Formula One News — January 2002

The Olympic Flame, on its way to Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympics next month, drops into Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week.

The Sauber-Petronas C21 completed its first shakedown at the Ferrari team's Fiorano test track on Tuesday.

The World Rally Championship kicks off very early on Friday morning with the 70th running of the Monte Carlo Rally, which takes place in the Alpes Maritime area of southern France.

Testing resumed Tuesday at Valencia, and teams who tested for Michelin on an artificially soaked track Monday were joined by the likes of Jordan, Minardi and Toyota.

Alain Prost has done all he can do to save his indebted Formula 1 team and he is now waiting to see if the latest offer is enough to convince the team's legal administrator that the team can be saved.

There has been some speculation on the Continent in recent days that BMW Motorsport may be considering an assault on the World Rally Championship with the Mini Cooper.

Franck Michel, the judicial administrator appointed to oversee the affairs of Prost Grand Prix, is now studying the dossier put forward by Alain Prost.

The Dresdner Bank, which is owed around $400m by the Kirch Group, the commercial rights holders to Formula 1 racing, has granted the German firm an extension in order to pay the money outstanding.

There have been reports in the German press that Ralf Schumacher could be in trouble because Formula 1 drivers are not allowed to wear glasses.

French motor racing has been in the doldrums for some years following the government's decision to ban tobacco and alcohol sponsorship.

Ferrari is reportedly chasing Juan-Pablo Montoya for the 2003 season.

While the testing for the 2002 season has begun at Ferrari in the hands of Luca Badoer and Luciano Burti.

Four teams resumed testing Monday in Valencia, conducting wet and intermediate tire testing for Michelin. McLaren-Mercedes driver David Coulthard set the fastest lap of the day at 1m30.750s.

Ferrari's intensive program of tire development with Bridgestone has stepped up a gear having left the rather public group test at Barcelona for some track time behind closed doors at Fiorano.

World Champions Ferrari are looking to secure Juan-Pablo Montoya as a long term replacement for four time World Champion Michael Schumacher, the BBC Sport Online is reporting.

There are whispers from Germany that Kurt Steinhausen, the boss of the Olympia Reisen travel company, is going to be one of the major supporters of the planned Russian Grand Prix.

The news that the Ford Motor Company is closing five factories in North America and laying off 35,000 people has been followed by comments from Jaguar Racing that this will have no effect on the Formula 1 project.

After proving that driving today's F1 racers is perhaps not as difficult as it looks, Niki Lauda pulled off a personal PR coup for the whole Jaguar formula one program by persuading Wolfgang Reitzle, the president of Ford's Premier Automotive Group to take a turn behind the wheel.

Former Grand Prix driver Ukyo Katayama made it to the end of the gruelling Paris-Dakar Rally on Sunday, albeit nearly 55 hours behind the race winner.

Although the State Coroner in Melbourne has already said the he does not see there being a problem with this year's Australian Grand Prix going ahead as planned.

Formula 1 team boss Eddie Jordan has vigorously denied stories that his team is facing financial difficulties. The stories began when the team failed to name Benson & Hedges as its title sponsor for 2002.

Niki Lauda had a successful test outing in the F1 Jaguar R2C at Valencia today.

Toyota's lead driver Mika Salo has continued to tow the party line in a BBC interview that despite huge investment and a year's intensive testing the Japanese team shouldn't be expected to be at or even near race-winning pace in its first season.

The word on the street in France is that the group of investors which may be coming to the aid of Alain Prost will include the Michelin family, which control the Michelin tire company.

Mark Webber is to join the Minardi team's testing next week in Valencia.