Formula One News — August 2001

FORMULA 1 would jump at the chance of racing at Laguna Seca.

TWO of Formula 1's best-known names: Ford and Bridgestone have been in dispute over a series of accidents when Firestone tires on Ford Explorer sports utility vehicles exploded last year.

MARK SCHNEIDER, the chairman and chief executive of United-Pan European Communications, the parent company of Arrows sponsor Chello, has resigned.

THE legalized red light district of Camp Erotica, which caused a minor scandal at the 2000 Hungarian Grand Prix, will not be repeated next weekend - although the annual pilgrimage of prostitutes from all over the old Eastern Bloc is likely to continue unabated.

JARNO TRULLI has a deal to stay with Jordan Grand Prix next year but he has to wait to see whether Renault Sport wants to take up an option it has on his services for next year.

JEAN ALESI completed the short shakedown test of his new mount, the Jordan EJ11, at Silverstone on Monday morning and the Frenchman continued to enthuse about rejoining the team with which he won the 1989 FIA Formula 3000 championship.

THERE could hardly be a greater contrast between Hockenheim and Hungaroring as opposite ends of the F1 technical spectrum from the standpoint of car set-up.

FERRARI's test driver Luca Badoer has completed a shakedown of the team's T-car and Rubens Barrichello's race car at Fiorano prior to the end of the summer hiatus.

THE combination of high track temperatures and the tight, twisting nature of the Hungaroring promises to see a pitched battle between Formula 1's two tire suppliers, Bridgestone and Michelin.

THE future of the Bridgestone-Firestone tire empire may lie in the hands of the American courts - and given the vagaries of the system that is indeed an alarming concept.

FORMER Formula 1 driver and occasional Arrows test driver Johnny Herbert spent the weekend in Sparta, Kentucky, watching Buddy Lazier take his Hemelgarn Dallara-Aurora to victory in the Indy Racing League event at the Kentucky Speedway and today Herbert is due to test a Heritage Motorsports G-Force-Infiniti on the 1.5-mile banked oval.

DAVID COULTHARD prepared himself for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Formula 1's annual sojourn in the old Eastern Bloc, with a relaxing trip to Slovakia.

HAVING barely contained his enthusiasm for the move to Jordan already, Jean Alesi bubbled further about his deal with his new team during an interview on French TV with the declaration that a contract is in place for him to remain with the team in 2002.

THERE is bad news for Eddie Irvine in a recent survey carried out by the online banking company Egg.com in Britain.

JAGUAR RACING team boss Bobby Rahal went back to the United States over the weekend to keep an eye on his CART team.

THE organizers of the Australian Grand Prix look set to be officially absolved of responsibility for the accident in this year's race which resulted in a track marshal being killed by flying debris.

PLAYING with Formula 1 can be a dangerous game, as the investment company Morgan Grenfell Private Equity has found out in the course of the last three years.

THE BMW Williams team will have a modified chassis for the final four races of the season, as it tries to wrest second place in the Constructors' World Championship from rival McLaren-Mercedes.

FORMULA 1 team bosses tend to keep a vague on what is happening in CART and this year is developing into a curious championship situation as there is no clearly dominant force despite there having been 13 of the 21 races.

FLAVIO BRIATORE loves being in the newspapers but the latest suggestions from Naomi Campbell's mother Valerie will not please the Benetton team director.

DARIO FRANCHITTI popped back to Britain last week to promote next month's CART Champ Car race at the new Rockingham Speedway in Northamptonshire, but couldn't help putting himself up as a candidate for a Jordan F1 drive in 2002.

THE American Le Mans Series has signed a 10-year agreement with the authorities in Washington DC for there to be a annual sportscar race on a street circuit laid out around the Robert F Kennedy Memorial stadium in the nation's capital city.

HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN successfully completed his 30 miles of 'shakedown' running in the Prost at Magny-Cours as he prepares for his five races with the French team, having inadvertently traded places with Jordan-bound Jean Alesi.

ALAIN PROST has lashed out at his former friend and team mate Jean Alesi as the French Sicilian prepares for life as a Jordan driver, having jumped ship after a second miserable year with Prost's outfit.

IN a few weeks from now Max Mosley will be re-elected president of the FIA for a third term.