Formula One News — March 2004

Germany is supporting Britain in its call to stop the European Union pushing ahead with its plan to restrict the number of hours that people can work. The EU wants Britain to adhere to a strict 48 hour working week but Britain wants to retain an opt-out clause that it has enjoyed for the last 10 years.

As we have been reporting for some time, Ralf Schumacher is on the verge of signing a huge new deal with Toyota for the 2005-2009 seasons, with reports of Ralf earning $20m a year. Our sources say that the deal is actually worth more than that.

The Indianapolis Motor Speeedway is to resurface the oval later this year. The work will take around two months to complete and will use 36,500 tons of asphalt. The infield section of traffic used by the Formula 1 cars will be not resurfaced but as the F1 cars run for part of the lap on the oval it will be significant.

The Bahrain Ministry of the Interior says that all the necessary security precautions have been taken in preparation for the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, which will be the largest sporting event to take place in the Middle East.

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum has announced his plans for the new A1 Grand Prix series, which the Dubai royal believes will be a completely new concept in motor racing.

Independent of the presentation of the new A1 Grand Prix series and apparently unrelated, the new Dubai Autodrome and Business Park was launched on Monday with a major event at the new circuit, which is nearing completion not far from the city of Dubai.

The new A1 Grand Prix series, the Dubai-based "winter" championship is to be launched today at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. The series is being promoted by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, a member of the ruling royal family of Dubai.

A man was arrested in Bahrain for allegedly attempting to print forged tickets for the forthcoming race.

The Bahrain Monetary Agency has issued a medal and a coin to commemorate the inaugural Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Takuma Sato was the first Formula 1 driver to arrive in Bahrain, flying into the Kingdom on Sunday night. Many of the F1 team crews have already arrived and have been setting up at the circuit.

The French Grand Prix was saved last winter by the intervention of the regional government, led by republican Jean-Pierre Soisson after the socialist Conseil General of the Nievre, which oversaw the race, pulled the plug on the event after two years of losses.

Scott Dixon impressed the BMW Williams F1 team with his first day of testing at the Paul Ricard circuit, lapping the track within four-tenths of regular runner Ralf Schumacher. Schumacher lapped the track at 1m11.330s while Dixon did a best time of 1m11.753s.

Former Jordan driver Ralph Firman will take a step back this year and will race in the Nissan World Series. The Anglo-Irish driver will join the Gabord Competition team, which is aiming for a third consecutive Nissan title.

Earlier this week Ecuador become the 100th country to sign the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The following day Congo lifted the number to 101.

Justin Wilson has been confirmed as Mi-Jack Conquest Racing's driver in 2004. The Formula 1 refugee will almost certainly be joined by a second driver but at the moment there is no indication who will this be.

Jaguar Racing's Chief Engineer Malcolm Oastler is going back to Australia and giving up motorsport. Oastler will work with the team until June.

There are reports from the United States that former Jaguar F1 driver Justin Wilson is on the verge of signing to drive for Eric Bachelart's Mi-Jack Conquest Racing in the Champ Car World Series. The team is expected to run Lola chassis this year rather than last year's Reynards.

Max Mosley, the head of the FIA, yesterday met with Roberto Castelli, the Italian Justice Minister, to discuss the problems of the European Union arrest warrant law.

More than 200 demonstrators yesterday attacked the US Embassy compound in Manama, shouting "Death to America and Israel" and pelting the facility with rocks. The attack, which caused no damage, was broken up by riot police using tear gas and batons.

In February Canada's Auditor General Sheila Fraser released details of a explosive report on government advertising and sponsorship programmes. Fraser concluded that huge fees and commissions were paid to PR agencies without there being any real benefit for Canadians.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council met in Paris today and agreed to change the format of qualifying in Formula 1. The first part of Saturday's session will now move forward to 13.00 and there will then be a gap before the start of the second session at 14.00.

The BMW Williams F1 test team is in action today at Paul Ricard where Marc Gene and Antonio Pizzonia kick off the development work today. Tomorrow Ralf Schumacher will take over from Gene and on Friday he will be joined by Indy Racing League champion Scott Dixon, in his first try-out with the team.

Reports of a fire at the new Sauber windtunnel have been grossly exaggerated. According to the team there was a short circuit in one of the transformers yesterday afternoon and the smoke produced triggered the fire alarms to go off at Hinwil.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council meets today in Paris and while there is nothing major expected, it is possible that the Council will look at the question of Formula 1 qualifying, although there does not appear to have been any movement from the teams towards finding a solution to the problem.

Despite rumours to the contrary, we understand that Ralf Schumacher's deal with Toyota is as good as done and the German will be with the team earning a very decent salary for a long period of time.