Formula One News — November 2001

With the current ban on testing in Formula 1 and the fact that the rules for next year are unchanged teams are going to be ready with new cars earlier than ever so that the new machinery can undergo development and reliability work before the new season opens in Melbourne in March.

Former US President Bill Clinton will be in Melbourne on business in the week of the Australian Grand Prix and has been invited to attend the event by race organizer Ron Walker.

The FIA says that it will shortly publish the latest regulations regarding testing restrictions in Formula 1 and says that McLaren boss Ron Dennis was wrong in Japan when he suggested that the governing body had not carried out the correct procedures in deciding the rules.

Jackie Stewart has received the 2001 Lifetime of Achievement Award for his services to motor racing from the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation.

The FIA President Max Mosley says that suggestions that one of the signatures on documents at the United States Grand Prix was forged are incorrect.

Although Russia is polishing up its international image and trying to give the impression that it is getting away from the bad old days of being run by criminal gangs, the country still has a long way to go before all its problems are solved.

Volkswagen has bucked the trend in the automobile world and has recorded a 9.8% rise in pre-tax profits for the third quarter, making a pre-tax profit of $895m.

Honda's Formula 1 program may not be very spectacular at the moment but the company's general financial health is improving with sales in Japan this year nearly doubling in the last six months.