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Montoya is 2003 World Champion
Juan-Pablo Montoya
Bridgestone confirm BAR want out
F1
tyre supplier Bridgestone has confirmed that one of its five partner teams,
BAR-Honda, has requested to be released from its contract in 2004.
Michelin said yesterday that the team under the tutelage of David Richards,
despite a valid Bridgestone contract, wants to switch to its pace-setting tyres.
'Although this contract is not due to expire until 2004,' said a statement,
'Bridgestone is investigating the legal implications of this request.'
Bridgestone also said the 'technological benefits' of the continuation of a
working relationship with BAR are also being assessed.
Schumachers and Panis get legless at Suzuka
F1
champion Michael Schumacher wrecked a hospitality suite to celebrate wrapping up
a sixth drivers' title in Japan on Sunday night.
Britain's The Sun newspaper reports that the German and 28-year-old brother Ralf
knocked over a fridge and threw a TV set through a window in a drunken frenzy.
Michael, wearing a booze-soaked Toyota team shirt, picked up a chair after Ralf
smashed a window and lobbed it out of the gaping hole.
Veteran ace Olivier Panis was also in on the action, eyewitnesses reported.
Later, drunk, Michael Schumacher 'hopped on to a forklift for a spin round the
paddock,' The Sun continued to report.
Briatore Villeneuve might end up at Renault
Flavio Briatore and Renault might revive Jacques Villeneuve's fading F1 star in
twelve months' time. The Italian, principal of the Enstone-based operation, said
in Japan that it would be a 'big shame' if the French-Canadian never returned to
a race-car.
Villeneuve has been dumped by BAR-Honda in favour of the team's Japanese tester
Takuma Sato after five years of consecutive service. 'I'm a big fan of Jacques,'
said Briatore. 'If he doesn't find a drive next year, I am sure we will see him
again in 2005 as he still offers value.
'Who knows - he might even end up at Renault.' Renault's current aces, Fernando
Alonso and Jarno Trulli, are already signed up for 2004 but the former Spaniard
is eyeing a switch to Ferrari in '05. Jacques, 32, won the world championship in
1997 with a Renault-powered Williams.
Ferrari may, once again, kick off the next Formula One season with the previous
year's title-winning racer. Technical director Ross Brawn admitted in Japan that
carrying over the F2003-GA to the first flyaway events of 2004 'is an option.'
He said: 'We'll see how the car develops over the winter, but because the
regulations aren't changing a great deal, it's an option we will keep.'
The F2003-GA, successor to the all-conquering F2002, didn't live up to the
pre-season boasts as it becoming Ferrari's 'best ever' Formula One contender.
'We've got a new car coming next year,' Brawn said, 'and I know the things we're
doing to improve it over this year's car.'
Montzemolo invites Rossi to test for Ferrari
Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo on Monday invited motorcycling champion
Valentino Rossi to take a test drive with the triumphant Italian Formula One
team.
Speaking the day after Ferrari won the world drivers' and constructors'
championships and Rossi lifted his third successive Moto GP world title,
Montezemolo said he was curious to see if the 24-year-old Italian could handle a
Formula One car.
"If the
conditions were right I think it would be worth it - a serious test without
commitment from either party,"
Montezemolo said. "It's always
been difficult to go from two wheels to four and these days it is even harder
but Valentino is a great champion and a symbol of motor sports."
Englishman John Surtees was successful in making the switch from motor cycling
to motor racing. The Londoner won seven world motorcycling championships before
claiming the Formula One world title with Ferrari in 1964.
Eddie Jordan wants both fired Sauber drivers
Eddie Jordan has invited Heinz-Harald Frentzen to race with his
Silverstone-based Formula One team again in 2004. The German, who won races
wearing yellow in 1999, will not be retained by Sauber next season and will turn
37 in May (2004). But his country's Autobild newspaper claims that Jordan,
despite firing the man from Moenchengladbach in mid-2001, want's Heinz back.
'I want him back,' the Irishman was quoted as saying. 'If he wants, he's got a
place with me.'
Indeed, Jordan's 2004 line-up may look furtively similar to the all-German
combination that drove the Ferrari-powered, Hinwil-built cars in 2003. It seems
that EJ also wants Frentzen's current team-mate and countryman Nick Heidfeld to
drive the sister EJ14.
'If Sauber do not want him then he is welcome here,' Jordan said in reference to
the 27-year-old, who is, co-incidentally, also from Moenchengladbach.
