Formula One News — May 2002

Gianni Agnelli, the honorary chairman of Fiat and the man who is ultimately in control of Ferrari is expected to remain in hospital in the United States for several weeks being treated for a prostate problem.

Georg Kofler, the boss of German payTV channel Premiere is hopeful that investment can be found to keep the channel afloat.

Later this month BMW chairman and chief executive Joachim Milberg will retire after three years in charge of the Munich company.

The signing of Rubens Barrichello for Ferrari in 2003 and 2004 is the start of the 2003 silly season as the best drive available is now settled and so the focus will switch to who will drive next year for McLaren, Renault F1 and Sauber.

There is a lot of speculation in the Formula 1 paddock at the moment about the effects of the recession on the Formula 1 grids.

The Bavarian courts have appointed lawyer Joseph Fuchsl as the administrator of Kirch PayTV, his job being to decide whether or not the business can be turned into a viable operation or whether it should be closed down and the assets sold off to pay as much of the debts as possible.

Ferrari announced Thursday that they have signed Rubens Barrichello to a new contract through the 2004 season.

Michael and Ralf Schumacher have recently announced a deal with a Helsinki-based telecommunications company called Sports Telecom.

Bahrain, which is now the clear favorite to host a Grand Prix in the Middle East in 2004, this week marked a new breakthrough in its democratization program with the first elections to be held for 27 years.

The great Canadian racer Gilles Villeneuve was killed at Zolder 20 years ago today while qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

There is bad news in F1 circles this morning with the announcement in Munich that KirchPayTV has gone into administration, following the acceptance by the management that the company cannot pay its debts.

The bankruptcy of KirchPayTV GmbH & Co has been expected for almost a month but its effect could still be a dramatic one for Formula 1 - or at least for the Formula One group of companies.

Peugeot Sport boss Corrado Provera has told Motorsport News magazine in England that the idea of the company returning to Formula 1 is "a silly rumour".

Alan Jones, the 1980 Formula 1 World Champion, has been reminiscing in recent days about his first Grand Prix victory, scored in Austria in 1977.

There will be a tribute to the late Ken Tyrrell at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed in mid-July.

A number of representatives from the Australian Grand Prix Corporation were spotted this week in Hong Kong apparently on their way to visit the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

There is major rebuilding work going on at Magny-Cours at the moment in preparation for the French GP.

The German banking giant Deutsche Bank gets a new chief executive shortly and Josef Ackermann is expected to embark on a program to raise the company's share price, which has been suffering of late.

Kirch Beteiligung, the embattled firm which owns the majority of the Formula One group of companies, is trying to sell its 40% stake in German publishing company Axel Springer in order to stay afloat.

The French authorities have put the 12 Prost Grand Prix chassis up for sale - with a price tag of $900,000.

Nelson Piquet Jr., the 16-year-old son of triple World Champion Nelson Piquet, is to compete in the new Brazilian Formula Renault series.

Robby McGehee began his Indianapolis 500 testing program with a major crash which demolished his Cahill Racing Dallara-Chevrolet.

Derek Bell is best known for his five victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Willi Dungl, the Austrian sports and fitness expert, has died at the age of 64.