Formula One News — January 2001

YOUNGSTERS Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen rubbished suggestions that Sauber have taken a gamble on them as they left their rivals for dead in the eighth day of testing at Barcelona on Sunday.

MOTOR RACING's governing body yesterday reached what it hopes is the end of a tortuously confrontational battle with the European Union with a raft of measures it believes will satisfy competition commissioner Mario Monti.

TEAM BOSS Sir Frank Williams admitted on Saturday that the friction between Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya would spur Williams up the Formula One grid this year.

THE clear, crisp, sunny surroundings of Silverstone's national circuit echoed to the metallic rasp of the new 90-degree BMW V10 engine today as Ralf Schumacher shook down the new Williams FW23 prior to the car's departure for testing at Barcelona.

SPANIARD Marc Gene topped the times on the sixth day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday and then labelled it the best day he has had with BMW-Williams.

ONE of the main announcements surrounding the launch of the Red Bull Sauber Petronas C20 was that financial giant Credit Suisse has come on board as a major backer of the team, joining such institutions as HSBC and MasterCard in Formula 1's own battle of the banks.

SAUBER announced on Friday that Briton Stephen Taylor has joined the team as chief designer.

BRITISH AMERICAN RACING managing director Craig Pollock has urged his team to aim for third place in this season's manufacturers' championship.

THE battle between the Formula 1 authorities and the European Commission is over but the full details of the deal have yet to emerge.

JACQUES VILLENEUVE has backed new British American Racing team-mate Olivier Panis to shoot the team to the front of the grid.

THE European Union and the FIA today disclosed that the two sides are close to settling the anti-trust investigation against the FIA and the Formula One Administration.

AN F1-endorsed "F1 World Grand Prix II" computer game has been released on the Sega Dreamcast -- which is set to rival the forthcoming Sony Playstation II World Rally game.

A clear determination exuded from the Red Bull Sauber Petronas combination yesterday (Wednesday), at the launch of the team's new challenger for the 2001 season, the C20.

GERMAN Heinz-Harald Frentzen has said that it is impossible to analyse the true performance of Jordan's new EJ11 car, because all of their rivals are still running last year's challengers.

ARGENTINE driver Gaston Mazzacane said he was impressed with Prost's new AP04 car after he sampled it for the first time at Barcelona on Wednesday.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER will wear a bullet-proof helmet as he attempts to regain his world drivers' title this season.

BRITISH AMERICAN RACING test driver Olivier Panis upstaged Michael Schumacher as the Frenchman pipped the German three-time world champion to the fastest time in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona on Thursday.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER topped the times in his second day of testing for Ferrari at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona on Wednesday.

AMERICAN investment bank Hellman & Friedman are holding talks with EM.TV about buying a 50 per cent stake in F1 holding company SLEC, according to reports.

FORMULA ONE new-boy Kimi Raikkonen will be guided in his rookie season by chief engineer Jacky Eeckelaert -- one of the most accomplished backroom members on Formula One.

AS we have been predicting for some days Minardi will be sold to Australian businessman Paul Stoddart of the European Aviation Group, probably after the weekend.

SAUBER team chairman Peter Sauber confirmed on Wednesday that the Swiss team's chief designer Sergio Rinland will leave the team before the start of the 2001 season in March.

JAGUAR RACING said on Tuesday that rumors claiming former world champion Niki Lauda is to join the team are "pure speculation".

JAGUAR RACING driver Eddie Irvine has turned his attentions to acting after starring in a commercial for Becks at Silverstone on Monday.

AN announcement is expected within days that Australian Paul Stoddart has bought the Minardi team and Australia will have a Formula 1 team to support for the first time in nearly 20 years.