Formula One News — August 2002

As expected, Williams-BMW has confirmed that Juan Pablo Montoya will remain with the team for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Steve Farrell, who has been in charge of mechanical design at British American Racing in recent months, has moved to a job with BAR's sister company the 555 Subaru World Rally Team.

Stories are now beginning to leak out that Dietrich Mateschitz is, as we suggested last weekend, planning to buy Jaguar Racing from the Ford Motor Company. The rumors suggest that the Red Bull boss could be willing as much as $100m.

It has been nearly a year since John Barnard was involved in Formula 1 as anything more than a sub-contractor.

The Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has signed an endorsement contract with rising American star Sarah Fisher.

This morning in Court 19 of the High Court in London Justice Sir Gavin Lightman was due to preside over another hearing in the ongoing case between Morgan Grenfell and Arrows Autosport.

Jacques Villeneuve has always been a very independent character and while this has made him a popular figure with race fans, it does have its drawbacks.

The Red Bull F1 Driver Search initiative will be presented to the world on Thursday, September 26 at the United States Grand Prix and Danny Sullivan, the scheme's director, is promising to reveal the names of the 15 to 20 young American racers who will be given the chance to win the Red Bull sponsorship deals in Europe.

Formula BMW could be expanding into Britain and America next years. The inaugural Formula BMW series is taking place in Germany this year but BMW wants to expand as quickly as possible so as to create a modern alternative to Formula Ford,

The giant American technology company EDS has announced plans to become a supporter of the F1 in Schools competition in Britain. The scheme was established earlier this year by Jaguar Cars, BAE Systems and Denford.

The Malaysian government has announced plans to ban all tobacco sponsorships next year. Tobacco advertising is already banned but the current law does not stop tobacco firms sponsorsing events.

The word from Detroit is that Eddie Irvine has somehow managed to negotiate himself a new three-year deal in Formula 1, signing an agreement directly with the the Ford Motor Company. Irvine is expected to drive for the new Jordan-Ford team.

Michael Kranefuss, who was in charge of all Ford's Formula 1 activities from 1983 to 1993 has just launched a new business called Falcon Cars. The firm will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cristiano da Matta wants to race in Formula 1 next year - and Toyota want to use him but it seems that da Matta's future is controlled somewhat by the Brazilian's team owner Carl Haas. Da Matta has one more year to go in his Newman Haas Racing deal. Sources are suggesting that Haas is asking for a $10m pay-off.

<b>Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday Race Report</b>

They may not be true but there were reports on the Italian television station RAI on Sunday that the Ecclestone Family is to buy into the Ferrari car company. We heard similar rumors earlier in the week in Budapest but chose not to publish them as we were unable to get any independent confirmation.

Adrien Tambay won his first race victory last weekend at the Circuit du Pays d'Essay, near Alencon, in Normandy. Tambay (11) is competing in the French Junior Kart Championship and is currently second overall in the series.

CART has just filed its latest quarterly reports which reveal some interesting figures. The company is worth something like $66m based on its Wall Street valuation but according to the accounts it has $136m in current assets.

Espionage amongst engine companies has long been a feature of Formula 1 but BMW's Dr. Mario Theissen says that he does not believe in trying to force his staff not to take secrets elsewhere.

<b>Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday Race Notes</b>

<b>Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday Photos</b>

Eddie Jordan has confirmed that Jordan Grand Prix will have Ford engines in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Honda has announced that, as expected, it will not be supplying the Jordan team with engines next season.

<b>Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday Warmup Report</b>

Czech driver Tomas Enge has moved into the lead in the International Formula 3000 Championship following his victory at the Hungaroring. Enge's fourth victory of the year gives him 51 points