Formula One News — October 2004

Typhoon Ma-on has missed the Suzuka area and is now heading towards Tokyo. The rain stopped in Suzuka at about 3pm local time (0600 GMT) and although it possible that there will be more rain from accompanying storms, fears that the wind would cause considerable damage at the Suzuka Circuit have now passed.

Eddie Jordan has hit out at the Ford Motor Company and Formula 1 in general, saying that the decision-makers are getting old and have no succession plans.

The Formula 1 circus spent Saturday morning holed up in various hotels in the Suzuka area, a number of people nursing sore heads after a little too much time off on Friday night. The arrival of Typhoon Ma-on was expected to be around midday on Saturday but the storm's progress slowed slightly

Oakwell Associates has admitted that it has a serious intent to acquire Jaguar Racing and its sister company Cosworth Racing from the Ford Motor Company. Oakwell says it wants to enter F1 to enhance its corporate brand and build a dynamic image.

Japanese GP - Practice Session 2 Report

Japanese GP - Friday Photos

Japanese GP - Friday Press Conference

Formula 1 has a wonderful habit of being totally introspective and not even considering the possibility that the weather in Suzuka might actually become so bad that it is impossible to hold the Japanese Grand Prix.

Formula 1 has stumbled right into the biggest typhoon to hit Japan for 10 years with winds of 75mph expected to hit the Mie prefecture, where Suzuka is located just a couple of miles inland from the sea, on Saturday afternoon.

The qualifying sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix will be taking place on Sunday morning. The pre-qualifying runs will take place starting at 09.00 and the main session will then follow at 10.00. The race is then expected to start on schedule at 14.30.

The FIA and the Suzuka circuit have decided to call off activities on Saturday because of the arrival of the Typhoon Number 22. The racing authorities have decided that it is too dangerous for the event to go ahead because of the large amount of temporary equipment on site which could injure spectators.

The Japanese Grand Prix is in doubt. Tropical Storm Number 22 continues its progress towards Suzuka with heavy rain and winds in excess of 60mph. It is predicted that the storm will arrive at Suzuka at midday tomorrow and a decision is expected this evening to ensure that the Japanese public are warned in advance

As we exclusively predicted the Midland Group has announced plans to establish a new Formula 1 team in 2006. The team will be called Midland F1 and will be backed by the Russian-backed financial, Guernsey-registered company. The cars will be built by Dallara.

Japanese GP - Practice Session 2 Results

Japanese GP - Practice Session 1 Results

The Guardian newspaper in London has accused Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone of "holding the British Grand Prix to ransom" and has urged the British government not to give in to Ecclestone's demands.

On Friday morning the Formula 1 circus woke to rain, the precursor of what is expected to be a very wet weekend in the Mie Prefecture as Typhoon Number 22 (the Japanese do not name their typhoons) heads northward towards the main Japanese island of Honshu.

If Bernie Ecclestone had planned a bid to save himself being blamed for the demise of the British Grand Prix, he could hardly have come up with a better package than the one presented by the mysterious Brand Synergy Ltd, which even includes someone with enough profile to give the story the necessary "spin"

Japanese GP - Preview

The British Grand Prix is not saved yet, despite stories which suggest that former World Champion Nigel Mansell is going to be involved with a consortium which will guarantee the race at Silverstone for the next seven years.

The plans for a new Formula 1 team to be started in 2006 may be coming from a British-registered company but it seems that Russian money is behind the plan. Our sources say that the F1 project will be undertaken by a privately-owned, Guernsey-registered, holding company called Midland Resources Holding.

As the Formula 1 circus was gathering in Japan for the penultimate race of the season the world was doing its best to disrupt acivities. Those who visited Tokyo on the way to Suzuka were treated to a decent-sized earthquake on Wednesday evening, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale.

There is still some confusion as to the final Formula 1 calendar for next year with various different versions floating about at the moment. The two most likely versions of the calendar both include 19 races and it is believed that at least one (and perhaps three) of the events will eventually be dropped.

Formula Nippon racer Richard Lyons was hoping to make his Grand Prix debut this weekend with the Jordan team at Suzuka but he was not able to raise the money in time to get the drive.

The political landscape in Sao Paulo, Brazil is changing at the moment with elections going on for the job of mayor. The current incumbent Marta Suplicy finished second behind the social democrat Jose Serra.