Formula One News — July 2005

German GP - Practice Session 2 Results

The word on the street in Hockenheim is that McLaren may be about to announce a sponsorship with British Telecommunications plc.

German GP - Practice Session 1 Report

German GP - Practice Session 1 Results

German GP - Preview

Jordan F1 has 10 days in which to complete its engine deal with Toyota and Williams is waiting quietly on the sidelines, keen to see whether the Russian-owned team will hit the deadline.

There is a scandal in Germany where the boss of microchip firm Infineon Technologies has resigned amid allegations that he accepted kick-backs in connection with a motorsport sponsorship deal.

Our sources in Denmark say that Nicolas Kiesa will drive the third Jordan this weekend in Germany and, if all goes to plan, will remain in the car for the rest of the year. The 27-year-old drove for Minardi in 2003 after Justin Wilson moved to Jaguar Racing but was unable to find a job in 2004.

It is perhaps worth noting that in the last 10 days we have seen some dramatic results in terms of crowd figures at relatively minor events. Renault has been pushing hard in recent months to promote the its World Series by Renault championship and has achieved some quite startling results.

The announcement that Jordan F1 has signed up with the Ferrari and Red Bull Racing for the revised Concorde Agreement means very little. If anything, in fact, it underlines the team's weakness at the moment.

Michelin has announced that it has received a request from an eighth Formula 1 team and while it is happy that this demonstrates that F1 teams want to use its products, it is calling for Bridgestone to take on more teams.

Jordan has signed up for the revised Concorde Agreement between 2008 and 2012 but as the team is in no position to do much else this is not really a surprise.

McLaren's Young Driver Support programme has a problem. Twenty-year-old Lewis Hamilton is just too good and if he keeps on winning as he has been in recent months, his success will almost demand a seat in Formula 1.

The Minardi F1 Team has confirmed that Dutchman Robert Doornbos is to join Christijan Albers in the team with immediate effect. The Jordan test driver will replace Patrick Friesacher.

These are difficult times for Formula 1 publishers but we hear from France that the best-selling Formules magazine is looking to expand.

BMW has moved quickly to strengthen Sauber's underfunded windtunnel programme and hopes to have the facility in Hinwil running much more than is currently possible as soon as there are engineers to run it.

Former Grand Prix driver Tomas Enge is resting at home in Indianapolis after fracturing two vertebrae in a heavy accident last weekend at the Nashville Speedway.

Ever the loose cannon, Red Bull Racing has taken the very strange decision to become the second team to agree to sign the Concorde Agreement extension from 2008-2012. Red Bull Racing thus joins its future engine supplier Ferrari as the only two teams to agree to the deal.

The FIA President Max Mosley likes to say that Paul Stoddart comes out with double Dutch and it looks like that is going to happen at Hockenheim with Robert Doornbos almost certain to be named as the replacement for impecunious Austrian Patrick Friesacher alongside Christijan Albers.

Olivier Panis gave the Toyota V8 its first shakedown runs at Jerez this week, the RVX06 proving to be reliable if around 200 horsepower down on the current V10 engines.

Michelin and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have announced details of the ticket refund process for ticket holders to the 2005 United States Grand Prix. All tickets purchased for race day are eligible for the Michelin ticket refund.

Patrick Friesacher will probably not be in the second Minardi next week, unless his sponsors come up with money which is needed to keep the young Austrian in the car.

Williams F1 primary sponsor Hewlett-Packard will soon announce a restructuring plan that could lead to major job cuts as the computer company cuts costs. This could have an effect on the company's F1 sponsorship.

Following the FIA Survey of Formula 1 fans, the Grand Prix world has woken up to the idea that it is a good idea to ask the customer what they would like to see in F1.

There have been some rumours in recent days linking former Benetton and BAR boss David Richards with a deal to acquire the struggling Jordan F1 team as the current owners Midland seem to be going nowhere in no particular hurry.