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CURRENT HEADLINE FRIDAY JANUARY 3RD VERSTAPPEN
IN TALKS WITH JORDAN Jos Verstappen has
revealed that he is in talks with more than one team concerning a race seat
for the 2003 season. It is known that the former Arrows driver was in talks
with Paul Stoddart about a drive alongside Brit Justin Wilson at Minardi but
the Dutchman has revealed that he is receiving offers from another team, but the second Jordan seat is the only available race drive
apart from Minardi. Eddie Jordan, Jordan Grand Prix manger revealed before
Christmas that his second seat would be given to the driver who can bring
with them the biggest sponsorship backing. It is known that Eddie Irvine,
Enrique Bernoldi and Felipe Massa are all pushing for the seat. However,
Verstappen recently secured a lucrative sponsorship deal with Holland’s Media
Group (HMG) which could well prove attractive to the cash strapped Jordan
team.
2003 driver line-ups NEW TOYOTA
LAUNCHES ON WEDNESDAY 04/01/03 Panasonic Toyota Racing will
be launching their new 2003 car, the TF103, on Wednesday at their home test
track of Paul Ricard in France. The teams all new driver line-up and
management shuffle will also become official at the launch. Toyota’s 2003
drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish were dropped by the team following their
successful maiden F1 season where the team scored 2 points. They are to be replaced by the experienced Olivier Panis and Christiano Da Matta who
joins the team from the Toyota powered Newman Haas CART team. Ove Anderson
has stepped down from the position of team principal while Norbert Kreyer is
expected to be revealed as the new technical director. Gustav Brunner, the
man who has designed both of Toyota’s cars will continue to lead the design
team in 2004 as work starts on the TF104.
2003 launches I
Top JORDAN EAGER
TO TEST NEW EJ13 04/01/03 The Jordan F1 Team are
eagerly awaiting the launch of their new
challenger the EJ13 so that they can get down to testing the new chassis and
Ford engine combination. Although no official launch date or location has
been announced it is still believed the team will launch mid-January as
recently announced. As with almost all the teams the EJ13 will be a radically
new design and insiders say the EJ13 has no real similarity to the mediocre
EJ12, which secured the team only 6th in the championship last season. The
new car will be powered by customer Cosworth engines from the Jaguar team in
2003 , however the team will be called Jordan-Ford and the cars will display
the blue Ford oval. The team will also reveal their new title sponsor, if one
has been found, and the new livery will also be revealed at the launch,
though the cars will still be painted their traditional yellow.
Top ALBERS CLOSE
TO MINARDI RACE SEAT 04/01/03 Christian Albers’ manager
Lodewijk Varossieau has told the French RTL network that his Dutch driver
Albers is ’very close’ to securing the second
Minardi race seat alongside Justin Wilson for the 2003 season. Varossieau
says that Albers was fighting for the drive alongside Verstappen, however he
now believes that Verstappen is interested in other drives, leaving the way
clear for Albers to join Minardi. This announcement backs recent reports that
Verstappen is in talks with Jordan concerning a race drive for 2003 (see
other news article).
Top MOSLEY
PUSHING FOR BIG CHANGES 03/01/03 UPDATED 04/01/03 FIA President Max
Mosley has called a meeting for team-principals on January 15th in a last
attempt to persuade them to agree to cost-cutting measures in Formula One.
Mosley was hoping that the principals would agree to money saving suggestions
that he outlined at the last meeting in December but the teams only agreed
for regulation changes in 2005, and those would save an incredible amount of
money. At the meeting Mosley will attempt to change the teams attitudes and
save the privateer teams from going Bankrupt in the most expensive sport in
the world. Suggestions that will be pushed for will include the banning of driver aids in order to bring back the need for driver talent,
banning of electrical systems that can change factors on the car from the
pits and the controversial engine rule, where drivers are only allowed one
engine per race weekend with penalties given if this is exceeded. Mosley has
already enforced a rule concerning qualifying cars. It was believed that
teams could create ’qualifying cars’ that were stripped of all radiators and
none essential equipment for just one lap in qualifying, however this idea
has been scrapped with the new rule saying that the cars used in qualifying
must be the ones used in the race. Watch this space for developments from the
meeting.
Take
a look at the new regulations for 2003 I
Top SURPRISE AS
RENAULT LIMIT TESTING! 03/01/03 FIA Sources have
revealed that Renault will be taking up the FIA’s cost-cutting plan of
limiting their private testing to just 10 days throughout the 2003 season. In
exchange for doing so the team will be given 2 hours free testing before
free-practice on the Friday of Grands Prix weekends. Renault will join
Minardi and Jordan on-track for the 2
hour session before the rest of the teams get a chance to run on the circuits
and will be able to run their spare cars and test drivers during the session.
The three teams will still compete in all practice sessions. All exact
details will be announced following the team principals meeting on 15th
January where it is believed that Renault will try to push for the number of
testing days to be increased from 10 to 12.
Top WILLIAMS
FW25 TO LAUNCH JANUARY 31ST 03/01/03 Williams BMW will
launch their new title contender, the FW25 at the Circuit de Catalunya on
January 31st. A lot hangs on the success of the new
car as BMW prepare to announce whether or not they will extend their contract
with Williams F1 beyond 2004. It is known that BMW were very unhappy with the
chassis Williams produced last season, and despite having the best engine on
the grid the team only managed to finish second to Ferrari, some 129 points
behind. If BMW are not impressed they may decide to set-up their own team in
the future.
2003 car launches I
Top DC: McLAREN
WILL BEAT WILLIAMS 03/01/03 David Coulthard believes
that Williams have missed their chance at championship glory and that in 2003
they will not only be fighting to catch Ferrari
but McLaren as well. The Scot believes that McLaren’s early performance in
Winter testing has been significant enough to predict better times in 2003.
Coulthard broke the lap record at the Circuit de Catalunya in December using
the MP4-17D– last years chassis fitted with the 2003 mechanical package.
McLaren will use this interim car for the first three ‘fly-away’ races before
introducing their radical new MP4-18 at the San Marino Grand Prix. Last year
the team’s Achilles heal was their engine and it is known that Mercedes have
invested a great deal of time and money to increase the engines power and
reliability.
Top MINARDI TO
REACH PODIUM IN 2003? 03/01/03 Paul Stoddart,
Minardi team-principal, believes that with the aid of a great technical
package and a bit of luck then his new driver, Justin Wilson will be able to
deliver a first podium finish in the team’s history. Paul Stoddart has
already gone on record saying that
Minardi’s 2003 technical package is the best they’ve ever had and that the
new Cosworth engine should propel them from the back of the grid to the
mid-field battle. Stoddart also believes the team will be able to fight for
points every race now that the new points system awards drivers down to
eighth position.
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