Formula One News — September 1995

ALAIN PROST was commentating for the French TF1 television channel at Estoril and announced that he will not be returning to racing in 1996.

THE new DAMS F1 car is currently nearing completion at Le Mans, France, and is due to run for the first time on Friday, October 6.

FERRARI is now virtually certain to sign Nicola Larini as number two to Michael Schumacher next season.

THE latest draft of the F1 calendar was given out to team bosses in Portugal, although the dates are not thought to be in any way definitive.

MCLAREN will announce this weekend at the Nurburgring in Germany, that 24-year-old Scot David Coulthard is to join Mika Hakkinen in the team next year.

WHEN motor racing people talk of the Nurburgring they do not mean the much-criticized modern circuit, with its constant radius corners and enormous run-off areas, which can be found in the tree-covered Eifel Mountains, 30 miles to the west of the pretty Rhineland town of Koblenz.

FERRARI'S exciting new V10 engine - which has been testing on the dynamometers at Maranello since the end of May - is due to be tested in a car for the first time within the next few days.

FERRARI boss Jean Todt and driver Jean Alesi are not very impressed with one another at the moment.

INDYCAR Champion Jacques Villeneuve had his first runs in a Williams-Renault since being named team mate to Damon Hill for 1996.

AS suggested two weeks ago in F1 FOREIGN REPORT, Eddie Jordan has decided to keep the same drivers for 1996 - and he looks like having Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello in 1997 as well.

ALAIN PROST did his first serious laps for McLaren at Silverstone last week and emerged second fastest in the F1 test, albeit 3.3secs a lap slower than Damon Hill's best.

THE Estoril racing circuit is not far from Lisbon, Portugal, on the northern coast of the estuary of the River Tagus.

THE Ligier F1 team has announced that it has secured a further two years of backing from the French Societe d'Exploitation Industrielle des Tabacs et Allumettes (SEITA).

JACQUES VILLENEUVE cannot expect much of a holiday in the weeks ahead.

FINNISH driver Mika Salo is to stay with Tyrrell in 1996; that probably means that the team will also soon announce that it is to continue with its sponsorship from the Nokia mobile phone company, which also comes from Finland.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER goes to Estoril this weekend with a lead in the World Championship of 15 points over Damon Hill, with only five races left in which Hill can overtake the German to win the title.

AS predicted in F1 FOREIGN REPORT (Issue 35), the Dome company from Japan has announced plans to enter F1 in 1997.

THE FIA World Motor Sport Council meets in Paris tomorrow to go through the normal business of running motor sport.

BENETTON has reacted to suggestions that Michael Schumacher gave Damon Hill a brake-test at Monza, causing the crash between the two, by issuing details of Schumacher's telemetry data.

GERHARD BERGER was fortunate to escape unhurt at Monza when his Ferrari's suspension was smashed by a camera which had fallen off his team mate Jean Alesi's car.

JACKIE OLIVER'S Arrows team is hoping to land a major sponsorship deal next year with Hype, a high-energy drink being sold by American soft drinks company Global Brands - which is owned and run by English businessman Nigel Spiro.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER and Damon Hill seem to be unable to avoid hitting one another at the moment.

JOHNNY HERBERT is expected to sign to be a Sauber-Ford driver within the next fortnight.

WITH Heinz-Harald Frentzen off the F1 driver market and Johnny Herbert looking likely to join Sauber, the focus of attention in the F1 paddock is on who will get the second Ferrari seat, alongside Michael Schumacher.

RACING legend Niki Lauda has been kicked out of his role as a special advisor to the Ferrari F1 team - a move which is being seen as a major political victory for Ferrari team boss Jean Todt.