Formula One News — December 2003

Eddie Jordan is one of the sport's most colorful characters and for many years was one of the most popular. But something changed. After Jordan sold out a share of his team and became fabulously wealthy, he seemed to lose the drive that was so admired.

There have been stories saying that a deal is with done between Jordan Grand Prix and Nick Heidfeld but it is clear that whatever that arrangement is, there is still a question of money being needed and with Jos Verstappen's sponsor Trust now saying that the Dutchman will not be with Minardi.

It has been a tough year for the Minardi team but once again the underdog organization based in Faenza, Italy, survived. This is good news because Minardi maintains the important role as the place where young drivers can learn about Formula 1 before moving onward and upward into a top team.

Formula 1 has been trying to do it for years, but the unwieldy decision-making structure has made it impossible and so costs continue to boom in F1. Over in America the Indy Racing League has no such restrictions and Tony George has announced that private testing is out.

The quiet announcement last week that the FIA is to set up a Motor Sport Safety Institute, "in order to better coordinate the research activities of the FIA in motor sport safety" passed almost unnoticed.

Open Wheel Racing Series, the company which is in the process of taking over CART, has signalled its desire to be taken seriously by announcing the purchase from a subsidiary of the Sports Car Club of America of TransAm Racing, the company which runs the US saloon car series.

Iain Brown, the client services director of British American Racing, has left the Brackley team to take up the role at Jaguar which was vacated recently by John Hogan. Hogan's role was to to deal with the coordination between the team and its sponsors and the FIA and FOM.

Zsolt Baumgartner has been offered the second Minardi drive for next year but he will obviously need to take money to the Italian team. The team says it hopes to complete the deal within the next few days.

As expected Championship Auto Racing Teams has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This will enable Open Wheel Racing Series to buy certain assets from the court. The assets are expected to raise $3m.

Veteran Formula One driver Jos Verstappen who drove for Minardi in 2003 has yet to confirm a drive for next season. It seems that he has put Jordan under heavy consideration.

Bryan Herta, who last year was keen to get into Formula 1, has given up the idea and has signed to drive a fourth car for Andretti Green Racing in the Indy Racing League.

There will be a CART series in 2004, according to Open Wheel Racing Series LLC. But the CART organization will have to be placed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy before its assets are acquired by OWRS. The assets being purchased include contracts with promoters, sponsors and teams.

Ralf Schumacher has become the first Formula One driver to complete a lap at the all new Bahrain International Circuit.

Swiss team Sauber-Petronas unveiled their highly anticipated ultra-modern wind tunnel today at their Hinwil headquarters.

Michelin motorsport boss Pierre Dupasquier said he is very pleased by the progress in winter testing.

The FIA World Council on Friday in Monte Carlo decided to keep France in the F1 calendar for next year but the race can only happen if the FFSA can negotiate a deal with Bernie Ecclestone and get all the F1 teams to agree to run an 18th race.

There is a strong possibility that American Townsend Bell will become Jaguar's Friday test driver this year, alongside Mark Webber and Christian Klien.

As exclusively predicted by www.grandprix.com more than a month ago, Gianmaria Bruni has signed to drive for the Minardi team in 2004.

The FIA Prizegiving Gala in Monte Carlo on Friday night revealed the two prestigious awards related to the presentation of the sport.

Huub Rothengather was in Monte Carlo on Friday night, telling anyone who asked that it was still too early for any deals to be finalized for his charge Jos Verstappen to be in Formula 1 next year.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen has known for some time that he was not going to be in Formula 1 in 2004 but the news was not confirmed until today when it was announced that the German will be racing for the Opel factory team in the DTM.

The British Grand Prix has been confirmed on its desired date of July 11 while the French GP has been moved to July 4. France has until the end of the month to make all the necessary arrangements to keep the race alive

The FIA World Motor Sport Council meets today in Monte Carlo and we can expect some form of an F1 calendar - hopefully something definitive.

The big news event at Jerez de la Frontera on Thursday was the 41 laps completed by Sino-Dutchman Ho-Ping Tung, who became the first Chinese driver to drive a modern Formula 1 car.