Formula One News — January 2002

The biggest question since the collapse of Prost Grand Prix is what is going to happen to the team's 70,000 sq ft. factory in Guyancourt.

There is much interest in the question of whether or not Formula 1 is going to be shown on television in the United States in 2002.

Bernie Ecclestone turned Formula 1 into a goldmine for himself but those who have tried to follow in his footsteps have suffered.

The Renault F1 team has signed Heikki Kovalainen on a long-term contract.

Sauber continued to impress during testing Thursday in Barcelona, where Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa out-paced the rest of the testing field in new Sauber-Petronas C21s in qualifying trim.

Kirch, the company which controls the commercial rights of Formula 1 racing, is facing a financial crisis after German publishing house Axel Springer exercised a "put" option, forcing Kirch Media to buy its stake in ProSiebenSAT1 for $675m.

Rubens Barrichello followed his teammate's example and crashed the only Ferrari fit to test in Barcelona on Wednesday afternoon.

World Champion Michael Schumacher suffered a rather large accident during testing in Barcelona on Wednesday, but walked away unhurt.

The F1-supporting Formula 3000 circus is not as healthy as it once was with the announcement this week that Prostar, the Prost GP junior team, has been liquidated and that the Belgian team KTR has decided not to compete this year and is switching to the Formula Open Nissan series in Spain.

Mansour Ojjeh caught the Formula 1 bug back in the early 1980s when his father's Techniques Avant Garde SA was a supporter of the Williams team.

Geoffrey Bible, the chairman and chief executive of Philip Morris, the parent company of Ferrari sponsor Marlboro, is to step down later this year.

The new Arrows-Cosworth A23 is expected to be run for the first time this week.

Alain Prost is not having a good week. Having been forced to close his team on Monday, he faced a barrage of criticism from the French racing community on Tuesday.

Everyone has been very polite to date but word is drifting in from testing in Spain that the all-new Honda V10 engine is rather a disappointment.

BMW is doing well on the race tracks in Formula 1 and in the showrooms. Despite the downturn in the world economy the German car company is still selling more and more of its products with a 7.1% hike in sales last year.

Deutsche Bank may not get much say in what is happening at the Arrows F1 team but the huge German bank, which owns 55% of the shares in the team, is about to have its management structure revamped and the new bosses may not be as patient as the current ones.

Sixteen drivers took to the Circuit de Catalunya Tuesday for testing, of who the Ferrari pair of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were the fastest, and Nick Heidfeld, in the Ferrari powered Sauber C21 was third quickest on the day.

The Russian State Council Presidium will meet today in Moscow under the chairmanship of President Vladimir Putin to discuss how to develop more sporting activities in Russia.

There are two experienced Formula 1 drivers, one of which might now be out of work following the announcement that Minardi has signed up new boy Mark Webber to be its team leader in 2002 and the demise of Prost Grand Prix.

The new Minardi-Asiatech PS2 chassis will turn a wheel for the first time later this week.

Deutsche Post AG, Germany's mail service is rumored to be on the verge of signing to become the team's title sponsor for 2002.

The history of French racing blue goes back to the early days of the sport but in the modern era, it began with the first Matra entry into Formula 1 car in 1968.

Testing in Barcelona continued Monday, with five teams in action. The Williams trio of Ralf Schumacher, Juan-Pablo Montoya and Antonio Pizzonia topped the time sheets, Schumacher in the new FW24.

John Walton, the sporting director of Prost Grand Prix, has started work at Minardi where he will be the sporting director and team manager of the ambitious Ledbury operation.

Gustav Brunner, the technical director of Toyota Motorsport, has told the Reuters newsagency that Toyota is not expecting huge success early in its Formula 1 program.