Formula One News — July 2003

French police descended on the British American Racing pit on Thursday evening and there followed frantic negotiation between the team, the police and FOM's Pasquale Latteneddu over what appeared to be an attempt by the police to seize the three BAR-Honda cars.

The word in the paddock at Magny Cours was that Williams has concluded aa major new five-year sponsorship deal with the American brewing company Budweiser, a brand of the Anheuser-Busch company.

Briggs Cunningham has died at the age of 96.

Michael Schumacher has always been a big soccer fan and so the invitation to play with some of the modern football greats in a match to raise money for charity was an temptation he could not refuse.

McDonald's is back in racing for a three-race sponsorship of Sebastien Bourdais in CART. The deal has been stitched together by team owner Paul Newman who in recent months began supplying McDonald's with his Newman's Own salad dressings.

According to reports in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Flavio Briatore is planning to start his own airline, flying rich punters from Milan and Rome to the Costa Smeralda, in Sardinia.

We hear from the United States that the alliance between Indy Racing League team owners John Menard and Eddie Cheever has not been going well in recent months and that the two men are now going their separate ways.

Hirotoshi Honda has stepped down as president of Mugen after being arrested on suspicion of a massive tax evasion. Honda (61) is accused of dodging $8.3m in corporate taxes by hiding $25m of income in a separate company and creating false accounts to cover the money.

Hirotoshi Honda, the son of the late Soichiro Honda and the chief executive of Mugen, has been arrested over allegations of a massive tax evasion.

The incident between David Coulthard and Fernando Alonso in the closing laps of the European Grand Prix has caused a certain amount on controversy in Formula 1 circles because it is clear that, for whatever reason, Alonso braked around 10 meters earlier than expected.

Last week the British Government announced plans for a $22m Automotive Academy to be established in the West Midlands. This will have nine regional offshoots and will develop existing and new training programs to produce skilled employees for all levels of the automobile industry in Britain.

The Le Mans-winning Bentley sportscar will appear at British Grand Prix with a demonstration run for the fans.

The Japanese newsagency Kyodo News is reporting that Mugen is to be investigated for tax evasion.

The Commercial Court in London yesterday saw David Haines, the global branding director of Vodafone and the man at the center of the Jordan-Vodafone case, saying that he did not have any records of e-mails from the period in which Jordan and Vodafone were negotiating.

Alex Yoong says that he wants $200,000 in salary which is owed to him by Minardi from last year.