Formula One News — July 2000

RUMBLINGS of discontent amongst F1 teams regarding Bernie Ecclestone's increasing stranglehold on the FIA World Championship look set to be silenced if five of the world's major motor manufacturers eventually decide to purchase a one-third stake in Bernie Ecclestone's SLEC empire.

FERRARI'S Rubens Barrichello topped the times for a second consecutive day in testing at Mugello after running a preparation schedule ahead of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

BENETTON'S Ginacarlo Fisichella completed his final day of testing at Silverstone with the fastest time of the day, but was more concerned with his set-up ahead of the German Grand Prix next week.

JAGUAR'S Eddie Irvine has been passed fit to compete in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim next weekend after doctors gave him the all-clear.

MIKA HAKKINEN and the McLaren-Mercedes team will probably have to sweat it out for over another week before they know whether the Finn's 16th career Grand Prix victory - secured in Austria before the question of the missing FIA seal on the car's electronic control box arose - can finally be confirmed.

PROST GRAND PRIX have appointed Credit Suisse First Boston to look at arranging a sale for the French Formula One team priced at around £45 million.

FORMER Jaguar Chairman Jackie Stewart, who originally talked about a test with Dario Franchitti last year, was impressed by the Scot's performance at Silverstone this week, but commented; "we haven't got a definitive list yet of candidates under consideration for next year.

SILVERSTONE will welcome a host of British Formula One greats this weekend when it celebrates 50 years of the World Championship.

JAGUAR test driver Luciano Burti claims that he has just come through the most remarkable four days of his life.

SCOTLAND'S Dario Franchitti has denied reports that he is set to sign with Jaguar Formula One team.

MODIFICATIONS to the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the venue for September's Italian Grand Prix, have been completed in record time.

MCLAREN duo Olivier Panis and David Coulthard continued their dominance of testing at Silverstone as they topped the times for a second consecutive day.

FERRARI'S Rubens Barrichello showed a clean pair of heels to struggling Prost and Minardi as he topped the times by almost four seconds in testing at Mugello, Italy.

IT is worth noting that there is a major restructuring of management going on at Goodyear with Bill Sharp, the head of the company's North American operations (and the man who made the decision to pull the company out of Formula 1 back in 1997) stepping down at the age of 58.

GERMAN companies have become increasingly important in Formula 1 in recent years with DaimlerChrysler, West, BMW, Alliaz, Deutsche Post, Becks, Warsteiner and others all keen to be part of the boom in interest in F1 since Michael Schumacher became the top name in the sport in 1994.

SCOT Dario Franchitti made his first appearance in a Jaguar Formula One car in testing at Silverstone on Tuesday, but it was McLaren test driver Olivier Panis who topped the times.

JORDAN technical director Mike Gascoyne is expected to sit out the rest of this season on "gardening leave" before he takes up his next appointment as the new technical director of Benetton Formula.

THERE have been increasing rumors in recent days that the chairman of Minardi sponsor Telefonica, Juan Villalonga, may have to stand down from his position because of discontent amongst the companies institutional investors.

THE next generation of Formula 1 racing circuits are already in the planning stages and we hear that there are three new projects under consideration at the moment.

THERE were a lot of rumors in Austria suggesting that Minardi will soon announce that it has been sold to a consortium which has been trying to finalize a deal for over a year.

EDDIE IRVINE pulled out of the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday evening after suffering serious abdominal pains during the days leading up to the event.

THE plot thickens at Prost Grand Prix with the team's future becoming more and more like a bad soap opera. While Peugeo has been trying to buy the team with a deal involving the Vivendi company, Alain Prost appears to be working in direct opposition to his current engine supplier.

THERE was considerable speculation at the Austrian Grand Prix which suggested that Jacques Villeneuve may decide to say at British American Racing next year rather than take up an offer to join Benetton in 2001 and then lead the new Renault Formula 1 team in 2002.

TOBACCO has been the biggest supporter of motor racing since the late 1960s but the pressure on cigarette companies continues with another huge award of damages last week in a Miami court where a jury decided that the tobacco companies should pay $145 billion in punitive damages in what is known as "a class action" brought by thousands of individuals suffering from smoking-related illnesses.