Formula One News — November 2000

AN announcement is expected shortly from Jaguar about further changes to the team for next season and we have heard stories that this will involve a new sporting director being appointed.

OUR spies tell us that there are to be changes at Jordan Grand Prix as a result of the team's disappointing performances this year.

IN recent days there have been worries about the future of Minardi and while this is not surprising given the fact that it is now early November and the team has yet to announce which engines it will be using in the World Championship next season.

IT is no secret that Prost Grand Prix is thinking about joining forces with Michelin but the recent engine deal with Ferrari is complicating matters as the French tire manufacturer does not want its tire technology leaking to Ferrari, which remains one of Bridgestone's top teams.

THE Toyota Motor Company has given more details about what it hopes to achieve with its Formula 1 program.

BRITISH AMERICAN RACING has been playing down suggestions that a showdown is coming between team bosses Craig Pollock and Adrian Reynard, saying that the board meeting which was due to take place last week (but was delayed) was simply a quarterly gathering and no major moves were planned.

JAGUAR team leader Eddie Irvine has firmly dismissed Ross Brawn's supposed role as the as the great pit lane strategist who helped steer Michael Schumacher to his goal of becoming the first Ferrari World Champion driver in 21 years.

HIROTOSHI HONDA, president of Mugen, has confirmed the immediate withdrawal of his company from Formula One at the end of the season.

JORDAN driver Jarno Trulli produced an impressive performance in the New York Marathon on Sunday when he completed the event in 10,230th place - but was unhappy after he failed to achieve his own personal target.

SPANIARD Pedro de la Rosa has said that rumors of a move to Prost are wide of the mark and he expressed his content of life with Arrows.

DAVID COULTHARD has set his sights on winning the Formula One World Championship in 2001 and he has insisted that more consistency in his driving will deliver the crown.

GIORGIO PANTANO drove home the point that he is a special talent while testing for Team Astromega in Formula 3000 this week.

THERE has been an awful lot of talk in Formula 1 circles in recent months about the possible involvement of American drinks company Coca-Cola in Grand Prix racing.

WORLD CHAMPION Michael Schumacher has tasted victory again after he led a soccer team comprising of motor racing stars to triumph against an all-star opposition in a charity match in Padua, Italy.

DOUBLE CHAMPIONS Ferrari are set to heap further misery on McLaren by tempting software specialist Anton Sitpinovic to leave the Woking-based team.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER lost a court case in Stuttgart, Germany on Thursday after filing a multi-million pound damages claim against his look-alike Frank Sassen.

DUTCH driver Jos Verstappen's future could be decided within the next three weeks, according to his manager Huub Rothengatter.

YOUNG Finn Kimi Raikkonen has said that the pressure of Formula One will not affect him if he lands a drive with Sauber next year.

AS we have been predicting, Alain Prost has signed up Joan Villadelprat and Henri Durand to be managing director and technical director of Prost Grand Prix.

AS negotiations continue for a deal between Bernie Ecclestone, Thomas Haffa and a consortium of automobile manufacturers to secure the long term future of the commercial side of Grand Prix racing,

JORDAN driver Jarno Trulli will swap his racing overalls for shorts, T-shirt and running shoes on Sunday when he competes in the New York Marathon.

MINARDI have dismissed speculation that backers PanAmerican Sports Network are about to pull the plug on its deal to buy a majority stake in the team.

PROST have announced that Joan Villadelprat has been appointed Managing Director of the team and he will be joined by technical director Henri Durand for the 2001 world championship.

BRAZILIAN Ricardo Zonta has been handed a tough schedule in December as he begins his new role as official test driver with Jordan.