Formula One News — October 2000

JENSON BUTTON's father John revealed on Friday that the BMW-Williams driver has turned his back on the playboy lifestyle of Monaco and has bought a house on the outskirts of London.

THE British American Racing team arrived in Kuala Lumpar demoralized by the stories appearing in British magazines about political infighting within the team and a bid by a consortium led by Adrian Reynard to take over the operation.

JORDAN announced on Friday at the Sepang circuit that they have signed a three-year extension to its sponsorship deal with leading computer company Hewlett-Packard.

FORMER Michelin test driver Tom Kristensen has backed BMW-Williams to challenge the dominance of Ferrari and McLaren in the 2001 world championship.

BMW motorsport director Gerhard Berger has said that the BMW-Williams team's aim next season will be to get on terms with Ferrari and McLaren.

MCLAREN announced on Thursday that Austrian Alexander Wurz will become the team's official test driver for the 2001 world championship.

IN recent days there have been stories in newspapers around the world suggesting that Bridgestone will, as we have suggested, pull out of Formula 1 at the end of 2002, when all its current contracts run out.

DAVID COULTHARD declared today (Thursday) that he wants to finish the season on a high in Malaysia.

SHARES in the German media company EM.TV have not bounced back as some analysts expected would happen after last week's crash which wiped 30% off the value of the company.

FORMULA 1's rookie sensation Jenson Button is fired-up for a podium finish at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, his farewell to the BMW-Williams team that gave him a golden opportunity in 2000.

MINARDI team founder Gian Carlo Minardi has re-assured his staff by insisting that the outfit's future is secure despite the recent sponsorship withdrawal of Telefonica.

MIKA HAKKINEN revealed today (Thursday), in Malaysia that he would have quit the Formula One circus if he had won the world championship this season.

EDDIE IRVINE is hoping that his team-mate Johnny Herbert turns in a positive result in Malaysia for his last ever race of his grand prix career.

TEAM-MATE's Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard believe they can overhaul Ferrari's 13-point advantage and secure the 2000 manufacturers' title for McLaren.

BRAZILIAN Rubens Barrichello has set his sights on claiming third place in the drivers' championship this year - even if though he needs luck on his side to achieve it in the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend.

WHILE the spotlight of the anti-tobacco world is on the World Health Organisation hearings in Geneva, Switzerland, one should not lose sight of the fact that all the anti-tobacco campaigns are having little effect on the bottom line of the big tobacco companies.

FERRARI test driver Luca Badoer has said that he wants to return to competitive racing but admitted that he would only consider a move to a front-of-the-grid team.

BENETTON Formula 1 boss Flavio Briatore has been quoted as saying that Jarno Trulli will replace Giancarlo Fisichella in the team in 2002.

GERMAN Heinz-Harald Frentzen has already put his disappointing season to the back of his mind - despite still having the Malaysian Grand Prix to race.

RALF SCHUMACHER has said that he has no intentions of following in his brother Michael's footsteps by joining Ferrari.

MINARDI have said that Telefonica's decision to withdraw their backing will not affect the team after claiming new owners PanAmerican Sports Network (PSN) had covered for the eventual loss of the Spanish telecommunications giant.

NEW world champion Michael Schumacher is to have a street named after him in his native town Kerpan.

IN January Inside F1 launched a scheme intended to get young American drivers to race in Europe with the long term aim of finding an American star for Formula 1.

SPANISH telecommunications giant Telefonica announced on Tuesday that they will pull out their sponsorship of Formula One casting serious doubts over the future of Minardi driver Marc Gene.

PEUGEOT sporting director Corrado Provera has blasted Prost Grand Prix after claiming that the lack of respect for each other forced them to quit Formula One.