Formula One News — May 1996

THE Silverstone racing circuit - home of the British Grand Prix - has announced plans to provide spectators with live television programming - at the race track.

THERE have been rumors across Europe in recent days that Tom Walkinshaw and Volvo are planning a Formula 1 program for 1997 and beyond.

AS we suggested in February, former Team Lotus chief designer Chris Murphy has returned to Lola Cars to head the F1 design team.

NOT only is Imola facing the possibility of legal action from the Italian authorities over the death of Ayrton Senna at the track in 1994, but it is now in trouble with the FIA as well following the post-race track invasion at the recent San Marino Grand Prix.

AGIP is in the process of deciding on its future F1 plans.

WHEN Tom Walkinshaw bought a controlling interest in the Arrows team and launched "TWR F1" he hoped that he would be able to change the name of the cars from Footworks to Arrows - or perhaps another name

WE hear that Jackie Stewart is trying to convince King Hussein of Jordan that he should build a racing circuit near Amman in Jordan.

TWO years have passed since the death on May 1, 1994 at Imola of Brazilian Ayrton Senna, and there has still been no official word from Italian investigators as to what they think caused the accident and what action should be taken as a result.

THE Imola paddock was full of former F1 drivers, notably Riccardo Patrese, Andrea de Cesaris, Pierluigi Martini, Luis Sala, Rene Arnoux and Paul Belmondo.

STEWART GRAND PRIX technical director Alan Jenkins last week visited the headquarters of Dave Price's DPS composite company to discuss the possibility of Price's company building chassis for the Stewart F1 team.

BERNIE ECCLESTONE has announced an agreement to launch the first digital broadcasting of Formula 1 racing at the German GP at Hockenheim in July.

AS the F1 big rigs were rolling out of Imola on Sunday night, the F1 test teams began arriving for a four-day test which is due to start on Tuesday.

THE major Formula 1 team principals met with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone on Friday afternoon at Imola to discuss the problem of what happens to Grand Prix racing after Ecclestone.

THE Arrows team had a near-miss at Imola when Jos Verstappen was waved out of his pit during a refueling stop with the refueling gear still attached to the car.

THE importance of the Far East in the future of F1 is becoming more and more pronounced with the news that there are plans to hold a Grand Prix in South Korea in 1998.

TOM WALKINSHAW, the boss of the Arrows F1 team, is in the process of hiring new design engineers to strengthen his team at the new TWR F1 headquarters at Leafield, in England.