Formula One News — February 2004

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart is once again complaining that engine bills have not been reduced to the $10m which was accepted as a limit for what were called "affordable engines".

The Grand Prix Drivers' Association has announced a competition which will allow six fans the chance to win "a money-can't-buy guided tour of the F1 paddock on race day, during which they will have photo opportunities with several F1 drivers".

Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo is expected to be announced shortly as the head of Confindustria, the Italian federation of industry.

Pat Patrick has called off his planned Indy Racing League programme because he has not been able to raise the finance needed for the programme.

The French engineering firm Mecachrome has announced plans to support Eddie Cheever's Red Bull Cheever Racing team in this year's Indy Racing League.

The British Racing Drivers' Club is applying for planning permission to build a hotel and conference centre in its planned Silverstone High Tech Park.

Scott Dixon has made no secret of his desire to be a Grand Prix driver. A few year ago when racing in the junior formulae in the United States Dixon flew to Europe for a secret test with the Prost Formula 3000 team at Dijon. But his career path has remained in America since then...

The final day of the Imola test saw Michael Schumacher throwing down the gauntlet to his rivals with a new lap record.

There are reports in New Zealand that Scott Dixon, the Indy Racing League Champion, is on the verge of signing a deal with a Formula 1 team.

It is reported in Japan that the Japanese government will shortly announce that it is to sign the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The new Formula 1 regulations for 2004 have been studied from every angle and some think that there are going to be occasions when starting from the back of the grid with a fresh engine is going to be an advantage.

Today's testing at Imola revealed that Williams and Ferrari appear to be closely-matched in terms of performance - if one can conclude anything.

In a very carefully-worded press release TAG Heuer has announced that it is to "relinquish its FIA Formula One timekeeping activity after 12 years of participation".

Ralf Schumacher's comments to a German newspaper at the weekend will not go down well at Williams headquarters in Grove. The German driver's contract with the team is up at the end of this year and the negotiation process has been stalled for some weeks.

The Champ Car series is planning a change in its safety team with Dr. Stephen Olvey and Dr Terry Trammell not being retained to look after drivers at races.

Attempts by electrical workers in Melbourne to disrupt the Australian Grand Prix by going on strike during the Grand Prix weekend are not thought likely to succeed. The electricians want an annual pay rise of five percent.

Ralf Schumacher says that he will be sad to leave Williams at the end of the 2004 but he will do so unless the team improves its financial terms for a new contract.

As we reported a month ago, Renault F1 has concluded a deal to run with Telefonica sponsorship. The deal is based around Fernando Alonso, Spain's rising star. The cars will feature branding in Australia. Renault is also very keen to have bigger profile in the key Spanish market.

A couple of years ago Tomas Enge was an aspiring Grand Prix driver, he had some races with Prost Grand Prix and was looking forward to establishing himself as the first Eastern European Grand Prix driver.

In an effort to attract more spectators to the French Grand Prix, the organisers have dropped the price of general admission ticket prices by 20%, from 100? in 2003 to 80?.

The DaimlerChrysler supervisory board has announced that Jurgen Hubbert is to hand over control of Mercedes-Benz to Dr Wolfgang Bernhard on May 1. Hubbert will remain with the company and in August will take over as head of the Executive Automotive Committee.

Ferrari had to abandon its test at Mugello yesterday because of rain and snow flurries at the track near Florence. Michael Schumacher managed only one installation lap at the wheel of a F2004 in the morning.

Formula 1's propaganda war continued at Valencia on Thursday with McLaren finally wading into battle with a new lap record from Kimi Raikkonen at 1m08.995s, a tenth quicker than Juan Pablo Montoya's lap record of the previous day. Montoya's time was also beaten by Mark Webber in his Jaguar.

Sauber test driver Neel Jani was in action today on the streets of Manama in Bahrain, promoting the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. The Swiss driver was at the wheel of a Sauber C22.

Timo Glock has been signed by Jordan to act as the team's third driver at races this year. The 21-year-old German was a frontrunner on occasion in the Formula 3 Eurocup in 2003. Prior to that he made his name as the 2000 Formula BMW ADAC Champion.