Formula One News — January 2004

The fate of the French Grand Prix will be decided today at a meeting of team principals in London and although there are a few attempts going on to keep optimistic, all the signs are that the race will be cancelled.

Belgian Bas Leinders will test for Jordan Grand Prix next week. Leinders is one of several drivers who are believed to have money available for the Jordan test drive but is not thought likely to be one of the team's race drivers in 2004. Those roles look set to go to Jos Verstappen and a British driver.

Formula 1 aspirant Giorgio Pantano is on the verge of signing for Super Nova Racing, to have another crack at the FIA International Formula 3000 title.

Toyota has gone into partnership with Intel, the US giant microprocessor company. The deal will see Intel logos on the cars and the Formula 1 team upgrading its computer systems to use the latest Intel processors.

Bernie Ecclestone Formula 1 "fixer" Philippe Gurdjian has been appointed to help the locals get everything ready in time for the planned race in April. Gurdjian has a long and successful record as a race organizer, having run 13 French Grands Prix and another three in both Malaysia and Spain.

The meeting which was planned for today to discuss an Indian GP has been postponed at the request of the Indians but the intention remains to have a contract signed and sealed as soon as possible so that the first race can be run in 2007.

The organizers of the Indian Grand Prix in Hyderabad will meet Bernie Ecclestone tomorrow for final talks about a contract for an event from 2007 onwards.

The Indy Racing League has confirmed that it is looking at buying the assets of rival CART. IRL personnel looked at the available assets last week and have until January 23 to decide whether or not to make an offer to the bankruptcy court in Indianapolis.

As we predicted several weeks ago Rubens Barrichello has re-signed for Ferrari for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The contract is believed to be worth $12m a year.

Renault F1 has finally got its 2004 V10 engine up and running on the dynos at Viry-Chatillon. If all goes to plan the new engine will be put in a car and will begin track testing on Monday.

Reports from France in the last few days have indicated that Renault is to be supported in 2004 by the Spanish telephone company Telefonica. The team is reported to have signed a deal with Telefonica for $7m in sponsorship.

Giancarlo Fisichella has a two-year deal to drive for Sauber but the Italian says that he is hoping to be in a position to jump into one of the top teams in 2005 - if the opportunity presents itself.

The new Sauber C23 is a step back - and a step forward for the Swiss team. The C23 no longer features the "double keel" under the nose but rather depends on more conventional single keel aerodynamics developed by Willy Rampf and his team at Hinwil.

Peter Sauber has confirmed that his team is not intending to run a third car in 2004, despite the fact that it may be a disadvantage as the team will not be able to use the extra car to do tyre testing on Fridays at each Grand Prix.

Peter Sauber has added to his voice to the worries being expressed by various Formula 1 teams about the team dropping value of the US dollar. The American currency has dropped 17% against the Euro this year and this is affecting the F1 teams who do most of their sponsorships in dollars.

The Sauber team has signed new sponsorship deals with sponsors from China and the Middle East. The Swiss team has an agreement with Egypt's Sokhna Port and the Chinese insurance company Taikang Life, one of the country's top insurance businesses.

Sauber is to unveil its new C23 today in Salzburg, Austria, where sponsor Red Bull has built a huge new hangar to house its aviation collection.

In the light of Formula 1's plans to visit Bahrain in April, it is worth noting that the Paris-Dakar Rally has run into trouble in North Africa.

Talking to Formula 1 team owners has revealed that there is no chance at the moment that they are going to change the rules relating to who is allowed to take part in Friday testing at Grands Prix.

Jaguar Racing will unveil its new R5 next week and the team is cconfident that the new car is going to be a step forward for the team, which showed great promise with Mark Webber in 2003.

Jordan Grand Prix will use exactly the same engine at Jaguar Racing in 2004 - although the Silverstone-based team will pay for the privilege...

The annual Paris-Dakar rally raid is currently going on in Africa and a number of former Formula 1 drivers are figuring strongly in the event although none have been able to keep up the pace which has been set by Mitsubishi drivers Stephane Petershansel and his team mate Hiroshi Masuoka.

The Dutch motor racing fraternity seem to be convinced that Jos Verstappen has now done his deal with Jordan Grand Prix and that an announcement to that effect will be made on Monday. This makes perfect sense as Verstappen has the largest pot of sponsorship at the moment and has nowhere else to go.

Ford's Premier Automotive Group - comprising Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo - is reported to have returned a profit for the first time since it was formed in the late 1990s.

It is worth noting that the highest-rating sports broadcast in France last year was TF1's coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix in April, which boasted a viewership of 9.5m people. This was 100,000 viewers more than Channel 2's coverage of the semi-final of the World Cup Rugby tournament.