Formula One News — February 2007

The word on the street in Formula 1 circles is that Red Bull Racing's guiding hand Dany Bahar has departed the Austrian drinks company to take a top job at Ferrari. Bahar has acted as Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz's right hand man in recent years.

It has long been feared in motor racing circles that as soon as tobacco was out of the way the world's do-gooders would turn their attention to attacking alcohol advertising because they believe that alcohol is bad if one drinks too much of it. This is not rocket science.

The Dubai-based Union Properties says it is going to borrow $1.6bn from banks in order to finance the construction of a series of Formula 1 theme parks around the world. The company says that the first park will be in Dubai but that others will follow in Europe and in Asia.

Grandprix.com is delighted to be able to offer its readers a very special offer: the last chance to buy one of the remaining first edition copies of "The Grand Prix Saboteurs".

It seems that every year at this time the Australian Grand Prix runs into problems with water which is used to make Albert Park look green and the clean up the track. Australia has been suffering from drought in recent months and there is controversy about taking water from the (artificial) lake in order to clean the track.

Former F1 and DTM racer Jean Alesi is the first big name drivers to sign up to race in the Speedcar Series, a series which will take place on tracks in Asia and the Middle East for 24 identical cars.

The FIA has decided to push back new ideas it was planning for 2010 because it wants to discuss the new plans for engines in 2011 and coordinate these with the ideas under discussion.

The Holden Racing Team will be on the grid at this week's Clipsal 500 in Adelaide after having accepted an ultimatum from Touring Car Entrants Group Australia (TEGA) to resolve its outstanding control and ownership issues.

Honda Racing F1 is not only going green but iss also inviting organisations and people to make a donation to an environmental charity and thus appear on the F1 car.

With just a few days before the V8 Supercar series gets underway in Australia with Adelaide's Clipsal 500, there is still no official clarification as to whether or not Holden will be allowed to race.

Indianapolis's Turn 13 - Turn 1 in reverse in speedway parlance - is a corner which has challenged Formula 1 drivers in recent years. With high speeds, a banked track and no run-off area there are have been some sizeable accidents there - usually involving Ralf Schumacher.

The new Honda livery will be a striking green and blue "map of the world", which has been designed to underline Honda's desire to be seen as an ecologically friendly car company.

The Red Bull philosophy of guerrilla marketing may work in the bars and clubs, where the Austrian drink sells well to the younger generations, but in Formula 1 circles some of the antics sometimes pass way over the heads of the F1 crowd.

The Ferrari team has been making a few final changes to its management structure in recent days with the news that Nigel Stepney is leaving the race team and will now have the title of Head of Team Performance Development.

Hiroki Yoshimoto, the Japanese driver who has raced GP2 Series with BCN Competition for the last two seasons, has decided to return home to Japan in 2007 to race in the Formula Nippon Championship.

Paul Ricard is widely acclaimed as being the best test track in the world and it has now added an additional bonus point with the news that the Hotel du Castellet, which is run by the circuit, has been granted a Michelin star for its restaurant, the MonteCristo.

The former F1 men Pantano, Glock and Pizzonia appear to be shaping up to be the big challengers in GP2 this year.

The British and the French Grands Prix are both under pressure at the moment - even if the British Racing Drivers' Club at Silverstone seems to be blissfully unaware that Bernie Ecclestone was not kidding when he said that work must be done before the track will be granted a new contract after the current deal runs out in 2009.

The American habit of creating halls of fame has had little impact in Europe but it is interesting to note that Goodyear's longtime F1 boss Leo Mehl has recently been named as a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

The departure from Red Bull Racing of head of development Anton Stipinovich is a blow for the team, not least because it shows that beneath the cheerful surface all is not necessarily wonderful.

Enrique Scalabroni has signed up fellow Argentine Ricardo Risatti as his second driver in GP2 this year. Risatti will partner former Super Aguri F1 racer Sakon Yamamoto. Risatti is 20 year old and won the Spanish Formula 3 championship.

The Ferrari car company is doing very well financially at the moment, having just announced a profit of $240m for the last financial year, an improvement of 16% on last year's numbers.

McLaren has long been keen to have the right brand image but has now decided to go to a professional brand manager to achieve its goals and has hired John Allert to a new position as Head of Group Brands.

Jos Verstappen's planned comeback in Champ Car seems to have died a death. The Dutchman had announced plans to be racing in the US series in 2007 but negotiations failed to secure him a drive.

David Richards is working on a deal to buy Aston Martin. The bid is in league with yet-to-be revealed financiers, including an Egyptian investment bank. Aston Martin is being auctioned off by Ford, despite the fact that it is profitable.