Formula One News — January 2003

Renault has announced an extension of the current deal with Japan Tobacco's Mild Seven brand for another four years. This will take the relationship up to the date of the planned global ban on all tobacco sponsorship in the sport.

Renault will quit F1 if the FIA insists that manufacturers build engines which have to last for six races. Patrick Faure, chairman of Renault Sport, said that if the federations insists on a rule that will mean building "tractor engines" there would be little relevance in the sport for the company.

The launch of the new Renault F1 challenger for 2003 takes place this afternoon in Luzern in Switzerland. The venue was chosen because it allows the team to exhibit the car in its full tobacco livery, something which is banned in France. The new car is the work of a team of engineers led by Mike Gascoyne.

Luca di Montezemolo, chairman of the Ferrari has told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper that he is "very happy and curious about the decisions taken" by FIA President Max Mosley over the Formula 1 regulations.

On Thursday the GPWC board of directors met in Berlin and issued a statement which said that the membership was "dismayed" at the cost-cutting measures put forward by FIA President Max Mosley.

The FIA is planning to offer a $1 million reward to anyone who provides evidence of cheating in F1 this year. The reward will be paid from heavy fines which will be levied on any offenders. The FIA says it is looking to ban all the major electronic systems this year and that anyone cheating will be nailed

The GPWC statement issued yesterday was rather ambiguous in its response to the FIA's changes for the 2003-2006 seasons.

The Taiwanese computer company Acer used to be involved as the sponsor of Alain Prost's Ferrari engine deal in 2001 but since the demise of the French team at the start of last year has not been directly involved in the sport.

The Board of GPWC Holdings met in Berlin yesterday and decided to once again confirm their commitment to establishing a new series in competition to Formula 1 in 2007. The board says that it has appointed Goldman Sachs to start talks with representatives of the banks

Four teams returned to the Circuit de Catalunya Friday to continue their winter testing programs. McLaren set the pace all week at the Spanish circuit, but they wrapped up their program Thursday, so it was Fernando Alonso in the Renault who was topped the timesheet Friday.

The Malaysian Airports company has finally confirmed the sale of the Sepang International Circuit to the Malaysian government. The government paid just over $100m for the facility.

The assets of the Asiatech engine company will go up for sale by auction in February in Paris. The liquidators of the company (which was previously Peugeot Sport's F1 engine division) have organised a series of three auctions which will be held on February 13-14-15 at Velizy.

American racer Townsend Bell is aiming for a top drive in Formula 3000 this year and the word on the street is that he is close to signing a deal with one of the leading British teams.

Ferrari will unveil its new Formula 1 challenger in Maranello on February 7. The new car will then undergo an intensive testing programme but the team is not expected to race the new car until after the first three "fly-away" races are completed.

David Coulthard was fastest in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya for the third day in a row Thursday. The McLaren driver worked alongside teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who was second fastest on the day, both testing tires for Michelin.

Following yesterday's meeting between the FIA and team principals, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team has responded with a statement saying that the team is "currently assessing the proposals presented" and that it feels that most of the proposals will be "further clarified" at a Technical Working Group meeting on Friday.

After a day of time to reflect on what happened at yesterday's meeting between the Formula 1 team principals and FIA President Max Mosley, there are the first hints of discontent being heard from the F1 teams, although most of those involved do not want to go on the record with their criticisms.

On November 22 1999 the Court of Appeal in Bologna ruled that Patrick Head and Adrian Newey were not responsible for the death of Ayrton Senna on May 1 1994 during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. The decision came after years of investigations and legal actions and seemed to bring an end to the whole sorry story.

We hear from yesterday's Formula 1 team meeting that Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Renault have all agreed to supply two Formula 1 teams with engines if asked to do so. This will begin in 2004 and it appears that a maximum price of $10m has been agreed between the motor manufacturers.

The new interpretation of the F1 regulations by the FIA will probably mean that the timetable for Grands Prix will be altered this year. There is already talk of the two afternoon sessions being pushed back to 14.00 rather than the current 13.00.

The new Jaguar R4 is to have its first shakedown runs at the Ford Motor Company's Lommel Proving Ground in Belgium later this week. This will be second year in which the team has used Lommel to do the first tests of a new car, providing the team with no interruptions and away from prying eyes.

The drastic cost-cutting moves in Formula 1have been greeted with favourable comment in many different areas of the sport and, to date at least, there has been almost no negative comment.

The Formula 1 team bosses did not make a big issue about the FIA's announcements on Wednesday with only a couple making any public statements about the biggest upset in the F1 rules for more than a decade. But today it is expected that we will hear the first reactions of the bigger teams.

Details are beginning to emerge of a deal which has been brokered between the Formula 1 teams and F1 paymaster Bernie Ecclestone, which will see the smaller F1 operations given some financial security in the year ahead.

The FIA's cost-cutting plan for Formula 1 has one obvious flaw: it does nothing to help the teams which are in trouble right now. There are two teams - Jordan and Minardi - which are thought to not have the budget to get through the current season largely because both have to pay huge sums for a supply of engines.