Formula One News — March 2001

MICHELIN and Bridgestone will resume their tire war at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix and both companies believes they are well prepared for the challenges the Sepang circuit will provide.

IN Formula 1 one is judged on one's last performance and there is never very much analysis beyond that.

THE decision not to test since the Australian Grand Prix has left Eddie Irvine in perfect shape for the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend, the Jaguar driver believes.

HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN has explained his comments about Sauber's Nick Heidfeld after the Jordan driver's words sparked controversy and further debate on the use of traction control in Formula One.

MCLAREN driver Mika Hakkinen has highlighted his intention to banish the memory of a big crash an non-finish in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix with a points-scoring finish in the second round in Malaysia this weekend.

THE company which owns the Sepang International racing circuit in Malaysia is struggling at the moment.

EM.TV is to sell the Jim Henson Company, which owns The Muppet characters, in an effort to improve the liquidity of the company.

FORMULA ONE is set to see the introduction of the Head and Neck Support (HANS) system next season.

THERE are only six major car manufacturers in the world these days and most of them: General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Renault-Nissan, Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA's victory in last weekend's Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix marks Toyota's sixth race victory in CART and gives the Japanese car company a head start in this year's series over rivals Honda and Ford.

FERRARI's 2000 world championship victory has been commemorated with a new Italian stamp, revealed at a special ceremony on Friday.

PEDRO DE LA ROSA completed his first test for the Jaguar team on Friday, and believes after a slow start he is fitting in well with the British team.

FERRARI finalized their preparations for the Malaysian Grand Prix as Rubens Barrichello and Luca Badoer completed the team's five-day test at Fiorano on Saturday.

BOB REWEY, the man who in 1996 was behind Ford's decision to Formula 1 seriously, has retired from the firm.

BRAZILIAN Rubens Barrichello returned to the track for the first time since finishing third in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix when he tested for Ferrari at Fiorano on Friday.

JAGUAR's Pedro de la Rosa showed his potential as he topped the times by over a second in the third and final day of testing at the Silverstone circuit on Friday.

THE seemingly endless battle between motor racing's rule makers and the engineers who craft today's high technology F1 cars is set to take another dramatic twist in the wake of the tragic fatal accident in the Australian grand prix which cost the life of a track marshal.

MCLAREN are working on their traction control system ahead of its introduction in the Spanish Grand Prix in April.

JORDAN driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen has expressed fears that some teams may be using traction control before its legal introduction at the Spanish Grand Prix in April.

WITH most of the Formula 1 drivers deciding to stay out in Asia between the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix, it has been left to the test drivers to do the work in Europe.

ALEX ZANARDI will be back in action this year in CART having sat out the 2000 season after his disastrous relationship with Williams in 1999.

JAGUAR RACING team boss Bobby Rahal says that if Dario Franchitti wants to move to Formula 1 in the future, he needs to make the move at the end of this year.

THE organizers of the Malaysian Grand Prix have cancelled plans for live television coverage of the event within Malaysia.

LEO KIRCH, the man who is on the verge of taking commercial control of Formula 1, has tightened his grip on Thomas Haffa's EM.TV operation with the appointment of Kirch New Media chief executive Rainer Huether to the EM.TV management board.

ARROWS new test-driver and veteran Formula One racer Johnny Herbert has supported the sport's governing body the FIA as the safety of Grand Prix racing has come under scrutiny this week.