Formula One News — October 2000

JACQUES VILLENEUVE has joined the Grand Prix Drivers Association as he bids to get his voice heard in future.

THE share price of EM.TV has begun to recover after a disastrous couple of days at the start of the week.

ARROWS began testing the new Asia Motor Technologies (AMT) engine that will power their assault on the 2001 Formula One World Championship in Valencia on Wednesday.

BMW-Williams have denied that they tested 2001-spec Bridgestone tires after reports had suggested they had contravened their deal with Michelin.

LOLA CARS International have announced that aerodynamicist Mark Handford will join Jaguar Racing for the 2001 Formula One World Championship.

MCLAREN boss Ron Dennis was at Buckingham Palace in London yesterday for his appointment as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

ALTHOUGH there have been rumors that Toranosuke Takagi may be considering a return to Formula 1 with a Minardi-Mugen deal with sponsorship from the PIAA company, we are hearing other stories which suggest that the Formula Nippon Champion will race in 2001 in CART as Roberto Moreno's team mate in the Patrick Racing team.

LATER this week the World Health Organisation will begin its public hearings in preparation for its planned Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

HANS SNOOK, the man behind the Orange sponsorship of the Arrows Formula 1 team is expected to be pushed into the background when Orange is floated along with the other mobile phone businesses of France Telecom in the next few months.

THE German media company EM.TV lost $3bn of its value in the course of share trading on Monday on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt exchange after it announced a correction to its half-year accounts.

BERNIE ECCLESTONE has been working on putting Formula 1 on the World Wide Web for some time but says that he does not see the need to hurry things along.

AUSTRALIAN Formula One fans are continuing their battle with television broadcasters Channel 9 for the right to screen the final race of the season in Malaysia.

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Mike Gascoyne has called for electronic aids to be permitted in Formula One after he claimed it would increase competition in the sport.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER's devoted army of fans across the world will have breathed a collective sigh of relief as their hero's scarlet Ferrari came pounding past the checkered flag at Suzuka on Sunday afternoon to clinch the first drivers' world championship in 21 years for the legendary Italian scuderia.

World champion Michael Schumacher has responded to criticism from former Italian president Francesco Cossiga by insisting that has the utmost respect for the country's national anthem.

Former Italian president Francesco Cossiga has blasted Michael Schumacher for mocking the country's national anthem during his celebrations on the Japanese Grand Prix podium.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER's successful bid to become world champion failed to halt Ferrari's work as Luca Badoer took to the track at Fiorano to begin preparations for the season-ending Malaysian Grand Prix.

AS we suggested in April 1999 the Toyota Motor Corporation has confirmed that it is negotiating to buy the Fuji International Speedway, which is located close to its Higashi Fuji technical center, where the company is developing its racing engines.

Prost Grand Prix is expected to announce shortly that it has signed Frenchman Henri Durand to be its new technical director.

THOUSANDS of fans took to the streets throughout Italy on Sunday in an outburst of national celebrations for Michael Schumacher's championship-deciding win in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

THE Republic of Singapore is again looking at the possibility of hosting a Grand Prix somewhere on the island of Singapore.

THE Formula 1 drives for 2001 are running out but for the moment at least there are still decisions to be made with Prost, Sauber, Arrows and Minardi.

THE MUGEN COMPANY is expected to announce in Malaysia that it will be continuing its involvement in Formula 1 as an independent engine builder.

Jody Scheckter has paid tribute to Michael Schumacher after he took over his mantle as the last Ferrari driver to win a Formula One World Championship.

The Log Cabin at the Suzuka Circuit Hotel is the traditional venue for post-race antics in Japan and this year was no exception with Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barrichello and others turning up to party on Sunday night with the likes of Norbert Haug, Mario Illien and Ross Brawn.