Formula One News — April 2003

There are lots of stories circulating at the moment suggesting that British American Tobacco is going to drop BAR. This is highly unlikely.

Fernando Alonso was lucky to emerge unscathed from a 150mph crash at Interlagos 10 days ago and equally lucky to end up on the podium in the race as a result of his own accident which resulted in the race being stopped.

The Mount Fuji racing circuit will close this autumn so that construction can bring the track up to full Formula 1 specification.

The Orange mobile telephone company has pulled out of F1, but the Dutch branch of the company is expected to be seen in sportscar racing.

Tomas Enge has disappeared from the single-seater scene in recent months but the Czech driver now seems set to try to revive his career with a test for the Pennzoil Panther Racing team in the Indy Racing League.

The Jordan team may not have been able to convince DHL to remain as a backer this year but former Jordan driver Takuma Sato has managed to convince DHL Japan to continue to support him.

Octagon Motorsports UK is being rebranded Brands Hatch Circuits Ltd. in an effort to divorce the company from the rest of the Octagon empire.

The new sponsorship deal between the BMW Williams team and GlaxoSmithKline's NiQuitin CQ brand is designed, according to GSK's Simon Pulsford to "challenge the link between smoking in Formula 1.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare has announced that it will be sponsoring the Williams team with its NiQuitin CQ range of products designed to help people stop smoking. It will be the first smoking cessation brand to sponsor a Formula 1 team in the history of the sport.

Australian racer Rob Nguyen is poised to sign for the new BCN Formula 3000, which kicks off next weekend at Imola.

The Sauber Petronas team has signed a testing deal with 19-year-old Swiss driver Neel Jani. Jani will begin work with the team next week at the Vairano testing facility in Italy.

The Cadillac sports car program may have come to an end but it seems that members of the team are looking at getting together again to start their own CART Champ Car operation.

Alex Zanardi is due to be the Grand Marshal of the forthcoming CART Champ Car race at the Lausitzring in Germany but there are now rumors suggesting that the Italian, who lost both legs in a crash there two years ago, will actually do some demonstration laps at the wheel of a specially-modified CART car.

Honda was beaten at its own Twin Ring Motegi in the Indy Racing League race on Sunday by Scott Sharp at the wheel of his Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota. Sharp moved into the lead when Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan (the former a Toyota driver and the latter representing Honda) collided on the 178th lap.

Ferrari has announced that it will be racing the old F2002s at the forthcoming San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. The new F2003 GA chassis will not now appear until the Spanish Grand Prix. The announcement comes not long after news emerged that McLaren's MP4-18 is running behind schedule.

FIA president Max Mosley will meet the Formula 1 team bosses at Imola on Thursday and will then go on for a meeting with the international F1 media.

There are lots of rumors coming back again that BMW is to start its own team in F1 in the future. These seem to emanate from statements made by ex-BMW Motorsport director Gerhard Berger who remarked that all BMW's options are still open.

Justin Wilson plc has had nearly $1.6m of share applications in only 40 days. The initial closing date was April 11 but Justin Wilson plc's managing director, Jonathan Palmer has announced an extension.

The FIA has now confirmed that Giancarlo Fisichella is the winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix, following a meeting of the stewards of the event in Paris on Friday morning.

The FIA has announced that Giancarlo Fisichella is the winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix. The embarrassing problems in Brazil have thus been solved. The FIA will now want to know that there will be no possibility of a repeat of the problem.

Geoffrey Rowley and Kevin Hellard, both of RSM Robson Rhodes, have been appointed joint liquidators of Arrows Grand Prix International. The assets of the company will be sold off and whatever money raised with be paid to the creditors.

Eddie Jordan says he is delighted with the news that Giancarlo Fisichella has been awarded victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Giancarlo Fisichella is the winner of the 2003 Brazilian GP, according to team boss Eddie Jordan.

The ITV employee who works on F1 broadcasts and who was hospitalized in the days leading up to the Brazilian Grand Prix with suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome was released from the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo on Thursday.

These days there is a lot of propaganda in Formula 1 circles. The aim is to create impressions that those involved want to see in the public domain.