Formula One News — December 2003

There is talk in the United States that Justin Wilson could be on his way to join Bobby Rahal's CART team. Rahal has spent this year running Michel Jourdain Jr with backing from Mexico's Gigante supermarket chain and the Mexican offshoot of Office Depot.

Rina Andretti, the mother of World Champion Mario Andretti and his twin brother Aldo (also a racer) and grandmother of racers Michael, Jeff and John, has died at the age of 90.

An Indiana judge has cleared away the first hurdles in the planned takeover of CART assets. Judge Frank Otte overruled attempts to slow down the process and thus torpedo the plans of Open Wheel Racing.

Despite stories to the contrary, it is expected that the deadline imposed by the FIA for the French GP is not going to be extended, although the Formula 1 teams will meet on January 14 and it is possible that the race will be one of the items on the agenda at that meeting.

McLaren Mercedes protege Jan Heylen has signed to drive for Team Astromega in the 2004 FIA International Formula 3000 series. The 2002 Formula Ford Festival winner raced this year in the Formula 3 Euroseries but did not have a very successful year.

Parmalat, the sponsor of the Brabham team for many years in the 1970s and 1980s has run into big trouble with the Italian authorities with its founder and former head Calisto Tanzi being arrested over the weekend as part of the investigation into an alleged fraud.

Much has been made in recent days of the threat of a potential terrorist attack on the Grand Prix in Bahrain in April next year. The first appearance of Formula 1 in the Middle East could constitute a tempting target for Islamic terrorists, keen to strike at the western world.

Most of France is on holiday at the moment and there is virtually no hope of the Federation Francaise du Sport Automobile being able to get the problems surrounding the French Grand Prix sorted out before the FIA deadline of January 1.

Although there has been little happening in racing circles during the Christmas holidays, the anti-tobacco forces continue to tighten the net on tobacco advertising, with three more countries committing themselves to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

There are times when you wonder what it will take to stop Michael Schumacher winning the Formula 1 World Championship. This year he picked up his sixth title, his fourth in a row.

When one sits back and analyses the 2003 season, the conclusion that one is forced to draw is that the BMW Williams team should have won both the Drivers' and Constructors' titles.

McLaren came third in the Constructors' Championship in 2003, narrowly outscored in the end by Williams-BMW but on the race tracks the difference between the two teams was often much more than the results ultimately suggested. McLaren made better use of its opportunities.

Timing is everything in F1 and the Renault F1 organization seems to have got it a bit out of kilter. The team peaked in terms of chassis performance in 2003. The driver line-up is good and due to get better in 2005; the tires are clearly very good but the engine was a pig...

With Zsolt Baumgartner now confirmed by Minardi there is only one hope for Justin Wilson in 2004 in Formula 1 - with Jordan - and the chances of Wilson getting the drive are decidedly thin with a number of drivers with serious money circulating at the moment.

British American Racing was one of the four teams involved in the battle for fifth place in the Constructors' Championship and the fact that the team emerged ahead of Sauber, Jaguar Racing and Toyota is an indication that progress was being made.

Zsolt Baumgartner will be the second Minardi driver in 2004, if everything goes to plan today. The contract with Minardi is already signed but it does not come into effect until the Hungarian driver meets certain financial obligations, which are believed to be payments to the team.

Fourth in 2001, fifth in 2002, sixth in 2003 the trend at Sauber in recent years has not been what Peter Sauber would like to see but given the resources of the team and the fact that it does not have manufacturer engines, the Swiss are doing remarkably well.

Jaguar Racing has been a political minefield since its inception but this year there were finally signs that someone within the Ford Motor Company is taking the operation in hand and doing the right things. For much of 2002 Ford executive Richard Parry-Jones did an in-depth analysis on what was wrong with Jaguar Racing and concluded that a new management was needed

Panasonic Toyota Racing was one of the first teams to have its new car up and running and had completed plenty of testing before the first race of the year.

The Federation Francaise du Sport Automobile continues to bludgeon its way forward in the vain belief that if it raises enough money to satisfy Bernie Ecclestone that the French Grand Prix will be allowed back into the Formula 1 World Championship.

Formula One Administration, GPWC and SLEC have announced that they have agreed a memorandum of understanding on the future structure of the Formula One group of companies, the commercial rights holder of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. But what does it mean?

When Paul Stoddart bought the old Arrows A23 chassis last year, he intended to use the cars as the basis for the PS04 challengers in 2004. But after tests during the autumn Stoddart has now apparently concluded that the Arrows car was not good enough and a new car is being fashioned.

Ove Andersson, the boss of Toyota Motorsport and the man who built the Formula 1 team, is to stand down after more than 30 years with the Japanese car manufacturer. Andersson will remain as a consultant to the company but his role will largely be taken over by Toyota Motorsport GmbH chairman Tsutomu Tomita.

The recent announcement that Jos Verstappen will not be driving with Minardi next year has loosened tongues down at Faenza, the team miffed at some of the comments made in recent days by Verstappen's new management.

Eddie Jordan is one of the sport's most colorful characters and for many years was one of the most popular. But something changed. After Jordan sold out a share of his team and became fabulously wealthy, he seemed to lose the drive that was so admired.