Formula One News — November 2001

Bryan Herta, out of work in CART at the moment, has decided to try and get his name into the frame in Formula 1, aiming for a test drive in 2002.

With Prost Grand Prix on the ropes at the moment, it is no surprise to learn that Prince Al Waleed is back in the picture and is planning to make a bid for the team which he will put to the administrator.

The Korea tire company Kumho supplied the tires for the International Formula 3 race at Changwon over the weekend and the F3 runners reported that the rubber was pretty impressive.

Prost Grand Prix test driver Jonathan Cochet has had a frustrating season but he ended it in the best possible way with a dominant victory in the International Formula 3 Korea Super Prix at Changwon over the weekend.

Peugeot might have failed horribly in Formula 1 but in the world of rallying the French car company has done rather better, winning the Drivers' World Championship last year with Marcus Gronholm and the Manufacturers' title.

BAR has announced that it is staying with Bridgestone next year following the signing of a new long-term agreement with the Japanese tire company.

You do not have to be a World Champion to have a book written about you these days.

Team Rahal had an option on rising US star Buddy Rice but it seems that this has been allowed to lapse and Rice is now expected to go testing with Team Cheever.

The German tobacco company Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH, the owner of the West brand of cigarettes, has enlisted investment bank Merrill Lynch to sell the company as the market conditions are not very suitable for a planned flotation.

In August 1998, Bernie Ecclestone flew to South Africa to meet the country's then president Nelson Mandela.

Volkswagen has confirmed a major reorganization of its brands and its management.

David Richards, the Prodrive founder and commercial rights holder for the World Rally Championship, has stated his belief that top class international rallying will rival F1 racing for slick, cohesive global TV entertainment within about five years.

The new Mini Cooper will be used for the celebrity challenge race in Melbourne in March.

Toyota has not paid much attention to the advice of experienced Formula 1 people to date and risks ending up with egg on its corporate face as a result but the Japanese manufacturer is pushing ahead with plans to take no fewer than 600 VIP guests to the Australian GP.

Tomas Enge is hoping to be able to stay on in F1 next season but at the moment the future of the Czech driver is not yet clear.

Australian Grand Prix Chairman Ron Walker has announced that the race organizers are to present a number of safety fence design changes to the coroner investigating last year's fatal accident in Albert Park.

Mika Hakkinen says that at the moment he has no plans to test for the West McLaren Mercedes team next season.

The FIA and the World Health Organisation will today launch a campaign called "Tobacco Free Sports". The new initiative will be announced during the third session of the intergovernmental negotiations on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The World Health Organization today launched its Tobacco Free Sports initiative with WHO Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland being joined by FIA President Max Mosley.

There are lots of rumors currently circulating in Formula 1 circles about a deal between the Belgian brewing giant Interbrew and Prost Grand Prix.

Prost Grand Prix has, as we predicted, been placed in "redressement judiciare" by a court in Versailles.

The Arrows Formula 1 team has recently filed its accounts for the year 2000 at Companies House and, as has long been rumored, the team is in need of more money.

Prost Grand Prix was formally placed in receivership by the Tribunal de Commerce de Versailles on Thursday morning.

The Formula One group of companies has been more interested in recent years on clamping down on new technology rather than embracing it.

No-one knows what will be discussed at the meeting of the Volkswagen supervisory board on Friday but what has been revealed is that this will decide on whether to accept the chairman designate Bernd Pischetsrieder's proposals for the revamping of the company's automobile brands.