Formula One News — April 2004

Jacques Regis, president of the Federation Francaise du Sport Automobile (FFSA) has announced that the French Grand Prix will be sponsored this year by Mobil 1 although he says that his organisation, which has taken over the running of the event is not going to get any of the money.

New York City yesterday celebrated Ferrari's 50th year in the United States with the Empire State Building bathed in red light . The United States is traditionally Ferrari's biggest market and last year a total of 1350 of the cars were sold to US clients.

There are suggestions that Ferrari is trying to hire software engineer Naoki Tokunaga, the Nissan engineer who designed the electronic systems which are used by the Renault F1 team.

Takuma Sato went fastest in the first day of the Barcelona testing, lapping the track in 1m14.687s. Jarno Trulli was close behind with a best of 1m14.702s and Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer was also in the picture with a 1m14.864s.

The Nurburgring has announced that it is cutting ticket prices dramatically to try to overcome falling attendance. the European Grand Prix is also planning to expand activities to four days.

There is a story circulating in Brazil that Jordan driver Giorgio Pantano might be replaced shortly by Augusto Farfus Jr, who is currently racing for Alfa Romeo in the European Touring Car series.

Michael Schumacher flew to Dublin on Tuesday to support the launch of Europe's Road Safety Charter on the eve of the first global day of action on road safety - which this year coincides with World Health Day.

There are reports that McLaren is planning to scrap the development programme of the MP4-19 and put all of its energy into building a completely new car to be introduced in August.

Perhaps it is inevitable given the disappointing performance at McLaren but there have been rumours that Kimi Raikkonen is less than happy about the developing situation at McLaren and is looking around to see what might be possible in 2007.

There were whispers in Bahrain that there may be a boycott in the pipeline for one of the European Grands Prix this summer as the Formula 1 community pushes home its opposition to the European Arrest Warrant.

It is no secret that BAR needs a new title sponsor in 2006 or 2007 and thus the recent good results could be a major advantage as the team goes into boardrooms around the world. Getting new sponsorship in F1 these days in very difficult particularly if tobacco companies are involved.

Jordan Grand Prix is believed to be negotiating to use Toyota engines and gearboxes in 2005. The deal, which is believed to be a similar to the arrangement between Ferrari and Sauber, may also include aerodynamic consultancy work.

In Bahrain they say that rain is a blessing and there is no doubt that an unexpected turn in the weather on Sunday morning had a huge effect on the result of the inaugural Bahrain GP.

Bahrain GP - Race Notes

Bahrain GP - Sunday Photos

Bahrain GP - Sunday Press Conference

Bahrain GP - Race Results

Sunday morning in Bahrain saw high winds and rain, a very rare occurrence in the region which has annual rainfall of less than three inches. The weather is not supposed to continue all day with forecasts of better weather in the afternoon.

Bahrain GP - Qualifying Report

Bahrain GP - Saturday Photos

Bahrain GP - Saturday Press Conference

Bahrain GP - Qualifying Results

Bahrain GP - Practice Session 4 Report

Bahrain GP - Practice Session 4 Results

Jenson Button topped the times sheets on Saturday morning with his BAR-Honda a few hundredths faster than Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams-BMW with Michael Schumacher third fastest in his Ferrari, albeit four-tenths slower than the Colombian.