Formula One News — January 2004

Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad handed over power to his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Very quickly Abdullah began to distance himself from some of Mahathir's policies particularly his expensive commitment to what he called "mega-projects".

The Indianapolis Star newspaper is reporting that the Indy Racing League has topped OWRS's bid for the assets of bankrupt rival Championship Auto Racing Teams.

The role of third driver at Jaguar Racing this year appears to be in dispute.

Fernando Alonso went fastest of all the Formula 1 cars in the Barcelona test on Friday afternoon but his time of 1m15.433s is not close to the time set by Jenson Button's BAR-Honda on Thursday and thus has left everyone wondering what fuel load the Renault was carrying...

There has been much talk today of Jos Verstappen having given Jordan Grand Prix a deadline of close of business to day to take up his offer of sponsorship for 2004. Jordan has ignored the deadline and thus if Verstappen is serious about it, his Formula 1 career is over.

It is rumoured in Switzerland that Ferrari has made an offer to pay Sauber to run a third car in tests on Fridays at each Grand Prix.

The politics of Formula 1 and tobacco is highly complicated. One of the most complex problems has been in Belgium where the Formula One group and the teams have been in almost constant conflict with the local authorities.

The British motor racing industry seems to be constantly in opposition to measures which are being introduced by the European Commission.

The long-running battle in North American open-wheeler racing is coming to a head with the Indy Racing League making a bid for selected assets of the bankrupt CART organization, in competition to a collection of CART team owners who want to revive the series.

The suggestion that has appeared in various magazines in recent days that the Sauber is too closely related to the 2003 Ferrari is not a surprise.

Jenson Button smashed the lap record in Barcelona on Thursday with a lap of 1m14.607s, about a second faster than the previous best.

The FIA has published an open letter to the European Union on the subject of the European Arrest warrant, pointing out that the Formula 1 teams have not "woken up to the European Arrest Warrant too late".

Jaguar Racing says that the new R5 does not have any fundamental problems despite the fact that the car has not produced any startling laps times this week in testing in Barcelona.

Questions are beginning to be asked about the performance of the new Jaguar R5 after a couple of days of very disappointing performance in Barcelona. The word on the street is that the new car has a major aerodynamic problem.

The Williams team is testing Nico Rosberg this week in Barcelona and next week will give Nelson Piquet Jr another run in testing but the signs are that neither man is going to end up as the team's second test driver, working alongside Marc Gene.

A couple of days ago the deal was virtually done, but the difficult relationship between Jos Verstappen and his supporters and Jordan Grand Prix continues with the decision by the team that the Dutchman will not now be testing this week.

The new Renault R24 completed its second day of running in Barcelona in the hands of Jarno Trulli and the new car has completed around 350 miles in the course of the two days without any major technical problems.

The European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs has had a run-in with the FIA over the European Arrest Warrant problems. The FIA President Max Mosley has asked the various governments to look at the legislation and allow for Formula 1 to be exempted from the European Arrest Warrant.

One of the stars of the post-war 500cc Formula 3 scene, Alan Brown has died at the age of 84. He was the first man to score points for the Cooper Car Company in a Formula 1 World Championship event when he finished fifth in the Swiss Grand Prix of 1952.

Bas Leinders wanted to make a big impression on Jordan but things didn't start out well.

The Formula 1 circus has in recent years been at the forefront of attempts to stop the gradual spread of tobacco advertising bans.

BMW's 2002 accounts make interesting reading. The company has recently restated its accounts as it switches to a new accounting system and this reveals a few secrets which were not apparent when the original accounts were published.

The new GP2 Championship which was launched yesterday is apparently not being organised by Renault. The French car company issued a press release today saying that it is only involved in the championship as it is the supplier of the engines.

The new Renault R24 has begun testing in Barcelona, with Jarno Trulli giving the new car its first shakedown runs.

McLaren's third driver Alexander Wurz has not been testing for the team since Jerez in early December, where he discovered that he cannot drive the car because there is no room for his knees inside the monocoque.