Formula One News — August 2004

BAR has issued a statement making it clear that it believes that Jenson Button is under contract for 2005.

The US tobacco industry is now in the sixth year of its 25-year deal with the majority of the state governments in the USA to pay $206bn as a settlement for legal actions over the cost of medical treatment of smokers. Now it seems the US Federal Government is mounting a new attack on tobacco.

Max Mosley might want to stand for re-election in October 2005. An interview with the 64-year-old FIA President in F1 Racing magazine quotes Mosley as saying that he had no intention of such a thing but that "there's significant pressure from all sides of the FIA saying I should."

The loss of Jenson Button is going to be a massive blow to BAR-Honda ambitions and the team atmosphere in the team is obviously not going to be very good for the rest of the year.

The announcement that Jenson Button has gone to BMW Williams in 2005 and 2006 has come as a huge surprise for everyone in Formula 1 even, it seems, team boss Frank Williams.

24-year-old Jenson Button has signed a contract to drive for Williams-BMW in 2005 and 2006.

Williams has confirmed that Antonio Pizzonia is going to be Ralf Schumacher's replacement for the Hungarian Grand prix and probably for the Belgian GP as well.

As we exclusively reported yesterday, Panasonic Toyota Racing has dropped Cristiano da Matta and will replace him with third driver Ricardo Zonta with immediate effect. The team confirmed the move in a press release earlier today.

Ralf Schumacher will miss at least two more Grands Prix despite his recent comments on a visit to the German Grand Prix. The German said that he wanted to be back in F1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix but that was never likely given that he needs to be passed fit by FIA doctors.

The 1979 World Champion Jody Scheckter will be attending the forthcoming Altech South African F1x2 Charity Grand Prix at Kyalami as one of the additional attractions for the event, which will feature a race between Minardi's eighth two-seater F1 cars.

The word on the street in Brazil is that Rio de Janeiro will host the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2006. The Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo has been the venue of the Brazilian Grand Prix since 1990 but prior to that the race was held for nine years at the Jacarepagua track, outside Rio de Janeiro.

We are getting reports in from Brazil and from Germany that Panasonic Toyota Racing's Cristiano da Matta will not be seen in the team again this year and that his place will be taken in the races ahead by the team's third driver Ricardo Zonta.

During the Friday testing for the German Grand Prix Lucky Strike BAR Honda ran its spare car fitted with a software-controlled hydraulic system which allows torque transfer from one front wheel to the another.

Mario Andretti will be Grand Marshal of New York City's 60th Columbus Day Parade on October 11. Columbus Day is a national holiday which remembers the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

There has been speculation for months that David Coulthard might be the perfect man to replace Mark Webber at Jaguar Racing in 2005 but our sources in the team said that there was no chance of that deal happening as the team was not willing to pay a lot of money for a star driver.

Mike Gascoyne's arrival at Toyota earlier this year was the beginning of a revamp at the Cologne team which will bear full fruit when the F105 appears next year but in the interim the feisty Gascoyne set to work to do what he could to improve the performance of the F104.

The Indy Racing League will feature road courses next year with two non-oval events planned for the 16-race calendar next year. The IRL will race at Sears Point in California on August 28 and at Watkins Glen in New York State on September 25.

It is worth noting that the State of Qatar in the Arabian Gulf has become the latest nation to ratify the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty which seeks to ban all tobacco sponsorship in sport.

British American Racing has appealed against the decision of the FIA Stewards at Hockenheim to ban the team from using an "electro-hydraulic software controlled device which connects the front wheels via drive shafts and allows controlled torque transfer from a faster wheel to a slower wheel even under braking".

Although Formula 1 is now on holiday for a few days, a lot of other racing series have been busy around the world with the Indy Racing League in action at Michigan International Speedway, Formula Nippon at Sugo, the Eurocup Formula 3 teams busy at the Nurburgring, and the Renault V6 Eurocup at Spa.

The Sunday Times in London reported at the weekend that Eddie Jordan has agreed terms to sell his team to the Dubai royal family. Our understanding is that the deal has been agreed but will not be completed for a couple of months while the financial details of the arrangement are sorted out.