Formula One News — February 2001

MIKA HAKKINEN's daring overtaking move at the Belgian Grand Prix has been selected as the "MasterCard Priceless Moment of the 2000 F1 season."

THERE was a big surprise on Tuesday when Toyota announced that a "basic agreement" has been reached with Exxon Mobil for a technical partnership in Formula 1.

JEAN-PIERRE BOUDY, the technical director of the old Peugeot Sport, has left the company, which has now been reorganized by its new owner Asiatech.

PROST GRAND PRIX's former chief designer Loic Bigois has departed the team.

THE rumor at the Michelin launch in Paris yesterday was that Alain Prost may be looking at ways of getting Pedro de la Rosa to drive for him in place of signed driver Gaston Mazzacane.

PROST GRAND PRIX announced on Tuesday night they have signed Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa as the team's reserve and test-driver next season.

ONE has to be impressed by the skill with which Craig Pollock and Adrian Reynard run British American Racing from their respective home addresses in Monaco (in the case of Pollock) and the chic Swiss resort of Chesieres (in the case of Reynard).

FERNANDO ALONSO has been confirmed as a European Minardi driver for the 2001 season, by his manager Adrian Campos.

NO sooner has Repsol-YPF left Arrows than word comes from the City of London that Eurobet is unlikely to continue supporting Arrows next year.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES in London is reporting that Bernie Ecclestone may lose the rights to the Formula 1 World Championship after 2010 unless he pays the $360m he has agreed to pay to the federation.

BENETTON technical director Mike Gascoyne believes that the new B201 challenger, unveiled in Venice today (Tuesday), will develop into a car capable of challenging for third place in the Championship by the middle of the season.

ALAIN PROST has praised the design of his new car, declaring: "This year will be completely different to 2000 for Prost."

NIKI LAUDA was confirmed as the new chief executive officer of the Premier Performance Division of the Premier Automotive Group in London on Tuesday.

TRIPLE World Champion Michael Schumacher completed only six laps of testing at the Mugello circuit on Monday as a problem with the engine injection system hindered the new Ferrari F2001 car.

ONE day before the launch of the new Benetton car, the team's managing director Flavio Briatore has admitted they are looking to success in 2002, with this year being more for development.

MICHELIN have said that they do not expect a win in their first season back in Formula One as a tire supplier.

NIKI LAUDA, the retired triple world champion, is expected to be confirmed tomorrow (Tuesday) in a senior management consultancy position with the Jaguar formula one team.

TOYOTA MOTORSPORT president Ove Andersson has indicated that the team is set to start testing their new Formula One car in March.

WORLD CHAMPION Michael Schumacher is set to be given honorary citizenship of the Italian town of Modena.

FERRARI's sporting director Jean Todt was honored with the Cross of a Knight of the Legion of Honor at a special ceremony in Paris on Saturday.

ARROWS sponsor Orange is not worth as much as parent company France Telecom had hoped. The French telecommunications giant bought Orange a year ago for $51bn.

GERMAN Heinz-Harald Frentzen is convinced that Jordan will regain the 'best of the rest' spot in third position this year and has backed his boss to take the team to the top of Formula One.

BRITON Jenson Button has said he will err on the side of caution in his bid to become a Formula One world champion - but promised it will definitely happen.

THE Elf oil company, which will shortly be announced as a major sponsor of the Benetton team, is looking over its shoulder at deals which were done in the early 1990s when the firm was a state-owned company.

NEW Minardi owner Paul Stoddart has said the team's 2001 car is finished and ready to go in the opening race of the season in Melbourne, Australia on March 4th.