Eddie Jordan, the British-based F1 team's owner and principal, said 'all those
problems' resulting in Frentzen's sacking in 2001 had 'now gone away.'
Mike Gascoyne announced at Toyota
Toyota Motorsport GmbH has today announced that Mike Gascoyne has signed a
contract to become Technical Director Chassis for the Panasonic Toyota Racing
team.
A mutual agreement was reached between Toyota, Gascoyne and the Renault F1 team,
which permits the Englishman to join Panasonic Toyota Racing from 1 December
2003. Gascoyne's role as Technical Director Chassis of Panasonic Toyota Racing
is complementary to existing functions within the team.
Chairman of Toyota Motorsport GmbH, Tsutomu Tomita commented :
"We are always looking at
ways to reinforce and strengthen our technical department, so it is with great
pleasure that we can welcome Mike Gascoyne to the Panasonic Toyota Racing team.
Mike brings almost fifteen years of F1 experience with him, and he will play an
instrumental role in further developing our team for future success."
Vice-President of Toyota Motorsport GmbH, Toshiro Kurusu added :
"We have decided to
introduce a technical director for both chassis and engine departments in order
to improve the efficiency of our team. Mike Gascoyne will be in charge of the
technical aspects of the chassis at the factory in Cologne and also at races and
tests. Luca Marmorini will assume the position of Technical Director Engine. I
am sure that Mike will work very well together with our chief designer Gustav
Brunner as a team. Under the revised structure, Keizo Takahashi will become
Chief Co-ordinating Engineer, acting as the technical liaison between Toyota
Motorsport in Cologne and our colleagues at Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan.
The position of Norbert Kreyer as General Manager of Race and Test Engineering
will remain unchanged and, like Gustav, he will report directly to Mike."
Mike
Gascoyne began his F1 career back in 1989 as an aerodynamicist with McLaren,
where he stayed for three years. A brief spell as Chassis Dynamicist at Tyrell
led to a three-year role as Head of Aerodynamics at Sauber before he rejoined
Tyrell as Deputy Technical Director in 1993.
In 1998, he took up the role of Chief Designer at Jordan, and was subsequently
promoted to Technical Director. He left in late 2000 to become Technical
Director at Benetton (now Renault) and joins Panasonic Toyota Racing from
December 2003 to begin a new chapter in his career.
Mike Gascoyne said :
"I am very pleased to be joining Panasonic Toyota Racing as
Technical Director Chassis, however I am naturally sad to be leaving the Mild
Seven Renault F1 Team after three highly enjoyable and successful seasons.
Likewise, I am looking forward to my exciting new role at Toyota with great
enthusiasm and, together, we will relish the long-term challenge of developing
Toyota into a world championship-winning team."
Bob Bell promoted to Technical Director at Renault
The
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team today announces the departure of Mike Gascoyne. He
has been succeeded as Technical Director with immediate effect by Bob Bell,
previously Deputy Technical Director at Renault F1 Team UK.
Bob Bell, 45, holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering, and joined Renault in
2001. As Deputy Technical Director, he was primarily responsible for co-ordinating
the design and development programmes at Enstone, and worked alongside Gascoyne
on all technical matters.
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Managing Director Flavio Briatore commented :
" We thank Mike for
his excellent work, his contribution to our success so far and wish him well for
the future. We are delighted to offer Bob Bell the role of Technical Director.
The entire technical team has done an outstanding job developing our car over
the past two years, and we have made impressive progress."
" Our programme has been built up carefully, putting the right people in place,
and I have every confidence that Bob’s technical experience and managerial
skills will be a major asset for the future. We are looking forward to 2004 and
beyond. The technical structures in Enstone and Viry-Châtillon are strong, and
we possess an excellent driver line-up. Things are in place for us to step up to
even bigger challenges, and fight consistently with the other top teams."
The
Canadian Grand Prix, which was threatened with being axed from next year's
calendar because of a row over tobacco sponsorship, was included on the calendar
for the 2004 Formula One world championship here on Wednesday.
However, the date set aside for the race in Montreal, June 13, is provisional
depending on a satisfactory financial agreement with the teams regarding the
absence of tobacco sponsorship.
The decision was taken by a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council who
released the schedule which now features 18 events - the first time in the
history of the sport that there have been over 17 races.
As expected, Bahrain and China join the calendar with the Belgian Grand Prix
returning after a one-year absence while the race in Austria is scrubbed from
the competition.
Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One ringmaster, announced in August that the
Canadian Grand Prix would be dropped in response to a government crackdown on
tobacco sponsorship. Local promoters argued that the absence of the event could
have a devastating effect on the local economy claiming that 300,000 fans are
attracted to the race while over 50 million euros are generated.
