Formula One News — September 2002

Spaniard Marc Gene has re-signed with Williams and will continue as the team's test driver for 2003. Gene has been looking to return to a racing role since he left Minardi after the 2000 season, but the driver market is currently flooded with young stars all looking for their shot, and Gene had no opportunities for 2003.

Sauber is battling for fourth place in the FIA Formula 1 Constructors' World Championship and if Felipe Massa has to start 10 places behind where he qualifies there is not much point in him being there...

There has been a lot of talk in F1 circles about the need for a system of salary capping, to avoid huge amounts of money being spent on drivers when the money is short. At the moment a number of drivers are earning far more money than they deserve, based on their results

The word on the street in F1 circles is that Ron Dennis and his McLaren team have concluded that in order to beat Ferrari it is going to need an even bigger staff and is said to be recruiting again, picking up talented engineers.

The Formula 1 world has largely lost interest in Arrows - with the feeling in the paddock at Monza that the team will not be seen again in any form and that eventually it will disappear in a mess of legal actions.

Dario Franchitti has been a major advocate of CART in recent seasons, the Scotsman has always argued that the racing is good and the standards high. But now he is departing to the Indy Racing League with Michael Andretti's Team Green.

Jo Ramirez, one of Formula 1's longest-serving members until his retirement last year from McLaren, is to be honoured this year by his native Mexico. Ramirez has been named as the Grand Marshal for the Mexico City CART race on November 17.

Former McLaren F1 driver turned team owner Michael Andretti has decided to take his team out of CART and into IRL with plans for three cars for himself, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan.

Sauber and Renault kicked off testing in preparation for the United States Grand Prix Tuesday at Silverstone.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen will test the Sauber C21 for the first time Thursday at Silverstone and may replace Felipe Massa at the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

Michael Schumacher's contract with Ferrari runs out at the end of 2004 and there is speculation in Germany that Michael may be negotiating an extension to the deal.

Jaguar Racing will test F3000 driver Antonio Pizzonia this week as part of their driver assesment program. As Pedro de la Rosa is under contract for next year, it is safe to assume that the test for Pizzonia is because the team would like to see him as a replacement for Irvine, who is bound by all accounts for the Jordan team.

Although Felipe Massa does not have a drive for next year it is fairly clear that Ferrari has taken a close interest in the Brazilian and might even be convinced to sign him up as a test driver for next season.

The German television station RTL has been suffering from Michael Schumacher having too much success in Formula 1. For Monza in 2001 there were 10.6m households in Germany tuned in to the Italian GP coverage.

There were rumors of all sorts over the Monza weekend about the future (or lack of it) of the Arrows team. There were reports that a deal had been struck with the mysterious American investor and other stories saying it was all over and that the staff was being laid off.

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

Helio Castroneves leaves America today to fly to France to test for the Toyota Formula 1 team - could it be that he is the man most likely to race for the team next year?

Jos Verstappen now seems certain to be named as one of the Minardi drivers for the 2003 season and there is much excitement in Holland that the country's best known racer will soon be back in action after a year off caused by Verstappen being fired at the last minute at the start of this year by the Arrows team.

t is official! The Nagatino Island Formula 1 race track project is off. Speaking at a press conference last week Moscow's deputy-mayor Iosif Ordzhonikidze said that the city had not given up on the plans to hold a Grand Prix in the city but he confirmed that the Nagatino Island plan is not going to happen.

Jaguar Racing could not have wished for a better day than at Monza on Sunday. Eddie Irvine started the year dicing with Minardis in Melbourne and at Monza he stood on the podium and sprayed champagne.

Formula 3 teams in Brazil are at daggers drawn after the recent race at Fortaleza. Before the event the championship-leading Piquet Sports team, which is owned by former World Champion Nelson Piquet and runs his son Nelson Piquet Jr (known as rh"Nelsinhose"), was accused of having illegally tested a car at the Fortaleza track.

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

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

Filippe Massa has been penalized for his collision with Pedro de la Rosa during the Italian GP at Monza.

The 2002 Italian Grand Prix was the third fastest race of all time.