Formula One News — November 1997

WILLIAMS test driver Jean-Christophe Boullion is not expected to continue with the World Champions next year.

ORESTE DOMINIONI, the chief defense lawyer representing Williams in the Senna manslaughter trial in Italy, last week summed up the defense case and called on Judge Antonio Costanzo to drop charges against engineers Patrick Head and Adrian Newey.

DAMON HILL will not be testing for Jordan until January because Arrows team boss Tom Walkinshaw is refusing to release him from his contract.

GOODYEAR shocked the F1 world last week with the announcement that it is to withdraw from Grand Prix racing at the end of 1998.

THE political scandal in Britain resulting from the announcement by the Labour government that Formula 1 will be exempt from a European ban on tobacco advertising continues to make headlines with Public Health Minister Tessa Jowell being summoned by the powerful all-party House of Commons European Legislation Select Committee.

ONE country which may have appeared on Max Mosley's list of countries keen to host a Grand Prix was Cuba.

THE future of Ford's Formula 1 engine program continues to be uncertain as Vickers PLC fights to defend itself from takeover and bidders for a sister company Rolls Royce make themselves known.

GIANNI AGNELLI, the man who controls Ferrari, fell and fractured his left thigh last week at his home near Turin.

ALAIN PROST has confirmed that he is to work in association with Formula 3000 team Apomatox to try out a series of up-and-coming drivers.

ONE aspect of the Schumacher Affair which the mainstream media failed to appreciate is that the FIA chose to ignore its own rules in the judgment. Article 123 of the FIA International Sporting Code states that "the entrant shall be responsible for all acts or omissions on the part of the driver".

IF the FIA World Council disgraced itself in the eyes of the world over its punishment of Michael Schumacher, at least it made the right decision over the ridiculous charges leveled against Williams and McLaren of race-rigging.

THE last week has been an extraordinary one for Grand Prix racing with the sport becoming a major issue in parliament and claiming front pages in most of the British newspapers.

ONE interesting piece of information which emerged from the FIA World Council meeting was that McLaren's pit-driver messages - which are encrypted to ensure that other teams do not listen in - have been decoded by rival teams.

IF the bad publicity surrounding F1's involvement in the Labour Party was not enough, last week Grand Prix racing made itself look ridiculous when the FIA World Council decided that Michael Schumacher would not face any serious punishment as a result of his cynical attempt to take Jacques Villeneuve out of the Grand Prix of Europe at Jerez and thus assure himself of the World Championship.

AS we exclusively predicted in October the British American Tobacco Reynard Formula 1 team is to be launched in London on December 2.

ITALIAN state prosecutor Maurizio Passarini surprised everyone as he began his summing up in the manslaughter case related to the death of Ayrton Senna in May 1994.

FIA President Max Mosley and the French Minister of Sport Marie-George Buffet met last week to discuss the problems over the French Grand Prix.

DRINKS magnate and the inventor of the Paul Ricard anisette-flavored pastis, died in his home village of Signes last weekend at the age of 88.

THE Formula 1 teams and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone are close to concluding a deal which will enable the flotation of Formula 1 Holdings (FOH) to go ahead in March - probably to coincide with the start of next year's series.

THE British government has destroyed all hopes of a European tobacco sponsorship ban in the face of threats from the FIA that it will pull Grand Prix racing out of the European Union if a ban goes ahead.

PROST GRAND PRIX has confirmed that it has signed Jarno Trulli as Olivier Panis's team-mate for the next two years.

THE TIMES newspaper in London on Saturday accused Williams and McLaren of colluding to arrange the finishing order at the end of the Grand Prix of Europe at Jerez.

A member of the commercial department at Stewart Grand Prix in Milton Keynes has been arrested under Britain's Official Secrets Act.

THE future of Cosworth Racing remains uncertain with rumors that the car components firm Mayflower is to launch a hostile takeover bid for Vickers, Cosworth's parent company.

THE Williams team is to have a new sponsor in 1998 and 1999.