Formula One News — July 2004

German GP - Preview

The prototype GP2 chassis ran for the first time this week at Paul Ricard with Renault F1 test driver Franck Montagny driving. The car, built by Dallara, is to be tested in the course of the next few months while the organizers of the series try to attract cars for the 2005 season.

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the tyre contracts for next year with lots of rumours of teams switching to Bridgestone and stories about Sauber switching to Michelin.

Justin Wilson has disappeared off the Formula 1 radar screens since the end of last season but over in America he is making a name for himself with his performances in the Champ car series.

There is one rather important thing which has been overlooked in all the talk about Max Mosley reversing his decision to retire a year ahead of schedule: the FIA Senate's decisions have to be ratified by the FIA World Councils - or at least that is what it says in the FIA statutes.

The Ford Motor Company has just announced its second quarter profits of $1.2bn but the company was quick to point out that this was due to its successful financing operations rather than car sales.

Giancarlo Fisichella has a contract to stay at Sauber in 2005 but it does not look like he's going to. The Roman has emerged in recent days as a contender not only for a drive with the BMW Williams team but also as a possible signing with the Renault team.

The big question being asked in Formula 1 circles at the moment is whether or not 2.4-litre V8 engines are the best way forward for the sport, even if most of the manufacturers involved in F1 have accepted that they will need to build the new units if the FIA insists upon a change.

Tony George, the boss of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the man behind the United States Grand Prix joined Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice and team boss Bobby Rahal on a visit to the meet President George W Bush at the White House in Washington.

The organizers of the planned A1 Grand Prix series have popped up again with a display at the Farnborough International Air Show. The plans for the series are moving ahead and Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum says that negotiations are well-advanced for the sale of 24 national licences to competitors.

The British Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced a new $50m investment to improve the UK's composite industry.

The Formula 1 teams head for Hockenheim this week in the knowledge that there will be no more testing between now and the week after the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., the biggest star in the NASCAR Nextel Cup, suffered second degree burns after a practice crash during the American Le Mans Series's Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sears Point.

The new Toyota 104B will make its F1 debut at Hockenheim later this week.

The rival single-seater racing championships in North America have agreed to disagree and will continue independently of one another. The new will be greeted with joy by NASCAR and is good news also for Formula 1.

Antonio Pizzonia has been named as the second Williams driver for the forthcoming German Grand Prix but the team will continue to pick its replacement for Ralf Schumacher on a race by race basis while other negotiations continue.

Max Mosley will remain as the FIA until the end of next year. The FIA Senate met on Friday in London and it seems failed to find any solution other than begging Mosley to rescind his decision and return as as the head of the FIA until October next year.

The FIA has reiterated the rules package put forward by Max Mosley from his recent press conference at Magny-Cours but at the same time the Formula 1 teams are looking at alternative ways in which to bring the Formula 1 lap times under control, without resorting to some of the more extreme measures.

The Williams team may use Antonio Pizzonia for the next few races. This is not really a surprise as Ralf Schumacher's replacement Marc Gene has done a workmanlike job for the last two events but it has not been enough for the team to consider keeping the Spaniard for the rest of the races.

Attempts to change the way Formula 1 cars qualify before the German Grand Prix have failed, but that is really not a surprise as there is a strong body of opinion in F1 circles that although no-one is happy with the current format, the new one being proposed is really not much better.

The boss of Fiat Auto Herbert Demel says that the troubled Italian car company needs to make a bigger impression in Europe and not rely so heavily on Italian domestic sales.

Toyota Motorsport president John Howett says he believes that Ralf Schumacher is the right man for the team.

Hellman & Friedman, the private equity fund that bought part of the Formula One group some years ago and made a sensible profit on the deal, has just closed a new $3.5bn investment fund and is looking for businesses in which to invest.

Mika Hakkinen retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2002 saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family and admitting that he did not want to take as many risks as previously, after a huge accident in Melbourne at the start of that year after his McLaren a suspension failure.

McLaren technical director Adrian Newey will be free to leave McLaren at the end of July 2005 and that means that we are likely to see a battle for his services. At the moment Newey says that he isn't even thinking about contracts because he is busy working on next year's car.