Formula One News — January 2002

There has been a flurry of reporting about the first Formula 1 tests of the year with all the latest quotes being rushed out by the drivers.

Alain Prost has finally confirmed that his team will run with Ferrari engines in 2002 - if it survives the January 15 deadline which has been set by the team's legal administrator.

The World Rally Championship has managed to build up quite a following with its computer games and Formula 1 is following suit as sales of Sony's Playstation 2 console boom.

Renault will launch its new Formula 1 team in a couple of weeks from now in Paris.

Peter Sauber says that he has bought Red Bull's share of the Sauber F1 team but says that he is planning to sell it on to the team's sponsor Credit Suisse.

Renaullt-controlled Nissan says that it is planning to expand its operations in the United States in the next couple of years with six new Nissan models and four new Infiniti cars.

Toyota F1 has announced that their new car has passed all the FIA safety tests, and has been cleared to compete in the 2002 Formula One World Championship.

Minardi announced Thursday that Dutchman Christijan Albers will test for the team when they begin their on track preparation for the 2002 season on January 15th.

Conditions improved for the first time Thursday for teams testing in Barcelona.

Former Grand Prix driver Ukyo Katayama has been competing in the Paris-Dakar Rally this year at the wheel of a diesel engine, production-based Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4.

The European Commission is planning to announce later this month big changes to the way in which cars are sold in Europe.

The Autodromo Nazionale at Monza has proved itself to be adept at dodging change in recent years but the pressures on the 80-year-old circuit have gradually increased to such an extent that finally a major revamp is happening to bring the facilities up to a more modern standard.

Eighteen drivers took to the Catalunya circuit in Barcelona for testing on Wednesday in rainy conditions. The weather cooperated briefly.

The announcement that 54-year-old Jean-Jacques His is to become managing-director of Renault Sport in Paris marks an important shift in Renault policy.

The world economy is a complicated concept but analysts around the world are predicting that Argentina's decision to devalue the peso by 30% is going to have an effect on the value of the Brazilian real.

Just days before a deadline which would have closed down Prost Grand Prix, it seems that a group of French businessmen are going to come to the rescue of the team.

The Gulf state of Bahrain is in the process of building a Formula 1 racing circuit in order to promote its new liberal image around the world.

Hungary voted a ban on tobacco advertising a year ago and that has now come into force.

Jean-Jacques His will take over as Managing Director of Renault F1 France on March 1 this year, the day of first practice for the opening Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne.

David Coulthard set the fastest time for the McLaren-Mercedes squad on the second day of the Barcelona F1 test which was spoiled by heavy rain during the morning.

The Malaysian government has decided that a company called Minister of Finance (MOF) Inc. will buy the Sepang racing circuit from Malaysia Airport Holdings.

The familiar ritual of pre-season F1 testing kicked off at Barcelona yesterday with nine of the current 12 F1 teams turning up to start what amounts to the long slog towards the first race of the season in Melbourne on March 3.

The newly-renamed KL Minardi Asiatech team won't be traveling to Barcelona with the rest of the F1 circus this week, but will instead begin its pre-season program at Valencia on January 15.

Possibly a little miffed by his boss Niki Lauda's suggestion that the current generation of Formula 1 cars could be driven by monkeys or grandmothers, the Catalan driver is looking forward to the triple champion's return to the cockpit with some relish.