Formula One News — April 2005

The FIA has issued a statement after its meeting this morning with Ferrari, Red Bull and Jordan which seems to indicate that the federation intends to try to make rules without the current Concorde Agreement.

It is no secret that engineer Enrique Scalabroni wants to have his own Formula 1 team. He has tried several times to make that dream happen, the most recent plan being with the Asiatech engine company.

The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation says that it no longer has an interest in buying the beleaguered MG Rover car company in Britain. The news means that unless a white knight appears very quickly around 6,000 jobs are going to go at the company's factory at Longbridge, near Oxford.

There are some interesting reports doing the rounds that DaimlerChrysler shareholders are being approached by private equity firms seeking to buy the company and break it up into different companies.

This morning in Paris FIA President Max Mosley meets with Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and the man from Jordan to discuss the rules and regulations for 2008 and beyond. The FIA muezzins in the minarets of the Place de la Concorde are wailing out a message that consensus is the way for the sport to move forward.

The news that F1 teams have agreed to allow third drivers to be anyone who holds a Superlicence is interesting, particularly if you are a driver who has some sponsorship available and wants an F1 drive.

The Lucky Strike BAR Honda team continued to set the pace in testing at Paul Ricard on Thursday, following on from the successful test last week in Barcelona, when Jenson Button broke the lap record at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The FIA, with the unanimous agreement of all teams taking part in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, has made a change to Article 58b of the Formula 1 Sporting regulations concerning eligibility of drivers taking part in Friday practice prior to the Grands Prix.

John Surtees, the chairman of the British A1 Grand Prix team, has announced that the UK's entry in the new racing series will be run by the International  Motorsport in Banbury and will be carrying out a driver evaluation programme at Brands Hatch on May 23-24.

LG (or rather Lucky Goldstar to give the company its full name) is one of Korea's famous industrial "chaebols", vast corporations which are involved in a selection of different businesses.

Bernie Ecclestone has told Agence France Presse that the late Prince Rainier of Monaco was "a loyal supporter of Formula 1".

There had been fears that the Indianapolis 500 this year would not have a full field of cars but the announcement that Champ Car team Newman Haas Racing will field two cars means that there are now 33 cars on the entry.

Sixty-five years ago today Max Mosley made his first appearance on this earth. The son of Sir Oswald Mosley and Lady Diana Mitford, he has been making headlines ever since.

The Mexican Grand Prix which was being planned for 2006 has looked rather dodgy for some months, in fact ever since the project was announced. Now the locals have admitted defeat and say that the race will be postponed until 2007.

In the United States of America there has been a trend towards running motor racing events under lights.

The Champ Car World Series has signed an important new deal with Beijing Assets Management Company Ltd to hold a race in Beijing, beginning in 2006.

MG Sports and Racing, the motor sport subsidiary of MG Rover, has followed the main company into administration.

Super Nova Racing has announced that it will be running former F1 driver Giorgio Pantano and rising star Adam Carroll in the forthcoming new GP2 Series.

There are indications that one or more of the F1 teams may attend the FIA meeting on Friday to discuss the federation's plans for 2008 and beyond.

Sebastien Bourdais will be trying for victory in the this year's Indianapolis 500 with the Newman Haas Racing team.

Flavio Briatore has been making statements about the future of Renault F1's Fernando Alonso.

The Midland F1 organization has not exactly been pouring money into Jordan Grand Prix in recent weeks and this has been rather confusing for observers who believed that the Russians would invest heavily in an effort to build the team up.

McLaren knows at least one thing about its driver line-up in Imola. Unless something untoward happens Kimi Raikkonen will be in one of the cars.

Michael Schumacher goes to the San Marino Grand Prix next week with two World Championship points on the board after three races.