Formula One News — November 1998

THERE are conflicting reports around Europe this week about Toyota's plans to enter Grand Prix racing.

BERNIE ECCLESTONE's frustration with the financial world increased last week when the London Stock Exchange took the unusual step of refusing to list the Eurobond he is trying to launch with underwriters Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The organization said it would like more information about the deal.

NEWSPAPER reports in Europe have suggested in recent days that Bernie Ecclestone - who is now 68 years old - is planning to leave Italian banker Marco Piccinini in charge of Formula One Holdings when - and if - the business is floated. The 46-year-old has been a pal of Ecclestone since the early 1980s when he, Bernie and Max Mosley negotiated the Concorde Agreement. At the time Piccinini was Sporting Director of Ferrari, a job he held between 1978 and 1988.

THE developing battle over the Silverstone racing circuit has taken a further twist with suggestions that the British Racing Drivers' Club - which owns the Northamptonshire track - has made a bid for one of the companies which was rumored to be trying to buy Silverstone - Brands Hatch Leisure.

THE current wheeling and dealing in Formula 1 circles does not seem to be taking into account David Richards - the recently deposed chief executive of Benetton Formula. In recent weeks he has been closely linked to the Ford Motor Company and there was talk that he might be involved in a takeover of Stewart Grand Prix.

IF Tom Walkinshaw does sell the Arrows F1 franchise to Zakspeed it will enable him to clear away the team's debts and as the facilities and staff are already in place Tom could quite easily turn around and, with new backing, buy another F1 franchise.

IN the last few days there have been serious moves by a German consortium of businessmen, led by Peter Zakowski - the boss of Zakspeed - to buy the Arrows Formula 1 team.

THE United States National Association of Attorneys General last week released details of the proposed legal settlement between the tobacco industry and the majority of the States in the Union.

WE hear whispers from Japan that the engineers at Honda Research & Development in Wako, near Tokyo, are considering building a V12 Formula 1 engine for the 2000 season, rather than a V10 as is being assumed by the Grand Prix circus.

BRITISH AMERICAN RACING and the FIA are to go to arbitration in their dispute over the new regulation which bans Formula 1 teams from using different liveries on their cars.

ACCORDING to an investigation carried out by the British TV program Panorama and The Financial Times newspaper, the FIA could be a great deal richer than it is today if its President Jean-Marie Balestre had been a better businessman.

THERE has been a lot of noise in Europe in recent days about Bernie Ecclestone's plans to borrow $2 billion from financial institutions in exchange for commercial bonds which will be secured by the income from the sale of F1's television rights.

PROST GRAND PRIX has, as we predicted (INSIDE F1, ISSUE 98.44), bought the Apomatox Formula 3000 team.

EDDIE JORDAN has sold a percentage of his Formula 1 team to the venture capitalist firm Warburg, Pincus & Co. for what is rumored in the business world to be $60m.

THE Ford Motor Company has denied that it is in the process of trying to buy Stewart Grand Prix with the intention of turning the team into a Jaguar F1 team in the year 2001.

WITH testing banned for the next two weeks, many of the people involved in Grand Prix racing have taken the opportunity to go on vacation for a well-earned rest after more than nine months on the road.

LAST Friday marked the end of one of Formula 1's most famous racing teams with the closure on the Tyrrell Racing Organization factory in Ockham, Surrey.

WHILE the Formula 1 world has been unusually quiet in recent days there has been one piece of industry news which has raised interesting long-term questions. FIAT - the parent company of Ferrari - has announced that its foundry subsidiary Teksid SpA is to take over Renault's four foundries in exchange for a 33% share in the company.

THE SUNDAY TIMES in London reported last weekend that an $68m bid has been made for Silverstone racing circuit, the home of the British GP, by John Lewis, who has just resigned as chairman of Silverstone Estates, which manages the facility.

THE tire war between Goodyear and Bridgestone may have come to an end but already teams are trying to find a replacement for Goodyear for the 2000 season.

WE have heard some interesting rumors in recent days which suggest that one of the private consortiums which tried to buy Rolls Royce Motor Cars early this year is looking to buy itself a Formula 1 team.

THE attraction of the United States of America to Formula 1 has increased with the news that the major tobacco companies have reached a deal with eight States which will allow restricted tobacco advertising in the future.

TEN of the 11 Formula 1 teams stayed on at Suzuka last week to take part in the first test of Bridgestone's 1999 tires which feature four grooves in the front tires rather than three as is the case this year.

VOLKSWAGEN boss Ferdinand Piech has denied speculation that Europe's biggest carmaker is planning to enter Grand Prix racing with its Audi brand.

BERNIE ECCLESTONE says that he is looking at investing in both tennis and soccer with the money he hopes to raise from his planned Formula 1 bond issue.