Formula One News — March 2003

The Canadian broadcaster TSN has abandoned its brief experiment using the Speed Channel feed and will revert to the British ITV commentary. TSN has used British feeds for almost 10 years.

The 51st 12 Hours of Sebring took place over the weekend and was won by Reinhold Joest's Infineon Audi R8 driven by Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Phillip Peter

The credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service says that the automobile manufacturers are facing a tough year in 2003 with forecasts of sales being lower than in 2002.

Gerhard Berger is being linked to a possible Formula 1 return with Volkswagen. Berger has quit BMW, saying that he wanted a rest and time with his family but he also added that he might not be finished with F1 in the longer term.

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the first meeting of the BRDC, which took place in London in 1928.

Mercedes-Benz has been the official supplier of the Safety Car to F1 since 1997, and this year the new CLK 55 AMG coupe has taken over the job with Bernd Maylander once again at the wheel.

Giancarlo Fisichella says that reports in the media about him planning to leave Jordan have been blown out of proportion but he is not saying that he will stay where he is next year.

A few days ago Bernie Ecclestone was accusing the automobile manufacturers of destabilising F1 now he is being accused of the same thing with the British Grand Prix by Martin Brundle.

The Formula 1 teams and equipment has been arriving in Malaysia in the last few hours with the special charters which the F1 teams use arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

While the FIA President Max Mosley has been saying that the revised Formula 1 regulations helped produce a better race in Melbourne, the man in charge of the F1 commercial rights, Bernie Ecclestone is arguing the opposite.

The Interpublic Group of companies has officially informed the British Racing Drivers' Club that it is looking for a way out of its involvement in Silverstone, via its Octagon subsidiary.

The president of Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi visited the Ferrari headquarters at Maranello for a tour of the company's F1 team.

Even as Bahrain builds its Formula 1 circuit for a race in 2004, the rival project in Dubai - dubbed the Dubai Autodrome and Business Park - is under construction.

The last few days have been significant for students of Formula 1 history as it has been announced that Matra is to finally get out of the automobile business.

It may seem a little early for the start of the silly season but it actually kicked off a couple of weeks ago with rumours that Ralf Schumacher would be talking to Toyota in the midseason. Now Giancarlo Fisichella says that he going to be on the market at the end of the year.

Speed Channel, which recently signed a three-year deal with Bernie Ecclestone to cover Formula 1 in the United States of America, recorded a respectable 0.54 rating for the race coverage in the course of Saturday night.

The Red Bull Driver Search, which aims to get American drivers into Formula 1 in the years ahead, will be bigger and better in 2003. The launch of the new programme, held as Sardi's Restaurant on 44th Street in New York, was attended by Tony George amongst others.

Autodelta was a famous name in racing throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The Alfa Romeo racing department was successful at many levels and in 1979 entered F1 with a factory Alfa Romeo team. This lasted until 1985 when Alfa Romeo was taken over by Fiat and withdrew from F1.

Murray Walker, the celebrated British TV commentator, is to partner Australian motorsport veteran Colin Bond on the Targa Tasmania.

Formula 1 was on the verge of becoming a fuel economy formula. With diminishing returns being gleaned from a stable set of regulations and the difficulty of overtaking on the track, races were being decided more and more by the refuelling strategies.

Luca Badoer went off while testing this morning at Mugello at around 125mph and although the Ferrari test driver was able to climb from the car unaided after the crash it was decided that he should undergo a check up.

According to press reports in Germany Michael Schumacher is being offered only $30m a year for a new contract to take his relationship with Ferrari beyond the end of next year.

CART has bought the Raceworks company which runs the Miami Grand Prix. This means that the future of the race is virtually guaranteed as Raceworks had a 15-year licence to run a street in the city.

The word on the street in F1 circles is that Pedro de la Rosa will test for McLaren this week at Jerez de la Frontera.

Barry Sheene was a major figure in motorcycle racing, who won the World 500cc Championship in 1976 and 1977, but who truly found fame with his gritty recoveries from appalling accidents. He was, in some respects, the Niki Lauda of the motorcycle world.