Formula One News — February 2004

Felipe Massa is under observation in hospital in Barcelona after a huge accident in testing at Turn 1 in Barcelona. The Brazilian youngster suffered what appears to have been a wheel coming off his car as he went into the first corner at the Circuit de Catalunya and went into the barriers.

Felipe Massa had a big accident testing on Wednesday morning in Barcelona. The Sauber driver was taken to hospital after the high-speed crash but at the moment there are no details available as to his injuries. We will bring you further news later.

Takuma Sato broke the unofficial lap record at the Circuit de Catalunya, lapping the track at 1m13.797s, a tenth faster than Jenson Button's time on Monday. Sato was driving the BAR-Honda interim car, while Button set his time in the new BAR 006.

Jordan Grand Prix has announced continuing sponsorship from Benson & Hedges. Gallaher Group PLC, which owns the Benson & Hedges brand has been funding Jordan since 1996 but it is not yet clear whether B&H will have the same level as sponsorship as last year or whether the deal will be reduced.

Max Mosley, speaking at his annual pre-season media lunch, said that he believes that Formula 1 teams should be allowed to sell chassis to one another.

FIA President Max Mosley says that he fully expects tobacco sponsorship to go on beyond 2006.

Max Mosley has confirmed that he intends to stand for another term of office as FIA President when the next election comes in October 2005. The 63-year-old has been FIA President since 1993 and prior to that spent two years running the FISA, the FIA's sporting subsidiary, until that organisation was merged into the FIA.

Luciano Burti will continue as Ferrari's second test driver in 2004. Burti was taken on by Ferrari in 2002 but the team's expansion of its testing capabilities meant that he was joined last year in the role by Felipe Massa.

Jordan and Jos Verstappen have apparently not been able to reach an agreement but that did not stop the team rolling out the new EJ14 at Silverstone yesterday with Trust logos on the car. This was not a mistake.

David Richards stole Max Mosley's thunder somewhat over the weekend by suggesting that several British-based Formula 1 teams might be forced to leave Britain because of changes in the law in Britain and Europe. But the FIA President rammed home the message yesterday at a lunch with newspaper journalists.

The new BAR-Honda 006 went out this morning in Barcelona and almost immediately set a new lap record of the track, stopping the clocks at 1m13.867s, which is eight-tenths of a second faster than Button's own best - set on January 22 in a BAR-Honda interim car - of 1m14.607s.

Work starts next month on the construction of a research and development "hub" for the UK motor sport industry. This will be located at Silverstone and is a joint-venture between the British Racing Drivers' Club and the East Midlands Development Agency. The project is expected to cost around $8m.

The development pace in Formula 1 is such that each new design quickly becomes obsolete as engineers develop the potential of each car as quickly as they can. At the same time designers and aerodynamicists are constantly finding new ways to make cars go faster.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis says that he believes that both David Coulthard and Jenson Button have the potential to be Formula 1 World Champions - even if the team will probably not be running Coulthard in 2005.

Former Formula 1 driver Christian Fittipaldi won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona over the weekend, sharing a Pontiac-powered Doran prototype with Terry Borcheller, Andy Pilgrim and Forest Barber.

David Richards is warning that new British legislation over tobacco sponsorship could be "a disaster" for British motor racing as it could drive the Formula 1 teams abroad.

Bernie Ecclestone says that germany will continue to have two Grands Prix each year, despite the fact that his Formula One group is cutting back on races in Europe.

The technical team at BAR is very keen to go racing this year because of the optimism that the new 2004 package has engendered in the team.

BAR-Honda has launched its new 006 chassis in Barcelona. The new car represents another major step forward in terms of performance for the team and team boss David Richards says that he hopes that the team will be fighting for podiums in 2004.

Paul Stoddart's plan to run a two-seater Formula 1 series at the European Grands Prix has gone the way of many other ideas in F1 because the other team bosses have failed to throw their weight behind the idea.

Ron Dennis has confirmed that McLaren will be building another road car of its own design after the current project with Mercedes-Benz comes to an end in around five years from now.