Formula One News — April 2002

The Kirch media empire, which declared itself insolvent on Monday, is the owner of the commercial rights to Formula 1 racing.

Johnny Herbert, who has remained competitive in sports car racing since his departure from Jaguar Racing after the 2000 season, will compete in the Indianapolis 500 with Duesenberg Brothers Racing.

The Sunday Times list of the richest people in Britain - which keeps people amused but is not a very reliable guide to real wealth - has concluded that Bernie Ecclestone's fortune is not what it used to be.

The latest mad rumor to be thrown into the F1 cauldron is that McLaren is talking to Honda about an engine supply deal.

Leo Kirch seems to have given up any hope of saving Kirch Media.

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Craig Pollock owns a share of a company which owns 35% of British American Racing.

Michael and Ralf Schumacher have just agreed a deal with the Finnish mobile phone company Radiolinja.

The Sunday Times will publish its annual list of multimillionaires with this week's newspaper and Bernie Ecclestone will once again be in the spotlight.

There has been much talk in recent days of a "new" Honda V10 engine appearing at the San Marino GP at Imola but the reality of the situation is that the engine will be only a slightly different version of the same engine which the Honda teams have been using this year.

On Friday in Brazil the drivers and team managers were shown a presentation about the Head and Neck Support system (HANS) which the FIA wants to make compulsory from the start of next year.

The San Marino Grand Prix, scheduled for April 14, is expected to feature a few firsts.

The Minardi team conducts considerably less testing than many of its competitors, but they spent Friday in Misano, Italy with Mark Webber behind the wheel of a PS02.

Ferrari has been busy as of late, testing continuously at both the Mugello and Fiorano circuits with Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Luca Badoer in both F2001 and F2002 chassis.

The FIA has just issued a report on safety in Grand Prix racing between 1963-2001 which has been conducted for the federation by its Circuits and Safety Department.

Reports in Germany on Thursday indicate that KirchMedia, the owner of the commercial rights to Formula 1 racing, is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection in Munich on Friday.

The Premier 1 racing series, which portrayed itself as a potential rival to Formula 1, is now admitting that the collapse of Reynard Racing Cars could be a problem but says that it has contingency plans to deal with it.

Kimi Raikkonen set the pace at the Valencia circuit in Spain for the second day in a row in cold, damp conditions.

Two of the banks involved in talks to save Kirch Media have decided they have had enough of the wrangling and have withdrawn from the talks.

Most of the Formula 1 websites were very excited on Wednesday after a report that Jenson Button's future will be decided by the British Grand Prix.

There was no big surprise when Peter Sauber let slip that Felipe Massa could leave Sauber and go to Ferrari next year - if the Italian team decides to take up an option it has on the young Brazilian.

Hans Snook, the former boss of the Orange mobile phone company - and the man who pioneered the company's Formula 1 sponsorship, has recently been appointed chairman of Carphone Warehouse, Europe's biggest mobile phone retailer.

The biggest surprise of the Formula 1 season to date has been the performance of Toyota Motorsport GmbH.

There have been rumors in recent days suggesting that Craig Pollock will be joining the Phoenix Finance Ltd. bid to turn a few assets of the defunct Prost Grand Prix into a Formula 1 team.

There are time when Formula 1 looks like a mad world with all the quibbling and back-biting that goes on in the sport but the Americans have it far worse at the moment.