 10 WURZ Benetton Playlife 1m27.093s 11 DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1m27.133s 12 BUTTON Williams BMW 1m27.170s 13 SALO Sauber Petronas 1m27.262s 14 GENE Minardi Fondmetal 1m27.418s 15 ZONTA BAR Honda 1m27.465s 16 IRVINE Jaguar 1m27.673s 17 HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot 1m27.794s 18 HERBERT Jaguar 1m27.814s 19 MAZZACANE Minardi Fondmetal 1m28.010s 20 ALESI Prost Peugeot 1m28.330s 21 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m28.347s 22 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes No time

7 September 2000 Luciano Burti has signed for Jaguar for next season.

6 September 2000 Max Mosley decided to stand for re-election to the position of president of FIA, despite Williams, McLaren's and Jordan's request for him to step down.

5 September 2000 The chequered flag to be used in the Italian GP will be auctioned, after having signed by all the drivers, and the money raised will be given to a Monza charity caring for people with terminal cancer. The online auction is being held by the http://www.qxl.it site.

4 September 2000 A number of drivers are worried that the modified first corner at Monza will cause a pile-up at the start of the Italian GP. The corner is a lot tighter and the gravel has been replaced with asphalt, so that it is easier to cut straight through the bend. Coulthard complained that the breaking points are difficult to see, while Trulli and De La Rosa agreed that an accident at the start is almost certain. The only driver who liked the new chicane was M. Schumacher.

4 September 2000 Eddie Jordan is pushing for the whole F1 circus to be given the month of August off with a ban on testing and racing for the month. He argues that F1 is a very tiring business and the people involved end up not seeing their families for months on end.

4 September 2000 Ferrari are going to use huge refrigerators to keep the fuel cool before it is pumped into the cars. Current FIA regulations forbid the use of fuel coolers on cars, but say nothing about how to store the fuel beforehand. Cooler fuel contains more oxygens so it produces a cleaner combustion. Even if the method gives Ferrari an advantage in Monza, FIA will start checking fuel temperature from the US GP.

4 September 2000 Frank Williams is not ruling out the possibility of selling a stake in the F1 team to BMW in the future.

3 September 2000 Champ Car boss Barry Green might replace Craig Pollock as boss of BAR. Pollock has apparently fallen out with British American Tobacco, owners of British American Racing, over the lack of results.

1 September 2000 Max Mosley has fought back an attempt by Formula 1 teams McLaren, Williams and Jordan to have him removed from his position as FIA's president. The teams accused him to interfere excessively with the running of Formula 1, in particular, they were very concerned about the complexity of the rules and perceived that FIA is being partial to Ferrari. Mosley defended himself and asked the teams to write a set of clear rules themselves. The seven-hour meeting held at Heathrow also saw the discussion of testing, that Mosely wants massively reduced.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande