Formula One News — April 2005

San Marino GP - Qualifying Session 1 Results

Jenson Button underlined the new-found performance of the BAR-Honda team with the fastest lap in morning practice at Imola on Saturday. The Englishman made it look easy as he lapped in 1m20.058s while his chasers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen both seemed to be working hard to get their times.

San Marino GP - Practice Session 4 Results

As exclusively predicted some weeks ago, Minardi is to test Chinese driver Marchy Lee Yin-Kin. The Formula BMW Asia Champion raced in France in 1998 and finished fourth in the Formula Campus series.

The Formula 1 team bosses met yesterday in Imola to discuss whether or not to change qualifying and decided that before making nay move they need to be sure that they are doing the right thing after a series of failed qualifying systems.

San Marino GP - Practice Session 3 Results

France's Nicolas Lapierre set the fastest time in qualifying for the inaugural GP2 race at Imola. Lapierre scores two points for pole position, beating Giorgio Pantano by 0.005secs.

Jenson Button dominated the second session of practice at Imola, underlining the new-found speed of the BAR-Honda. Kimi Raikkonen was second fastest in the McLaren while Rubens Barrichello was third fastest for Ferrari but he was nearly a second behind.

San Marino GP - Friday Photos

San Marino GP - Friday Press Conference

San Marino GP - Friday Team Quotes

San Marino GP - Practice Session 2 Results

The South African government has become the 63rd to ratify the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This commits the South Africans to banning all tobacco sponsorship and the other 62 signatories to ensure that the South Africans keep to the rules of the treaty.

McLaren led the way in the first practice session at Imola.

San Marino GP - Practice Session 1 Results

The Formula 1 Group of Nine appears to have shrunk to a Group of Seven. A meeting is planned this afternoon in Imola and Red Bull Racing and Jordan have not been invited to attend, having decided to split with the group recently in order to attend an FIA meeting in Paris.

We understand that Honda's increased involvement in British American Racing has led to the team the Dome wind tunnel in Japan in order to supplement the work being done at the team's wind tunnel facility in Brackley.

The BMW Williams team is to use GP2 driver Nico Rosberg to do some of its testing in the next few weeks.

In the pre-post-tobacco era, Formula 1 teams are beginning to look to alternative sources of funding and many an eye has alighted on the spirit world. This does not mean that F1 sponsor hunters are now using Ouija boards but rather that they are looking at alcohol producers to come up with the cash.

San Marino GP - Preview

The French Grand Prix has come up with another new idea about how to promote the event and has done a deal with 1000 of the country's 32,000 tobacconists and, for the first time ever, they will be selling F1 tickets to their customers.

Cosworth Racing says that it regularly runs its 2,4-litre V8 development engine for next year at 20,000rpm, while the current V10 is running to 19,000rpm.

Jean Todt recognises things of value and so its is really not a big surprise that he is trying to talk Michael Schumacher into staying on at Ferrari after his contract comes to a close at the end of next year. Schumacher has not said that he is interested in staying on.

Shell is to renew its technical partnership with Ferrari for another five years, which will take the relationship from 2006 until the end of 2010. Shell will continue to provide fuels and lubricants to Ferrari's road car division as well as its racing team.

The United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis will be supported by a Menards Infiniti Pro Series race, to be called the Liberty Challenge. It will be the first time that the Pro Series will have raced independently of the Indy Racing League.