Formula One News — September 2003

Sir Frank Williams says that Formula 1 fans might be "very surprised" by the final line-up of top drives in 2004. Williams was responding to suggestions that Juan Pablo Montoya might be moving to McLaren next year, a year before his deal with the Woking team is due to begin.

There are fairly strong rumors coming out of Britain that Honda is pushing very hard to have Takuma Sato in the second BAR-Honda next year. BAR is keen to get the best possible driver line-up and is still negotiating with Jacques Villeneuve.

The stories last week about a shoot-out for the second seat at BAR if Jacques Villeneuve does not agree terms with the team were rather confused but our spies at BAR are now telling us that if BAR and Villeneuve do not reach an agreement there will be four drivers under consideration for the drive.

The sudden hike in hotel prices at Suzuka may be due to the fact that the circuit has just lost its second biggest event of the year, with the news that the Moto GP series will not be returning.

It seems that Andhra Pradesh is not the only state in India that would like to land a Grand Prix. It seems that there is competition from both Maharashtra and Karnataka.

It is way too early for such decisions to be made but there are rumors that Renault test driver Allan McNish is negotiating to get back into racing by joining Jordan.

All year we have been to races at which there were reports of the crowd figures being below previous years. this was particularly noticeable at Imola where the crowd was massively down but it was also true of the Italian GP at Monza a week ago.

Michael Schumacher is not the only racing driver to have a little brother and Juan Pablo Montoya's sibling Frederico will be racing this weekend in the ChampCar Stars of Tomorrow kart event in Jacksonville, Florida, taking on some of the best kartists coming up in the US.

The Japanese have joined the increasing number of Formula 1 nations to raise their hotel rates at races to absurd levels. A shoebox room in an average hotel located an hour from the race track will now set you back a bargain $700.

Next year will see the introduction of Formula BMW to the United Kingdom. Designed as a launch-pad for the next generation of Grand Prix drivers, Formula BMW features mini-F1 cars complete with wings and slick racing tires powered by a 140 bhp engine.

Jenson Button has escaped from a big crash at Jerez de la Frontera. The BAR-Honda driver banged his knees on the inside of the cockpit during the shunt on Thursday morning.

In the last few days The Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada organisation has launched an international letter campaign trying to convince governments which have Grands Prix to "stand up to global blackmail from Formula One and the tobacco industry".

There have been so many contradictory stories flying around over Canada that it has become hard to tell the truth from the fiction. At the moment Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says he is not backing down over tobacco and Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan says she has no intention of exempting the Grand Prix.

Indianapolis had changed its timetable to fit in with European TV audiences. The practice and qualifying sessions will be moved forward by an hour with practice in Saturday being moved to 08.00 and 09.15, an hour earlier than previously planned.

Hugo Boss and Reemtsma, the owner of the West cigarette brand, have been quibbling over the use of cigarette brands.

Alex Zanardi will return to racing in the European Touring Car Championship at the wheel of a specially-adapted BMW 320i which features hand controls.

The competition over tobacco sales in the US, where discounting is become a big problem, has resulted in the announcement that RJ Reynolds Tobacco is to cut 40% of its US workforce.

Ralf Schumacher and the BMW Williams team have been negotiating quietly in recently months over a contract to extend Ralf's contract by another two years. the current contract runs out at the end of 2004.

Marc Gene, who did such a good job for BMW Williams at Monza last weekend, has split with Team Adrian Campos in the Formula Nisan series. The Spanish driver has apparently decided to concentrate all his energy on Formula 1.

One of the current mysteries in Formula 1 is the fact that Sauber has not signed Felipe Massa, although it is clear that this is the Swiss team's intention. Peter Sauber says that it is all down to the need to talk through the deal through but it is clear that the delays are coming from Massa's end.

South Africa's Alan van der Merwe recently won the British Formula 3 Championship for Carlin Motorsport, following in the footsteps of Takuma Sato in 2002.

It seems that there have been some crossed wires in reports about the future of Jacques Villeneuve at BAR.

The worlds of Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship have few overlaps. David Richards is the boss of BAR, he oversees the Subaru World Rally Team and is the man who deals with some of the commercial issues in rallying; the FIA regulates both series; and some of the manufacturers compete in both.

One of the options that BAR is currently considering is to have a shoot-out test between a number of young drivers to pick the quickest to be Jenson Button's team mate next year at BAR.

Jos Verstappen and his sponsors have been shopping around in recent weeks looking at the available options for the Dutchman next season. The latest talks are believed to have been with Jaguar Racing.