The other major change for 2004 sees both sessions of qualifying shifted to
Saturday leaving Friday free for two periods of free practice where teams,
except those finishing in the top four of the championship this time round,
being allowed to run a third car if they choose.
The World Sport Council met today in Paris
and the following changes will be made for Formula One in 2004.
Race Weekend Schedule
Friday
11.00-12.00 Free practice
14.00-15.00 Free practice
During both sessions all teams, other than those who finished in the top four
positions of the previous year’s World Championship for Constructors, will be
permitted to run a third car provided any driver of this car:
- is not one of the team’s nominated driveers for the Event in question;
- is in possession of a Super Licence;
>
- has not taken place in more than six Worrld Championship Events during the two
previous World Championships.
If one of the team’s nominated drivers is deemed unable to drive at some stage
after the end initial scrutineering, and the stewards agree to a change of
driver, the driver of a third car may take part in the remainder of the Event.
Under such circumstances a driver who started the Event as a “third” driver
would have to continue with the same engine for the remainder of the Event.
The requirements of Article 60 concerning car livery will not apply to the third
car being used during these two sessions but will apply should this car be used
as the team’s spare car during the remainder of the event.
Saturday
10.00-10.45 Free practice
11.15-12.00 Free practice
14.00 Qualifying begins and will be run as follows:
- the session will be held in two parts seeparated by two minutes;
- during the first part each driver will ccarry out a single timed lap as now
starting in the order they finished in the previous race. At the first race of
the year the order of the last Event of the previous year’s World Championship
will be used (in both cases any new drivers will be arranged in numerical
order);
- any car stopping in the first part will not be allowed to take part in the
second, if the car is brought back to the pits before the end of the session it
must remain in parc fermé until the end of the session;
- refuelling rigs will be allowed in the ffirst part subject to everyone wearing
suitable clothing and photographers being restricted as for a race;
- the running order for the second part wiill be determined by the times achieved
in the first part reversed;
- cars will run with race fuel and race seettings as in 2003;
- in both sessions cars will be released aas the previous one crosses the Line to
start its flying lap;
- in both sessions the 6th, 11th and 16th cars in sequence will be released two
minutes after the previous finishes its flying lap;
Sunday
14.00 Race (or at other times according to the relevant schedule). Tyre use
and allocation
The number of dry-weather tyres available to each driver during the Event will
remain the same at forty, twenty front and twenty rear.
Each driver will be allocated three sets of dry-weather tyres for use on Friday,
these may not be used at any other time during the Event. No tyres from the
remaining seven sets may be used on Friday.
The choice of dry-weather tyre for qualifying and race must be made by 09.00 on
Saturday (either specification of tyre may be used for the free practice
sessions on Saturday). However, if both Friday sessions are declared wet this
choice may be postponed until 13.00 on Saturday.
The number of wet-weather tyres available to each driver during the Event will
remain the same at twenty-eight, fourteen front and fourteen rear.
Extreme weather tyres will continue to be permitted but, as now, may only be
used when authorised.
Parc fermé procedures
To remain the same as in 2003 but the practice of fuel circulation for the
purposes of cooling will now be prohibited.
Number of drivers per car
Each team will now be allowed to use four drivers during each season, not
including any third driver running in the Friday sessions.
Pit lane speed limit
The speed limit for qualifying and race will be raised to 100km/h. In accordance
with Article 100 (of the draft 2004 Sporting Regulations) the Permanent Bureau
may be asked to consider a lower limit at tracks which have a particularly
narrow pit lane.
More on the post race Japanese GP party at Suzuka
23-year-old Kimi Raikkonen, who despite finishing second in the Japanese Grand
Prix on Sunday failed to win the 2003 Drivers' Championship, reportedly taunted
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher during the post-race celebrations in Suzuka.
The celebrations, which saw a drunken Michael Schumacher frolic with Toyota
staff and brother Ralf Schumacher, involved a fridge-freezer being thrown out of
a window in an evening which has threatened to bring the sport into disrepute.
McLaren's rising starlet Kimi Raikkonen, who had earlier seen his chances of
surmounting the points haul of his German rival vanish, was said to have taunted
Schumacher by repeatedly saying:
"You are my idol, but I do not like the way in which you behave."
Journal De Montreal's Formula 1 journalist Martin Leclerc is responsible
for the rumour, which is sure to only add to the intense relationship between
Raikkonen and Schumacher, and their respective teams McLaren Mercedes and
Ferrari. There has been no official word from either party.
