Formula One News — July 1995

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER and Ferrari have both spent the weekend denying that they have reached an agreement to work together in 1996, but there is no question that a deal is close.

WITHIN the next 10 days, Ligier team boss Tom Walkinshaw will know if or how much money he is to receive from the French Gitanes Blondes company in 1996.

MUSIC TELEVISION, sponsor of the defunct Simtek F1 team, has been approached by no fewer than six F1 teams trying to organize a deal for 1996 and beyond.

THE Ford Motor Company has confirmed its involvement in Formula 1 racing for 1996 and will, as expected, be building a new V10 engine for next year.

GIANCARLO MINARDI and his Minardi Scuderia Italia partner Giuseppe Lucchini are rumored to be close to a Ferrari V12 engine for 1996; but there is opposition to the deal from Ferrari's competition director Jean Todt, who wants to concentrate all Ferrari's efforts on winning.

BOOTED out of Grand Prix at the end of last year when McLaren did a deal with Mobil, the Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell has been looking at ways to come back into F1.

ALAIN PROST has terminated his consultancy agreement with Renault, a role he has held since he retired from racing at the end of 1993.

FRANK WILLIAMS appears to have given up the idea of hiring Michael Schumacher and would rather invest the money in research and development and create new stars, as he had done in recent years with Damon Hill and David Coulthard.

MCLAREN is to build a vast new factory just four miles north of its current base in Woking, England.

THE Arrows F1 team launched a fascinating marketing scheme called "The Ultimate Dream" last Friday at Hockenheim.

OUR spies in France are suggesting that Renault Sport is working on the design of a radically different system of engine distribution for its 1996 V10 engine.

BUILT as a testing circuit for Mercedes-Benz in 1939, the Hockenheim circuit was originally 4.8-miles in length.

THE word "legend" is all too often used in motor racing circles but, in the case of Juan-Manuel Fangio, it was deserved.

TYRRELL has been testing in recent days at Magny-Cours in France with both Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama spending a day developing a new fly-by-wire throttle system and working on the set-up of the Tyrrell-Yamaha 023 without its Hydrolink suspension system.

THE Sauber team appears to be moving towards a deal with young British designer Nick Wirth.

FURTHER stories are emerging concerning the rumored attempt to revive the Vanwall name in Formula 1 racing.

THE Ligier Formula 1 team is beginning to suffer because no-one is willing to reveal exactly who owns what.

RUMORS swept Europe last week, suggesting that Michael Schumacher had signed to drive for Ferrari in 1996.

TOM WALKINSHAW continues to pursue his aim to become Scotland's answer to Enzo Ferrari.

IF all else fails, ram him Damon" said a banner in the grandstand opposite the Williams pit at Silverstone last Sunday.

JOHNNY HERBERT'S victory for Benetton at Silverstone looks likely to save the Englishman's drive with the team.

THE Ford Motor Company is to build a brand new V10 engine for the 1996 season.

THE Formula 1 driver market for 1996 remains stable at the moment, waiting for Michael Schumacher to make a decision as to his future.

THE Italian government may have given assurances to the FIA that safety work at Monza will be carried out so that the Italian Grand Prix can take place at the Autodromo Nazionale on September 11 - but the government has yet to approve the plans put forward by the regional government which will cost $6 million and mean that 185 trees will have to be cut down.

GIANCARLO MINARDI and Benetton's Flavio Briatore last week agreed to settle their dispute over this year's supply of Mugen Honda V10 engines.