Formula One News — November 2002

After a disappointing 2002 season running the infamous R3 (and then the R3B), it is no surprise that Jaguar became the first of the teams to announce a launch date for their 2003 car.

Michael Schumacher has been trying to buy a farm for himself and his family for some years but the Swiss-German authorities have made life rather difficult for Michael because he has rather grandiose plans which the planning authorities say are too much.

Luciano Burti, Ferrari's second test driver this year, is under the impression that he has just lost his job to Felipe Massa. Burti was quoted in the Swiss daily newspaper Blick as saying that he contract had not been renewed and that Massa will now take over his role.

Stephen Troth, the Monaco-based banker who helped himself to $20m from a number of clients, including Michael Schumacher, has been sent to jail for four and a half years. Troth was also ordered to pay a fine of $30,000.

The Asiatech company has closed its doors and laid off its staff. The news means that more than 200 people are out of work in the Paris area, just 10 months after the closure of Prost Grand Prix. Asiatech has been in operation for two seasons.

Thomas and Florian Haffa, the leading figures in EM.TV & Merchandising AG, which once owned the commercial rights to Formula 1, have gone on trial in Germany on charges that they deceived investors about the state of the company's finances

The website www.allaboutarrows.co.uk is reporting that a solution has been found for the future of the Arrows team and that the staff will soon be paid. The information apparently comes from Arrows staff

Toyota Motorsport GmbH has finally announced that 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta has signed a two-year contract to become a Formula 1 race driver for the Panasonic Toyota Racing team. The 29-year-old Brazilian will partner Frenchman Olivier Panis in 2003 and 2004.

The Belgian authorities are beginning to wake up to the reality that the FIA is serious about the cancellation of the Belgian Grand Prix and are now scrambling to find ways to save the race at Spa-Francorchamps.

The current sponsorship deal between McLaren and West has been going on since the German tobacco company joined the team in 1996 after the departure of Marlboro to Ferrari. The initial West McLaren deal was for five years between 1997 and 2001 but this was later extended

The news that Antonio Pizzonia will switch to Jaguar Racing next year has opened the way for Williams to sign up a second test driver and the team is planning to have a look at a number of youngsters in the weeks ahead.

The Bridgestone tire company has become the m"presentingen" sponsor of the CART series in the United States of America. Bridgestone replaces Federal Express, which announced it is pulling out of the series recently. The company says that it intends to use the program to sell street tires to the public

The announcement that Jaguar Racing had signed Antonio Pizzonia and Mark Webber for 2003 did not come as a surprise.

The Red Bull F1 Driver Search winner Scott Speed will race for Alan Docking in the 2003 British Formula 3 championship.

BBC Sports Online is reporting that the rumored deal for Toyota to bring CART Champion Cristiano da Matta to F1 in 2003 has been finalized. According to the British website, Toyota bought da Matta out of his contract with the Newman-Haas team, who is supplied with Toyota engines, in order for the deal to take place.

Jaguar has indeed confirmed that Australian Mark Webber and Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia will drive for the team in 2003, replacing Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa.

The rumors that Jaguar Racing will sign up Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia for next year have been circulating for some weeks and although Jaguar has yet to make any official announcement it is perhaps significant that Williams, for which Pizzonia works as a test driver, is planning to test Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The Fiat group has announced that it will pour another $2.5bn into the troubled car company Fiat Auto. It is not clear where the money has come from except that Fiat says that the money comes from within the group and that it will not increase the company's debts.