Formula One News — December 2004

Sebastien Bourdais has confirmed that he has "no chance" of a drive at Williams next year.

NASCAR Nextel Cup racer Casey Mears is to replace Jeff Gordon in the American team for the Race of Champions and Nations Cup competitions in Paris on Saturday.

David Coulthard showed up in Paris for the Race of Champions event and confirmed that he is talking with Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz about a drive with Red Bull Racing in 2005 but no deal is done yet.

NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon spent Wednesday night in the hospital with flu-like symptoms and he has had to call off his trip to Paris to go head-to-head with Michael Schumacher in the Race of Champions.

Carlos Ghosn, the man who earned the nickname of "Le Costcutter" because of his ruthless ability to slash costs, will take the top job at Renault next year. But his policies at Nissan are now beginning to hurt the Japanese car maker.

Rising British racing star Jamie Green is moving to the DTM series in Germany next year.

Nelson Piquet Jr will have a test with BAR-Honda next week in Jerez de la Frontera. The young Brazilian will be the fourth young driver that the team will have tried.

Michael Schumacher will enjoy a victory parade down the Champs Elysees on Sunday driving a Ferrari F2004.

The Formula 1 team bosses are to meet on Monday to discuss the matters of the moment, including their plans for a testing restriction for 2005.

The GP2 series has announced that, subject to official confirmation of the calendar (and the rules) of the new championship by the FIA, there will be 12 rounds in 2005 with the finale taking place in Bahrain on September 24-25.

Patrick Long, the young American driver supported in recent years by grandprix.com scored a sensational class victory in the inaugural Bahrain FIA-GT Festival in Bahrain at the wheel of his Team Infineon Porsche 996 GTR3. Long was in dominant form and quickly dealt with the opposition.

The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has received its 40th signature and will become international law in 90 days from now.

There are rumours today that suddenly David Coulthard is top of the list as a driver at Red Bull Racing.

Craig Pollock is reported to be taking legal action against his former partner British American Tobacco.

The A1 Grand Prix series has unveiled details of a new team from the Lebanon. Team Lebanon was unveiled by the country's president Emile Lahoud at the Le Royal Hotel, Beirut. The event was hosted by Nadhmi Auchi. His son Tameem will be the boss of the new team.

Red Bull Racing is in Jerez this week with the other F1 teams and will run 21-year-old Swiss driver Neel Jani on Friday as part of the team's on-going driver evaluation programme.

Max Mosley was in the United States earlier this week to meet with automotive engineers and US racing industry politicians at the SAE Motorsports Engineering Conference.

There are no big excitements in the official entry list for the 2005 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, which was issued this afternoon by the FIA. The only point of real interest is that, for the moment, the name of Jaguar Racing has not been changed but that appears to be just a formality.

Mark Smith has rejoined Jordan Grand Prix as Technical Director, returning to the team where he spent 10 years before moving to Renault. Smith was one of Jordan's original designers in 1991.