NEWS ARCHIVE
CONCORDE DRAMA GOES PUBLIC
THE row that has been brewing over the 1997-2001 Concorde Agreement exploded into public view in the days leading up to the Belgian Grand Prix, with the FIA deciding to force the issue by announcing details of a new Concorde Agreement - which has not been signed by all the teams.
FORTI DISAPPEARS
THE Forti F1 team did not appear at Spa and the Italian team has not been seen since it packed up its cars on Friday at Hockenheim - a month ago.
HERBERT AND STEWART
JOHNNY HERBERT has emerged as one of the top names on Jackie Stewart's F1 shopping list for 1997.
MARLBORO DUMPS MCLAREN!
Marlboro announced on Monday afternoon (London time) that it is not renewing its association with the McLaren team at the end of this season.
MCLAREN GOES WEST...
AN hour after the announcement that Marlboro was quitting McLaren the Woking team revealed that it has, as had been rumored, signed a deal with West cigarettes.
MINARDI DENIES LINK WITH BRIATORE
GIANCARLO MINARDI has denied stories that the majority shareholding in his team has been bought by Benetton boss Flavio Briatore.
NOW TOM TRIES FORD
IN recent days Tom Walkinshaw has been pushing hard to get Peugeot V10 engines for 1997, but at Spa the Scotsman changed tack again and went in pursuit of a supply of Ford V10 engines, hoping that the changing political situation at Cosworth might open doors for him to snatch the supply which is intended for Sauber.
PALM SPRINGS WANTS A GRAND PRIX
THE planned Palm Springs International Raceway says it is bidding for a United States Grand Prix.
PROST AND LIGIER
REPORTS from Italy over the weekend suggested that Alain Prost has done a deal to acquire the Ligier team from Flavio Briatore in the wake of Briatore's buyout of Guy Ligier, which was announced at the Hungarian GP.
SCAMMELL OUT AT COSWORTH
THE ongoing friction between Ford and Cosworth came to a head last week with the departure of Cosworth Racing's managing-director Dick Scammell.
ECCLESTONE BUYS LEGENDARY RAF BASE
BERNIE ECCLESTONE is in the final stages of buying the famous World War II Royal Air Force aerodrome at Biggin Hill.
FORD AND HART
BRIAN HART, who looks like being left out in the cold by Arrows next year, is understood to be having talks with the Ford Motor Company.
MINARDI AND BRIATORE TALKING
THERE have been rumors in recent days that Flavio Briatore is to buy shares in the Minardi team.
THE 1998 SILLY SEASON
WHILE most teams are worrying about what to do next year, Ferrari is busily trying to conclude a new deal with MichaelĂSchumacher to keep the German at Maranello until the end of the 1998 season.
THE CONCORDE CRISIS CREEPS ONWARD
THE political troubles surrounding the 1997-2001 Concorde Agreement are deepening with the FIA warning teams that there is likely to be a period of "major confrontation" if teams do not accept the terms being offered.
WALKINSHAW AND PEUGEOT II
THE talks between Tom Walkinshaw and Peugeot for a supply of engines in 1997 - which we mentioned last week - are serious with Peugeot Sport staff having visited the TWR factory at Leafield, in England.
WHERE ARE WE GOING THIS WEEK?
CELEBRATED since medieval times for the curative properties of its natural spring waters - the town actually gave its name to all the "spa towns" around the world - the little picturesque town of Spa in the Ardennes hills of western Belgium developed into a resort. It had a casino and several grand hotels and was frequented by the rich and aristocratic.
WILLIAMS STAYS AHEAD
THE Rothmans Williams Renault team continued its domination of the 1996 season in testing last week at Barcelona, where Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve were first and second fastest after the four-day testing.
BENETTON SIGNS WITH GOODYEAR
FOLLOWING in the footsteps of all the major F1 teams, Benetton has just concluded a deal to run Goodyear tires next year. Benetton joins Williams, Ferrari, McLaren, Jordan and Sauber as Goodyear's chosen teams.
