Formula One News — November 2000

PEDRO DINIZ has decided to withdraw from Formula One racing as a driver - but will remain in the sport as a significant shareholder in the Prost Grand Prix team.

AS we have been predicting for some weeks Thomas Haffa looks to be on the verge of losing control of his EM.TV empire, the company which controls 50% of the Formula 1 group of companies.

BENETTON driver Giancarlo Fisichella will learn in the next two weeks if he will miss pre-season testing with a knee injury.

ARGENTINE Gaston Mazzacane will shakedown the Arrows A21 at Silverstone on Friday as speculation increases over his backers Pan-American Sports Network (PSN) linking up with the Leafield-based team.

JORDAN have announced that they are set to expand their headquarters at Silverstone and extend their wind tunnel facilities at Brackley.

GAULOISES may have announced that it is interested in buying up competitors in the European tobacco markets but this does not mean that the likely targets do not have ambitions of their own.

PROST are expected to announce the appointments of Joan Villadelprat and Henri Durand to strengthen both their management and technical ranks for the 2001 season.

AS has been rumored for some time the Diniz Family, one of the richest in Brazil, has bought a shareholding in Prost Grand Prix.

NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN''s bid to be the first Indian driver to pilot a Formula One car has been thwarted by Jaguar Racing's decision to postpone his test at Silverstone this Friday.

FORMULA ONE ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has given his backing to a special Formula One party that will act as a curtain-raiser to the new season and will help FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins' charity - Brain and Spine Foundation.

ABILIO DINIZ, the father of Brazilian driver Pedro, has bought into Prost Grand Prix according to reports.

BEING beaten in Formula 1 by Ferrari did not please the bosses of DaimlerChrysler but they have more important things to worry about at the moment with the American end of the business causing the German company considerable financial difficulties at the moment.

THE families of Greg Moore and Gonzalo Rodriguez have filed wrongful death suits against CART at the San Bernardino County Court in California.

F1 tire supplier Bridgestone is set to play hard ball with its new rivals Michelin as winter testing gets underway this coming week at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

IT has been confirmed that Orange boss Hans Snook will step down when Orange is grouped with the other mobile phone operations of France Telecom and floated.

THE rise of Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan is good news for motor racing around the world. Up to now Asian racing drivers have only been Japanese.

THE word on the street in the United States of America is that Johnny Herbert will be joining Bryan Herta in the new Zakspeed Forsythe Racing team which is expected to run Reynard-Fords in all rounds of the CART series next year.

STEVE NIELSEN, the team manager of Arrows, has left the team unexpectedly, having failed to reach agreement with team boss Tom Walkinshaw on a two-year deal which had been discussed in August, when Nielsen came close to signing to head the new Toyota Motorsport team.

THE share price of Thomas Haffa's EM.TV, owner of half the shares in Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One group of companies, tumbled again on Tuesday with nearly 20% of the value of the company being wiped out in the course of the morning trading on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt stock exchange.

HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN is predicting a more successful year for Jordan in 2001 and is hoping that the team's new Honda engine will offer more victories rather than finishes.

AS we suggested would happen some weeks ago, Bruce Ashmore, the President of Reynard's North American Operations, is leaving the company.

FORMULA ONE World Champion Michael Schumacher has been voted the third most popular German sportsmen.

NEW Benetton test driver Mark Webber received the prestigious Bruce McLaren Award at the annual British Racing Drivers' Club Awards at the weekend.

PROST GRAND PRIX driver Jean Alesi escaped unhurt from a high-speed crash as he took part in the Rally of Monza at the weekend.

FLAVIO BRIATORE, the chief executive of Benetton, has signed a deal to take over Minardi's five-year contract with 19-year-old Spanish driver Fernando Alonso.