Formula One News — February 1997

THE much-vaunted Arrows and Stewart teams have found themselves completely overshadowed in Barcelona in recent days as Ligier enjoys a moment in the F1 spotlight.

WITH all but two of the new Formula 1 cars now up and running, attention in the last few days has been fixed on the racing circuits of Spain and Portugal where most of the new cars are now running.

SWISS Formula One team Sauber launched its new Sauber Petronas C16 on Monday - deciding to unveil the new car on the Internet before beginning testing of the new car at Ferrari's Fiorano test track.

THE Automobile Club of Milan has signed a new five-year deal with the Formula 1 Constructors' Association to host the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale at Monza until the year 2001.

THE Bridgestone Corporation's Formula 1 plans for the coming season are now taking more concrete shape with the establishment of a motorsport headquarters at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

KEITH WIGGIN's Pacific Racing - which struggled in F1 in 1994 and 1995 but enjoyed enormous success in the junior formulae with drivers such as Bertrand Gachot, JJ Lehto, Eddie Irvine, Christian Fittipaldi and David Coulthard - has made no secret of the fact that it would like to get back into Grand Prix racing in the future.

ON Friday Olivier Panis set the Formula 1 world talking when he took his new Ligier-Mugen Honda JS45 around the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona in a lap of 1m18.38s - half a second inside the fastest lap recorded at the track six days previously by World Championship favorite Jacques Villeneuve in the new Williams-Renault FW19.

THE Automovel Club de Portugal has given a guarantee to the FIA that the circuit will be resurfaced and ready for inspection by August 31.

ALAIN PROST is now admitting publicly that he intends to buy Ligier and while chauvinistic Frenchmen are dreaming of a new "national racing team", they may be disappointed when Alain finally takes over.

THE Tyrrell Racing Organization - which is beginning its 30th season in Formula 1 racing - unveiled its 1997 challenger at the Capital Radio Cafe in London's West End on January 20.

ALTHOUGH from the outside the new Ligier-Mugen Honda JS45 might appear to be quite similar to last year's JS43, it is, in fact, a completely new car beneath the surface.

EQUIPE LIGIER GAULOISES BLONDES unveiled its Ligier-Mugen Honda JS45 at the Cafe de Paris, in Monte Carlo's Casino Square on January 22.

RORY BYRNE and I worked together on this project.

THE M197 is a completely new car. Everything has been changed: the engine, the chassis, the gearbox and the aerodynamics.

THE Benetton technical team has been restructured considerably in the last 12 months with technical director Ross Brawn moving to Ferrari and chief designer Rory Byrne retiring from the sport.

OUR development program has combined with aerodynamic improvements to give us a massive amount more downforce than we had with the 196.

THE West McLaren Mercedes Benz team had a "sneak preview" of its new 1997 car at its factory in Woking early on the morning of January 14.

WILLIAMS, Tyrrell and Ligier were all in action in Barcelona last week - but the three-day test was dominated by Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a Williams-Renault FW18C - the designation of the latest version of the 1996 car, fitted with the entire 1997 rear end.

THE tobacco industry in the United States is fighting back against recent moves to ban all tobacco sponsorship of sporting events - which can only be good news for the future of Grand Prix racing in America.

EDDIE JORDAN has stalled Alain Prost's arrival in Formula 1 as a team owner - because he doesn't want to lose his Peugeot engine supply in 1998.

MECACHROME'S decision to enter Formula 1 in its own right is an exciting development for Grand Prix racing's smaller teams as it means they could get the chance of more competitive engines in 1998 - because most of the top teams are already contracted elsewhere or do not want to have to pay for engines.

RENAULT says it is to sell its Formula 1 engine secrets to precision engineering company Mecachrome and that these units will be used by Williams in 1998 and 1999. The World Champions will, however, have to pay for its V10s.

RACING cars are very simple. If you press down harder on the tires, put stickier tires on the car, give it more horsepower and put in a driver who gets to full throttle earlier, then the car goes a lot quicker."

THE Minardi Team ran its new Minardi-Hart M197 at Mugello, near Florence, on February 1 in preparation for the team's official launch at the Autodromo Nazionale at Monza on February 4.

THE French Grand Prix has been given three more months in which to find a solution to the legal problems surrounding the televising of the event.