Formula One News — May 2006

Kangaroo Media Inc. and Formula One Management have announced a six-year deal to provide fans at races with live race video, audio and data on Kangaroo Media's unique KangarooTV hand-held device.

The Federation Fran§aise du Sport Automobile will be celebrating 100 years of Grand Prix racing with a display of historic Grand Prix cars on the streets of Paris on the weekend of June 3-4.

As we predicted back in December last year, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has signed a deal with Alice to replace Vodafone in 2007. The deal is believed to be worth $25m a year for at least three years.

Monaco GP - Wednesday Press Conference

Ferrari have announced a three year sponsorship deal with Italian broadband company Alice.

Red Bull Racing has been very disappointing this year, not only for observers but also for the team, that had hoped for much more following the switch to Ferrari engines.

The announcement yesterday that the FIA has started the tender process for a tyre supplier for Formula 1 for 2008-2009-2010 opens up interesting possibilities. Companies wishing to bid for a deal have until June 23 to make an application.

There is no doubt that Formula 1 teams want to try to get Russia on the calendar at some point in the future.

The Renault F1 Team has won the award for the Team of the Year at the annual Laureus World Sports Awards, held this year in Barcelona in Spain. The awards were voted for by a panel of 42 sporting legends.

Williams and Toyota have been talking for the best part of nine months. Rumours have circulated with the stories really depending on the sources involved.

The World Health Organization, the organization that has led the fight against tobacco sponsorship in motor racing, has lost its director-general Lee Jong-Wook. The Korean died at Geneva's University Hospital after undergoing emergency surgery to relieve a blood clot on his brain.

Ron Walker, the boss of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, has been in London in recent days to try to make sure that the event regains its position as the first race when the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship calendar is put together.

There is talk in France that Sebastien Bourdais might come back from the United States next year to drive for the Renault F1 team - if the team does not sign a deal with Michael Schumacher.

It was a busy weekend of racing around the world with Sebastien Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena winning a 25th World Rally Championship event. It was the pair's fifth win in a row and Elena now becomes the most successful co-driver of all time.

Bernie Ecclestone and CVC Capital Partners have now signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Grand Prix Manufacturer Association teams and so the potential for a split in Formula 1 is now officially over.

Bernie Ecclestone has offered a fantastic package for a race fan as part of a charity auction in aid of the Oxford Children's Hospital. The British Grand Prix race day package (June 11) will include a personal invitation from Bernie Ecclestone to join him on his pre-race grid walk.

Although practice for the Indianapolis 500 has been disrupted severely by heavy rainfall in Indiana, the coverage of the event is also suffering because America's darling racer Danica Patrick is not making a huge impression on this year's race.

Philippe Gurdjian is a man who likes to work in the shadows of Formula 1. He decided in 1985 to establish a promotional company called PHG Developement and in 1990 signed a deal to be the promoter of the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

The Bundesverfassungsgericht, Germany's highest court, has ruled that Thomas and Florian Haffa are guilty of charges of issuing false sales figures for EM.TV company, a company which once owned a 50% stake in the Formula One group.

Robin Herd, Max Mosley's partner in March Engineering, has been more involved in soccer since selling the team for the last time in 1990. He bought Oxford United in 1991 but eight years later sold the team when plans to build a new stadium ran into trouble.

With teams baulking at doing more races and circuits complaining about increasing race fees, the Formula One group is rumoured to be looking at deals that would allow circuits to host races on a less regular rotational basis.

Longtime Formula 1 photographer Bernard Asset will have an exhibition of his work, entitled "Renault F1 Bodywork" on display at the Maison des Photographes, 121 rue Vieille du Temple in Paris between July 3 and July 28.

The MF1 team has hired Tony License to be one of its wind tunnel design engineers.

Formula 1 team principals with lots of money never make much noise. It is only when things are not looking so good that they start demanding technology freezes, standard parts and so on, as they seek to hold on to their advantage without having to spend more money.

Max Papis, the former F1 driver, has been hired to drive a second Cheever Racing entry for the Indianapolis 500. The 36-year-old Italian tested for Lotus in 1994 and raced with Arrows in 1995 before heading off to the United States where he was immediately successful in IMSA and moved on to race Champ Cars.