Leclerc also reported that Raikkonen proceeded to grab Michael Schumacher,
before being separated by members of both the drivers' teams.
Bahrain gets green light for $150 million dollar dream
The
Gulf desert kingdom of Bahrain, which has ploughed 150 million dollars into
achieving its dream of becoming the first Middle East nation to stage a Formula
One Grand Prix, remains confident the brand new track will be ready for action
by race day on April 4 next year.
Twenty thousand tickets have already been sold for the race, say organisers,
even though they admit the work on the circuit at Sakhir, 30 kilometres outside
the capital city, will not be completed until four weeks before the big day.
“The work
will be finished on time, there is no reason to be worried”,
said Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, the circuit president.
“Any delay is to be regretted, but even
during the Iraq war, work did not stop.”
Up to now, 52-percent of the work has been completed at the desert site
including work on the media centre, restaurants and surroundings - however, the
surface of the track is not finished yet.
“The surface of the tracks is one
of the last stages in the construction of the circuit and it will be completed
in six weeks”, said Hans Geist,
the track's executive director who worked on the Austrian Grand Prix at the A1
Ring in Spielberg for eight years.
“The tracks will be ready by December.”
The complex, with the 5.4km F1 circuit as its centrepiece, will also have a
total of six tracks for other racing including dragsters which are very popular
in the region. The promotion of the event is being concentrated in the Gulf and
the Middle East.
“We are basing our awareness
campaign on the local region, the people in Europe are already aware of these
type of events”,
said Sheikh Fawaz who claimed that tickets for the race will be the cheapest in
the championship.
Bahrain is confident of attracting 70,000 people to the race. Although that
could prove a headache - the country's hotel capacity is just 13,500 rooms.
The Renault RS24 engine a new concept
Mission reliability for next year's Renault engine.
"Reliability will be our
number-one priority for next season,"
explains Léon Taillieu, project director for the RS24 engine,
"The reason behind our choice of this new
architecture is that it will be less technically risky than its predecessor. We
began working in March 2003, and the project spec focuses not only on the vital
700km reliability target, but also packaging, weight and power. The latter
should come quite quickly."
The next engine born at Viry-Châtillon, the RS24, will use a narrower 'v' angle
than its predecessor. "The
decision was taken well before the outside world knew about it,"
explains Mark Smith. "We have been
able to work closely with out colleagues in France from the very beginning of
the project, and we won't suffer at all in terms of packaging or stiffness. We
have had enough time to give the car characteristics that are at least as good
as the 2003 car in these areas."
A mock-up of the 2004 engine arrived in Enstone a few weeks ago. The chassis
designers were thus able to fine-tune the cooling demands of the engine, and
take note of the mounting points.
"In addition, we have worked to ensure this engine can use an identical air
intake to last year's, in spite of the fact it is taller,"
reveals Léon Taillieu. "One of our
aims was to not disrupt the aerodynamic efficiency of the new car."
Deadlines are coming thick and fast at Viry-Châtillon.
"We tested the new cylinder head on an
electrical dyno three weeks ago. This technology allows us to check all the
moving parts of the engine without firing it up,"
explains Taillieu. "The following
week, we conducted the first full test of the new cylinder head, although not
using the definitive crankcase."
Last week, the RS24A growled into life for the first time on a thermal test
bench. It was a major first step. Following this, key dates follow in quick
succession: "Early in November, we
will make our decision on the air intakes we will use,"
continues Léon Taillieu.
"Six weeks later, the gearbox and RS24 will run together for the
first time on the test bench. We expect to have achieved a solid level of
reliability by this stage."
Legault to sell Canadian GP franchise
The
Canadian Grand Prix has been reinstated in the FIA 2004 F1 calendar but there
are still many obstacles to eliminate before the race is officially a 'go'.
The most serious problem is related to funding. The Formula One teams going to
Montreal without tobacco advertising will ask for around 20 million dollars in
compensation and that money must be found quickly to ensure that the event
really takes place.
Quebec Premier Jean Charest mentioned that the Provincial Government is open to
participate in the financing of the event as long as it is profitable for the
province's taxpayers.
According to Montreal newspaper La Presse, race promoter Normand Legault
received some offers to buy back the F1 event's franchise. Legault mentioned
that he did not plan to sell the event but he wasn't completely against it
either.
The promoter must also find a main sponsor for the race since Air Canada decided
not to renew its partnership with the event after suffering from serious
financial problems.