NewsOnF1 - 17 - 23 July News

22-July: The Jordan team have announced that they will be using the new EJ10-B chassis at the German Grand Prix. This chassis incorporates a new aerodynamic package and Managing Director Trevor Foster said "The new chassis has shown to perform better than the standard EJ10 and we will be looking for a better performance this time round".
Heinz Harald Frentzen is believed to be on the verge of re-signing with the Jordan team for 2001. It is widely believed that the supply of 'works' Honda engines to the team in 2001 helped significantly in stopping Frentzen move to another team.

Two current test drivers have indicated that they want to race in 2001. Olivier Panis test driver for McLaren is even prepared to take a paycut in exchange for a drive. McLaren want him to stay as their test driver and Ron Dennis is ready to renew his contract with a pay increase but Panis says "I miss racing too much, in my head I am still a driver and I need the competition". Panis is strongly rumoured to be in talks with BAR for a drive alongside Jacques Villeneuve.
BAR's test driver, Darren Manning claims to be ready to race in Formula 1 next season and wants the second seat at BAR replacing Ricardo Zonta. Manning said "Everybody judges you on speed but as a test driver you don't get the chance to demonstrate that. Hopefully the team are seeing that I'm doing a good job".
There are too many drivers rumoured to be joining BAR next year with Panis, Manning, de la Rosa, Button, Franchitti and even Fisichella. There are only 2 seats and one of them is Villeneuve's if he decides to stay ??

The latest in driver and team movements.

21-July: Rubens Barrichello moved to the Fiorano circuit after testing for three days at Mugello. He took over the testing of the new components for the F1-2000. He competed 85 laps on the regular circuit and 4 on the short circuit and set a best time of 1:01.081. He also practiced a number of starts
This concludes Ferrari's testing for this week with a shakedown of the cars to be carried out on Monday ... Timed Results

Eddie Irvine was released from hospital yesterday after undergoing further tests for suffering abdominal pains during the Austrian GP weekend forcing him to miss the race. He was declared fit to race at the German Grand Prix but was told to rest for a few days. He was delighted with the news and said "I’m feeling fresh, relaxed and ready to go. Although I have been told to rest for the next couple of days, I’m very keen to get back in the cockpit".
Eddie Irvine (driving for Ferrari) won the German Grand Prix last year after Mika Salo (replacing the injured Michael Schumacher) let him through and Mika Hakkinen who was leading first suffered refueling problems and then retired when his left rear tyre disintegrated.

20-July: Giancarlo Fisichella sets the fastest time on the final day of testing at Silverstone ahead of Jenson Button and Olivier Panis. Bernoldi, Burti and Coulthard make the top 6. Fisichella and Button were more than 0.6 seconds faster than Panis!.
The teams only did half a day of testing to allow for the preparations for the Coy Historic Festival which is celebrating 50 years of Formula 1.

10 drivers and 7 teams were present today at the track. Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi (Sauber's test driver) did the most number of laps with 46 followed by Panis and Coulthard. Antonio Pizzonia (Benetton's test driver) did the least number of laps with 21.
Olivier Panis has set the fastest time overall this session while Jenson Button has significantly improved the times set by Williams at this session after setting the slowest time on the first 2 days ... Timed Results

On the final day at Mugello, Rubens Barrichello was fastest ahead of Jean Alesi and Marc Gene. Barrichello completed a long run test and after a routine engine change he continued work on the set-up of the car in preparation for the the German Grand Prix. He completed a total of 94 laps with a best time of 1:26.699 Rubens continues testing at the Fiorano track tomorrow ... Timed Results

Michael Schumacher cut short his holiday break to take over the testing of new components on the F1-2000 from Luca Badoer at Fiorano. He competed 71 laps on the regular circuit and 7 on the short circuit and set a best time of 1:01.428. He also practiced a number of starts ... Timed Results

20-July: The FIA have announced today that the electronic box on Mika Hakkinen's car was examined by the FIA experts in the presence of McLaren representatives. A report of the results was sent to the Austrian Grand Prix stewards.
An examination of the report by the stewards will be held on the 25th of July in London in the presence of both the McLaren representatives and the FIA experts.
The stewards decision is expected to be announced later that day.

20-July: "Hakkinen revived – Schumacher in trouble" is the title of the 21st issue from the Diagnosis and Prognosis Series for the 2000 season. In this issue, the Heretic looks at the aftermath of the Austrian Grand Prix - Check it out here !!

19-July: On the second day of testing at Silverstone, Olivier Panis set the fastest time of the day half a second ahead of David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella. Burti, Salo and Trulli make the top 6.

There were 11 drivers (including Franchitti) and 7 teams present at the circuit with Luciano Burti doing the most number of laps with 87 followed by Olivier Panis with 67. Dario Franchitti did the least number of laps with 27 after his car experienced electrical problems.Dario's time was just under 2 seconds slower than Jaguar's test driver Luciano Burti
There were no major incidents on the track although both Jarno Trulli and Luciano Burti had off track excursions without badly damaging their cars.
The Jordan team ran the new EJ10-B chassis which has several aerodynamic modifications without problems while BAR Honda tested the latest specification engine successfully.
For the second day in a row, the Williams team set the slowest times of the day with Jenson Button taking over from Ralf Schumacher. Testing concludes tomorrow ... Timed Results

At Mugello, Rubens Barrichello broke the Mugello track record as he completed 61 laps. His best time was 1:24.643 which is 0.062 seconds faster than the previous fastest time set by Michael Schumacher earlier this year. Rubens did suffer an engine problem during the test and the engine had to be replaced.
Nick Heidfeld and Marc Gene were also present at the track Testing continues tomorrow ... Timed Results

Luca Badoer continued testing at Fiorano for the third day testing new components and practicing starts. He competed 77 laps on the regular circuit and 11 on the short circuit and set a best time of 1:01.466. Michael Schumacher will continue testing tomorrow.

