Formula One News — July 2000

FERRARI are hard at work this week in an attempt to eradicate the problems that caused Michael Schumacher to retire from last weekend's French Grand Prix.

THE Autodromo Fernanda Pires da Silva circuit in Estoril, Portugal, has undergone a major facelift in an attempt to host a Formula One race again.

TEST driver Olivier Panis continued McLaren's dominance in the final day of testing at Mugello, Italy, as he outpaced world championship leader Michael Schumacher.

RALF SCHUMACHER described his day's work in testing at Estoril's Autodromo Fernanda Pira da Silva circuit as "productive" as BMW-Williams aim to continue a good run of form in the Austrian Grand Prix next weekend.

MIKA HAKKINEN's agent Keke Rosberg insists the driver must remain as number one at McLaren or they will lose the world championship.

JOS VERSTAPPEN dominated the rest of the field as he topped the times in testing at Silverstone on Thursday by running nearly one-and-a-half seconds quicker than his rivals.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER gained revenge on his French Grand Prix defeat to David Coulthard by out-pacing his rival in a testing session at Mugello on Thursday.

BMW-WILLIAMS pair Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button both completed a positive days testing at the Portuguese circuit Estoril on Thursday.

MCLAREN boss Ron Dennis has told double world champion Mika Hakkinen to rest in order to restore his desire for success.

JENSON BUTTON started testing for his BMW-Williams team at a re-vamped Estoril circuit on Wednesday and called for it to become a Grand Prix circuit once again.

EDDIE IRVINE silenced the critics by topping the times in his Jaguar at a wet Silverstone testing session on Wednesday.

JACQUES VILLENEUVE is unhappy with the way his employers British American Racing are attempting to negotiate his contract and keep him at the team.

DANE Tom Kristensen is ignoring claims that his testing duties with Michelin will eventually see him drive in Formula One.

MCLAREN out-paced Ferrari for the second consecutive day at Mugello on Wednesday as the teams' respective test drivers went head-to-head.

JORDAN'S Heinz-Harald Frentzen has vowed to make a decision on his future with the Silverstone-based team within the next ten days.

Ex-Formula One world champion Damon Hill is set to come out of retirement and make his racing return as one of the first drivers to sign up for the new international motorsports series - 'Superstars'.

FORMULA ONE World Championship rivals Ferrari and McLaren began their two-way tussle in testing at Mugello on Tuesday - and it was McLaren who continued their recent dominance by topping the times.

JORDAN'S Heinz-Harald Frentzen topped the times in the first day of testing at Silverstone on Tuesday, despite losing the morning session to adverse weather conditions.

BRANDS HATCH LEISURE has been granted planning permission to redevelop the Kentish racing circuit into a Formula 1 specification facility.

THE West McLaren Mercedes team has announced that David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen will be its drivers for the 2001 season.

THE announcement that Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard are to stay with the McLaren team and the expected news that Jacques Villeneuve is to move to Benetton and Juan-Pablo Montoya to Williams is likely to get the Formula 1 driver market moving in the weeks ahead.

THE rivalry between McLaren and Ferrari continues this week - but this time it's on the practice track.

OUR spies in the F1 paddock suggest that Flavio Briatore is planning to shock the F1 world by announcing that he has signed Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button to drive for the Enstone team in 2001 and 2002.

THE Honda Motor Company has announced its intention to supply Jordan Grand Prix with its factory V10 engines next season.

JEAN-JACQUES HIS, who was one of the leading lights in Renault Sport's successful engine supply program in the 1990s is to return to Renault Sport to head the company's Formula 1 program in 2002.