Formula One News — March 2004

Jean Alesi is to demonstrate Juan Manuel Fangio's 1955 Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 car at the formal opening of the new circuit on the Wednesday. The car took Fangio to two World Championship titles in 1954 and 1955.

The president of the Italian Automobile Club (ACI) has written to the country's Prime Minister asking for cash to pay for an upgrade for the Enzo & Dino Ferrari Circuit at Imola, in the hope that the work will safeguard the future of the San Marino Grand Prix.

Justin Wilson will compete in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring sports car race at the wheel of a Citgo-sponsored Taurus Sports Lola-Judd. The event is the first round of the 2004 American Le Mans Series.

The Ayrton Senna Institute in Brazil is to mark the 10th anniversary year of the great Brazilian driver's death with a concert on March 20, the day before what would have been his 44th birthday.

The way decisions are made in Formula 1 has once again reared its ugly head - and the result is that the hugely unpopular qualifying structure tried for the first time in Australia will remain in place.

The Champ Car series in the United States was once seen as a potential global rival to Formula 1 but in recent years it has not been able to compete because of the split in US open-wheeler racing.

Tomas Enge, who raced on occasion in Formula 1 in 2001 with Prost Grand Prix and came close to winning the Formula 3000 title in 2002 until failing a drugs test, wants to rebuild his single-seater career. The Cezech driver spent 2003 racing GT cars.

Minardi's third driver Bas Leinders has completed the necessary mileage in order to qualify for a Formula 1 superlicence. The Belgian driver was not allowed to take part in practice in Melbourne because he did not have the licence but will now be able to take part in the Friday sessions in Malaysia.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the chairman of Ferrari, has been picked as the head of Italy's influential Confindustria, the industrialists lobbying organisation. He will now represent around 25% of the Italian workforce.

For the last five years Formula One Management has been trying quietly to secure the intellectual property rights to the Formula 1 and F1 trademarks.

The big rumour in the United States at the moment is that one of the Champ Car races to be announced later in the year will be a race on the streets of Las Vegas. The race is scheduled for some time in November and one of Champ Car's new owners Paul Gentilozzi says he is negotiating with at least one Las Vegas hotel.

We hear that the Formula 1 broadcasters have got together to try to convince the Formula 1 authorities to change the qualifying regulations, arguing that it is impossible to schedule the new format because the length of the qualifying is dependent not on a fixed time limit.

Japan has become a signatory of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, committing itself to stamping out tobacco advertising and sponsorship around the world.

In Australia a number of Formula 1 teams reported quietly that they have become aware of a head-hunting agency in Britain which, in recent weeks, has been approaching experienced F1 engineers and offering them well-paid jobs for an new project being planned in Britain.

There is much debate going on behind the scenes in Formula 1 at the moment over whether or not the qualifying format needs to be changed.

Flavio Briatore has denied that he is negotiating to sign Ralf Schumacher for 2005 - and that means that someone in Formula 1 circles is not telling the whole truth. Schumacher's manager Willi Weber told a German newspaper that Ralf is close to a deal with Renault.

The Champ Car series will include a street race in South Korea this year, on October 17.

Willi Weber, Ralf Schumacher's manager, says that he is close to a deal to put Ralf at Renault F1 in 2005.

The Malaysian general elections will take plan on the same day as the Formula 1 Grand Prix, but the race organisers say that this should not present any problems.

Jaguar Racing continues to ramp up its technical back-up in Formula 1 with the revelation that the team will have a third windtunnel for the project by 2005.

Australian GP - Race Report

Paul Stoddart, the boss of Minardi, is to launch a low-cost airline in Australia later this year, taking on Richard Branson's Virgin Blue and Jetstar, Qantas's no frills airline which was launched last month.

Richard Parry-Jones, the head of Ford's competition activities and the man who is now running negotiations for the Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC) organization is proposing to try to implement a new strategy for keeping down the costs of Formula 1.

Australian GP - Race Notes