Dario Franchitti has indicated that he has yet to make up his mind on moving to Formula 1, a move that he always wanted to do but only under the right circumstances.
He told a press conference just after this morning test session at Silverstone that he had asked Jackie Stewart if he can drive the car at some point and Jackie agreed. He added that the Jaguar team has great potential and they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
As for the possibility of driving for Jaguar next year, he said " There is a possibility, but I have a race on Sunday and I have to concentrate on that. That is my job. If Jaguar is pleased with my performance who knows what will happen. You will have to ask Jaguar.”
He also indicated that it is very difficult to draw comparisons between CART and Formula 1 but the braking is very different. He added that Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport but CART is better in other aspects.
As for his lack of pace so far, he said that he is still only running at eight tenths and he still has one more run to go before he heads back to the US to participate in the Michigan race.

19-July: Dario Franchitti just stepped into the Jaguar R1 yesterday but the deal to drive for Jaguar in 2001 is expected to be announced very soon. Dario's lawyer is present at Silverstone as well as Jackie Stewart and the Jaguar team are scheduling a press conference with Dario Franchitti. Stay tuned for the latest.

Peugeot are about to announce their plans to pull out of Formula 1 with the project being bought by an Asian venture. In a similar deal to what Renault did when they pulled out of Formula 1 in 97, this Asian venture is expected to supply one or more Formula 1 teams in 2001. The Arrows F1 team is rumoured to be the first to sign for the new engines while Prost who currently run 'works' Peugeot engines are expected to use the Supertec engines that Arrows currently use.

The latest in driver and team movements.

18-July: After setting the fastest time at Mugello for 4 days in a row 2 weeks ago, Olivier Panis is back in the McLaren doing the same thing as he outpaces regular driver David Coulthard by almost half a second. Ricardo Zonta was third fastest a second slower than Coulthard while Fisichella, Salo and Trulli make the top 6.

There were 11 drivers (including Franchitti) and 7 teams present at the circuit with Olivier Panis doing the most number of laps with 63 followed by Luciano Burti and Ralf Schumacher. Giancarlo Fisichella and David Coulthard did the least number of laps (25 and 28 respectively).
Most of the teams are running configurations to simulate the conditions of the Hockenheim track which is a low downforce track but has a few difficult corners so the balance is tricky. The session was stopped when Luciano Burti spun at Stowe and damaged his car.
BAR Honda had 2 cars present, both testing a newly developed Honda power steering system while one of the cars was testing the 'Athena 200' management system ... Timed Results

Dario Franchitti had a taste of the Jaguar R1 Formula 1 car at Silverstone in a attempt to take the challenge and move to Formula 1 from CART. On the first day he managed 10th fastest, one second slower than regular test driver Luciano Burti and over 3 seconds slower than Olivier Panis. One of the major differences between the CART and Formula 1 cars is their brakes as CART uses steel brakes while Formula 1 uses carbon fibre. In addition CART use slick tyres against grooved in Formula 1 and CART engines are turbo charged. Franchitti will continue testing tomorrow

After taking a break from testing 2 weeks ago, Rubens Barrichello is back on the testing track at Mugello. Rubens concentrated on race setup and aerodynamics for Hockenheim and completed 57 laps with a best time of 1:27.353. Luca Badoer continued testing at Fiorano testing new components and practice starts. He competed 120 laps on the regular circuit and 19 on the short circuit and set a best time of 1:01.717. Both drivers will continue testing tomorrow.

17-July: The FIA are hoping to make a further announcement by Wednesday with regard to the investigation into the missing seal on the electronic box of Mika Hakkinen's car. The FIA will submit a report to the stewards of the meeting who will consider the implications of the absence of the seal.
Meanwhile, McLaren are confident that the result will stand after FIA officials visited the offices of TAG Electronic Systems who make the box for McLaren. McLaren indicated that the computer code on the box had been downloaded by the FIA and found that no tampering with the code has occurred. The team added that they are confident that the matter will be quickly resolved and the result will stand.

With the exception of Ferrari, most of the Formula 1 teams are expected to be present at Silverstone for a 3 day testing session in preparation for the German Grand Prix. McLaren, Williams, Benetton, BAR, Jordan, Jaguar and Sauber are confirmed.
Ferrari have already started their testing at Fiorano with Luca Badoer at the wheel, he did a total of 66 laps with a best time of 1:02.208 as he concentrated on trying out new components. Badoer continues testing at Fiorano tomorrow while Rubens Barrichello starts testing at Mugello tomorrow.

Reported as a rumour earlier, Jaguar Racing have confirmed that the CART star Dario Franchitti will test for Jaguar Racing at Silverstone this week. This test could be the first step to Dario joining the Jaguar team in 2001 replacing Johnny Herbert.

Driver and team movements.

17-July: Should Alexander Wurz quit Formula 1 ? is the topic of the week - Have Your Say