BRACK QUITS ARROWS
SWEDISH driver Kenny Brack has quit his role as TWR Arrows test driver.
BRIATORE BUYS OUT GUY LIGIER
GUY LIGIER has sold the remaining 15% of his shares in Ligier to Flavio Briatore, who now owns the team in its entirety.
FORD AND COSWORTH
FORD'S planned Motorsport Technology Department, announced in Detroit in January, is now up and running and its head JohnĂValentine turned up in Hungary to have a look at Ford's involvement in F1 amid rumors that there has been a serious split between Ford and engine-builders Cosworth over the disastrous V10 program this year with Sauber.
HUNGARY FIGHTING FOR A RACE
HUNGARY does not want to lose its Grand Prix next year and is prepared to undertake major upgrading work to ensure that the race continues.
MCLAREN AND MARLBORO PLAYING GAMES
THE Hungarian Grand Prix paddock in Budapest was alive with rumors suggesting that the 23-year-old relationship between Marlboro and McLaren is coming to an end because the cigarette brand - owned by the Philip Morris company - will not pay the sponsorship being demanded by McLaren boss Ron Dennis.
PANIS STAYS ON...
ONLY a day after Ligier announced that Flavio Briatore had bought all the remaining shares in the team, it was announced that Olivier Panis will stay on as team leader for the 1997 season.
SALO STAYS AT TYRRELL
MIKA SALO is to stay for a third season with Tyrrell next year, despite the miserable performance this year of the Yamaha engines.
WALKINSHAW AND PEUGEOT
HAVING lost out on the Mugen Honda deal to Ligier, Tom Walkinshaw has changed his tack in his search for an F1 engine for next season.
WHO DRIVES FOR JORDAN IN 1997?
EDDIE JORDAN is quietly working away to secure a more competitive package for the team next year.
ARROWS - ENGINE PLANNING
TOM WALKINSHAW's Arrows team will soon have to make a decision about its plans for an engine next season.
BERGER IN TROUBLE IN AUSTRIA
IT has not been Gerhard Berger's year.
EMERSON FITTIPALDI TO RETIRE?
RACING legend Emerson Fittipaldi - Formula 1 World Champion of 1972 and 1974, F1 team owner from 1975-81, Indianapolis 500 winner in 1989 and 1993 and Indycar champion of 1989 - looks set to retire from the sport, following his nasty crash at Michigan International Speedway eight days ago.
MINARDI LOOKING EAST FOR SPONSORS
GIANCARLO MINARDI is tipped to be planning a test for Russian driver Alan Berkov, and this has led to speculation that at least some of the Minardi budget next year is to come from the old Eastern bloc.
NEW BOYS - WHERE ARE THEY?
THE list of teams planning to enter F1 in 1997 is beginning to thin out as the financial realities of Grand Prix racing begin to sink in.
SAUBER GOES TO AUSTRIA
THE Red Bull Sauber Ford team is to stop off on its way home from the Hungaroring next week to test at the revised Osterreichring at Zeltweg.
TESTING - HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE
AFTER the German Grand Prix the F1 teams headed off in different directions in preparation for the Hungarian GP this weekend.
THE POLITICS OF SAFETY
THE death of Jeff Krosnoff and a track worker in the Indycar race at Toronto may have far-reaching results for the American racing fraternity, not because American racing is dangerous, but rather because safety can help the FIA achieve its long-term aims.
WHERE ARE WE GOING THIS WEEK?
THIS could be the last Hungarian Grand Prix - although F1 people have been saying that for a long time.
WILLIAMS FOR THE TITLE IN HUNGARY
WILLIAMS GRAND PRIX ENGINEERING is expected to win its 13th FIA Formula 1 World Championship this weekend at the Hungaroring, just outside Budapest in Hungary.
