Formula One News — August 2002

Turkey is enjoying much publicity thanks to remarks made by Bernie Ecclestone yesterday that there is a 99.9% chance of a Grand Prix happening in the country.

Negotiations to stop the Arrows team going out of business continue, even if the team has now missed a Grand Prix and must face all the implications of that move.

The FIA Stewards of the Hungarian Grand Prix issued the entry list for the event at 5pm local time on Thursday and there were no Arrows cars listed at all. This means that there can be no argument about whether or not the team

Jaguar Racing will announce shortly that it has signed a deal with Rob Taylor to be the team's new chief designer, replacing John Russell. Taylor has been head of vehicle design at Arrows in recent years.

With Mark Webber expected to move from Minardi to Jaguar next year - as part of a deal between Minardi and Ford over the supply of Cosworth engines - the big question is who will take Webber's place as the team leader.

Although Bryan Herta will not racing for Minardi in Hungary, the American did impress the team with his recent runs for them at Donington Park.

The recent rains in central Europe have had a disastrous effect on several major cities, notably Salzburg and Prague and there are worries that as the water heads down the Danube there could be flooding in Budapest as well.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone was a big success this year although it is hard to see how the race made a profit given the numbers involved. Various attempts to make the sums add up to a success failed to come up with positive results, based on the number of people who attended and the amount of money they were charged.

Bernie Ecclestone is rumored to be taking a trip to Turkey this week on his way to the Hungarian GP to have a look at the various venues being suggested as possible homes for the proposed Turkish Grand Prix.

The Ford Motor Company cannot complain much about its Formula 1 program as the money it has spent in recent months on paying off old executives is a huge pile.

Arrows has confirmed that they will not compete in the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

Anthony Davidson will drive the second Minardi this weekend in Hungary and at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. The news will be announced shortly by the team.

The Guardian newspaper is saying that Anthony Davidson will replace Alex Yoong at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Our sources say that this will probably happen but that nothing will be confimed before midday.

Craig Pollock will be flying to London tomorrow in a final attempt to save the Arrows team. The Scotsman has the backing from California to save the team from going out of business but negotiations with Tom Walkinshaw

The current situation with regard to the Arrows team has highlighted once again the flaws that exist in the Concorde Agreement, the secret contract by which the sport is governed.

There are reports that the Arrows team trucks have turned for home while on their way out to Budapest. If that happens there is little doubt that the team will have to miss the event and the implications of that are worrying indeed.

F3000 star Giorgio Pantano won Minardi's second annual charity event, Thunder in the Park, Sunday with former WBO Middleweight Boxing champ Chris Eubank as his passanger.

The Minardi team is expected to announce tomorrow who its second driver will be for the next two Grands Prix. It is believed that the team will decide that Alex Yoong needs to take a bit of time off in order to do some more testing,

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart was due to decide on Sunday who will be racing for his team this weekend in Hungary - but that decision appears to have been delayed.

The Formula 1 world is waiting to see what will happen with the Orange Arrows team this week with reports circulating that talks have ground to a halt between Tom Walkinshaw and potential buyer Craig Pollock.

With CART issuing its calendar over the weekend, there have been rumors in Indy Racing League circles that Tony George may be about to announce that there will be an IRL race on the road course at Indianapolis next season.

There were a variety of rumors doing the rounds at Mid-Ohio over the weekend with the continuing suggestion that Cristiano da Matta will leave Newman Haas Racing to join the Toyota Motorsport F1 team.

Jason Priestley has suffered a broken back, injuries to his legs and an unspecified head injury in a 180mph crash at the Kentucky Speedway.

The mystery over what is happening at Arrows has been continuing all week but now Craig Pollock, the man expected to buy the Arrows F1 team, has thrown some doubt on the future of the team in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Le Matin.

The word on the street at Mid-Ohio on Sunday was that Paul Tracy will be joining Players Forsythe Racing next season. The Team Kool Green driver says he will not be staying with Michael Andretti's team next year.