Formula One News — November 2004

The Formula Nippon Championship comes to a head this weekend at Suzuka with Andre Lotterer (PIAA Nakajima) and Richard Lyons (DoCoMo Dandelion) battling for the title.

The Nissan World Series meets for the last time this weekend at Jerez de la Frontera. After seven years the series is being cancelled to make way for the Renault World Series, which will kick off on May 1 next year at Zolder before moving on to a race supporting the Monaco GP.

The word on the street from the Williams factory in Grove is that the team's chief aerodynamicist Dr Antonia Terzi is leaving and her role will be taken by France's Loic Bigois.

General Motors has announced that it is withdrawing from the Indy Racing League after the end of its current contract in 2006. The US company has struggled to be competitive against Honda and Toyota and last year had to resort to desperate measures and ask Ford subsidiary Cosworth Racing to supply it.

The latest moves in the musical chairs of the Formula 1 teams have speeded up in recent days with Red Bull suddenly back in the picture with Jaguar Racing and the Chinese businessman who was looking at Jordan having suddenly faded from the scene.

There are reports in today's Financial Times in London suggesting that Red Bull is in the final stages of negotiations to buy Jaguar Racing. The newspaper, which can often be relied upon, cites sources close to the deal saying that Red Bull and Ford are fighting over the price of the team.

The Formula 3 Euroseries will be one of the support races for next year's Monaco Grand Prix following lengthy negotiations between the series organisers and the Automobile Club de Monaco.

As we reported on Monday, Kimi Raikkonen is planning to set up his own Formula 3 team in league with his manager Steve Robertson, a former F3 race winner between 1989 and 1991.

Arden International is pushing ahead with its plans to contest the new GP2 series with tests in recent days in Estoril and Barcelona for a number of young drivers. The tests will continue next week in Jerez.

Nicolas Todt, the son of Ferrari boss Jean Todt, will be fielding a team in the new GP2 series next year in association with the French Formula 3 team ASM. The team will be based at Villeneuve la Guyard, near Fontainebleau, to the south-east of Paris.

Bernie Ecclestone says that there will be a Grand Prix in South Africa within five years - but it is not the first time he has said that.

The Australian Grand Prix cost the state $9.5m in 2003-2004 according to the latest report from the grand prix corporation. This year's figures reveal an increased attendance of 3.5%, resulting in ticket sales of $30m, with total revenues up to $38m.

The death of United Arab Emirates President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi looks likely to increase Dubai's influence in the Gulf region.

The Ford Motor Company is not flavour of the month in Formula 1 circles at the moment, with continuing rumours of legal actions in the pipeline against the Detroit automobile maker.

The Sauber team has signed a contract with French tyre manufacturer Michelin. This agreement comes into effect immediately, and the team will conduct its first test with Michelin tyres between November 24 and 26 in Barcelona, when Jacques Villeneuve will also be getting his test test with the team.

Ford's recent success in the World Rally Championship seems to have tipped the Detroit company into staying in the WRC for four more years.

Jaguar Racing test driver Bjorn Wirdheim seems to have given up on his immediate ambitions in Formula 1 and is rumoured to be on his way to Champ Car racing next year with Kevin Kalkhoven's PKV Racing.

Rising British racing star James Rossiter is believed to have signed a deal to race for the Signature team in the Formula 3 Eurocup next year.

We hear that the onset of the new Midland F1 team will mean some changes at Carlin Motorsport in the months ahead.

The action by nine of the 10 teams in Brazil, proposing a cut back in testing and requesting a control tyre situation seems to have run out of steam as team bosses have gone their separate ways since Interlagos.

The recent departure of Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, the chairman and chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, came as a shock to everyone at parent company BMW.

The Toyota Motor Corporation has reported a 11.4% increase in its earnings in the six months up to September 30. The company made profits of $5.5bn on sales of $85bn (an increase is sales of nearly 10%).

There is talk that there may soon be two Grands Prix in Japan and it is easy to see how that is going to happen. The current deal between the Formula One group and Suzuka runs out in 2006 by which time the Mount Fuji International circuit will be ready to challenge Suzuka for the deal.

The A1 Grand Prix series has announced five more franchise-holders including Alan Jones, the 1980 Formula 1 World Champion, who is fronting an Australian entry, and deals for South Africa, Portugal, Canada and Malaysia.

The Ford Motor Company is believed to be close to selling Cosworth Racing, its competition engine subsidiary which in recent years has supplied Jaguar Racing with its V10 engines, Champ Car with its power units and built engines for Chevrolet in the Indy Racing League.