Formula One News — February 2005

Fiat has dumped former Ford Europe chief Martin Leach from his role as head of Maserati. He had been in the job for less than a year and is currently fighting a legal action against Ford.

McLaren has finally confirmed that it will be sponsored by the whisky brand Johnnie Walker. The label is owned by the vast drinks conglomerate Diageo, which is also involved in NASCAR with its Smirnoff and Crown Royal brands.

Nicky Pastorelli has been signed by the Midland Jordan team as the team's third driver in 2005. He will help Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro.

American racer Charlie Kimball has signed to race for Carlin Motorsport in the British F3 Championship. Kimball had a successful debut year in Formula Ford in Britain in 2004 and hopes to make a big impression with Carlin.

The Sauber team has added its voice to the car manufacturers' plan to go ahead and develop a breakaway Formula 1 series.

In the brave new world of Formula 1 lap times being slashed on the grounds of safety - and rules being pushed through at all costs, despite opposition - it really is not a great idea if the new rules, which cost the teams a lot of money, do not work.

The Austrian press will no doubt be getting very excited about the announcement that Christian Klien will partner David Coulthard for the Australian Grand Prix. The 22-year-old Austrian had a mediocre season with the Jaguar team (now Red Bull) in 2004.

McLaren is working towards a situation in which it will not have to be in Formula 1 in 2008 if it does not want to be.

Antonio Pizzonia was testing for Williams this week in Spain but his manager Jayme Brito has disappeared off to America once again to try to sort out a drive as it seems there is no deal at the moment over a third drive at Williams.

Fiat continues to restructure dramatically after the deal with GM and it has been announced that the chief executive of Fiat Auto Herbert Demel has been axed after just 15 months in the job.

The Canadian Grand Prix has been in Montreal since the 1970s and has survived thanks to the successes of Gilles Villeneuve and his son Jacques. But now it seems Alex Shnaider wants to take the race to Toronto.

It is undoubtedly just a coincidence but just a couple of weeks after Ray Evernham announced that he would be setting up an engine operation in Northampton there comes news that Dodge, which Evernham represents in NASCAR is planning a global expansion.

The news that Fiat is to take over Ferrari's Maserati business in order to link it to Alfa Romeo has led to intense speculation in Italy that the company could be on the verge of selling off Ferrari.

As we suggested last week Sauber and BMW are in deep conversation about an engine supply for the 2006 season.

In July last year the Formula 1 technical directors got together on the orders of FIA President Max Mosley to cut three seconds a lap from the Formula 1 lap times in 2005.

The five manufacturers involved in Formula 1, other than Ferrari, have issued a statement about today's meeting of the Formula 1 teams at Cliveden in England. The document was issued by BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Renault and Toyota.

The stories suggesting that Patrick Friesacher does not qualify for a Super Licence are totally erroneous.

The Formula 1 team principals left their meeting with the GPWC on Wednesday afternoon grim-faced and unwilling to talk about what had happened. What is clear however is that the five-hour meeting during which they saw presentations from George Taylor of the iSe and Burkhard Goschel of BMW.

Fiat has stripped Maserati out of the Ferrari group in an effort to spruce up the Alfa Romeo brand, using a little of the reflected glory which Maserati has acquired with its association with Ferrari.

Eddie Jordan is a former Formula 1 team boss and thus his opinions do not carry as much weight as perhaps once they might have done. When all is said and done, he no longer has a vote. He has voted with his wallet.

Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell's new sports management company, 2MB, has signed two rising young British motorsport stars Tim Bridgman and Sam Bird.

The Mexican Grand Prix could be back on despite the local authorities in Cancun saying they have not given the necessary planning permission for construction to begin on the 940-acre site at Mantarraya.

Mario Dominguez has explained to a US website that he was offered a drive with Midland in 2005 but turned it down to stay with HWM in Champ Car racing. He says he has also signed a letter of intent for 2006.

Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in testing yesterday in Barcelona, outrunning Juan Pablo Montoya by 0.236s, while the McLaren driver was just a tenth ahead of the Toyota of Ricardo Zonta, indicating that perhaps the Toyota is not as bad a car as some of the stories that have been circulating are suggesting.

Today the iSe company will make a presentation to the Formula 1 teams (other than Ferrari) explaining to them the plans they have drawn up for the future of Grand Prix racing.