NEWS ARCHIVE
WHELDON WINS IN JAPAN
Dan Wheldon scored his third win in four races in the Indy Racing League this year with victory in Motegi in Japan. The Andretti Green driver won in Miami and St Petersburg. The only other driver to win this year is Sam Hornish Jr, who was the winner in Phoenix.
BAHRAIN SHOPKEEPERS UNHAPPY
Retailers in Bahrain say that they are not making money from the Grand Prix. With two races gone they are reporting that that while Formula 1 may have brought a lot of money and business into the country in general, very little has reached them.
THE CROWD NUMBERS GAME
Imola may have signed a new deal for the San Marino Grand Prix to go on until 2009 but the race organisers need to face up to the fact that spectator numbers are not great.
A CIRCUIT IN RUSSIA - FOR RUSSIANS
Media reports about a new Grand Prix venue in Russia are wide of the mark. There is a plan for a new racing circuit to be built around 50 miles out of Moscow but the track is being designed for Russian national competitions rather than with any international ambitions.
TOYOTA BACKS OUT OF APPEAL
Toyota has decided that it is wisest to withdraw its appeal for Ralf Schumacher's penalty of 25 seconds given at the end of the San Marino Grand Prix. The penalty dropped him from eighth place to 11th and meant that Nick Heidfeld moves up and gets a point for eighth place.
MERCEDES-BENZ POSTS FIRST LOSS SINCE 1993
Mercedes-Benz posted its first loss in 15 years when it announced its figures for the first quarter of 2005. The group recorded an operating loss of $1.2bn having taken a $1bn restructuring charge on its Smart small car brand.
PATRICK ON THE FRONT ROW AT MOTEGI
Danica Patrick has qualified on the front row of the Indy Racing League grid for the race on Saturday at Motegi in Japan. Pole position went to Sam Hornish Jr at 204.740mph with Patrick clocking 204.502mph.
A SHOWER OF PROPAGANDA LEAFLETS
Many years ago propaganda was delivered in leaflet form from aeroplanes, telling the people on the ground about how bad the authorities in their country were and how things would be much better with a different person in charge.
THE JOYS OF TESTING
Minardi is a team that can do without additional problems but yesterday's test at Mugello was spoiled somewhat when Christijan Albers collided with Chanoch Nissany while the two cars were running around the Florence circuit. It seems that there was a misunderstanding as the Dutchman went past the Israeli driver.
A CHANGE AT MAGNY-COURS
The company which runs the Magny-Cours racing circuit in France is to sell shares to private investors - if anyone is interested.
PROMOTION - A CLUE FOR F1
The art of promotion is something which has got lost in the megabytes, interfaces and political intrigue of modern Formula 1 and it is perhaps worth the sport taking a look at what the new World Touring Car Championship is doing in its efforts to woo new spectators and new interest.
MERCEDES-BENZ CONFIRMS MARKUS DUESMANN
As we exclusively reported, there is to be a new technical boss at Mercedes-Ilmor with the confirmation from Stuttgart that Markus Duesmann will become engineering director at Mercedes Ilmor from May 1.
MCLAREN EXTENDS NEWEY CONTRACT - BUT FOR HOW LONG?
Adrian Newey has extended his contract with McLaren. The details of the contract are private information although a spokesperson for the team says that "we believe that his long-term future is with McLaren."
A MAJOR CHANGE AT BRIXWORTH
Our spies in Mercedes-Benz circles tell us that there is about to be a major restructuring in the technical management of Mercedes-Ilmor in Brixworth - the organisation that designs and builds the Mercedes-Benz F1 engines - with a new engineering director taking control of the entire technical operation of the business.
THE FUTURE OF ADRIAN NEWEY
Adrian Newey has been saying for a while now that he would like to have a more normal life, or at least time to discover what it is like when you are not involved in motor racing.
JOHN LOVE
Former Grand Prix driver John Love has died at the age 80. Born in Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia just after it became a self-governing colony of Britain, Love fought in World War II and in the 1950s began racing bikes and was one of a group of fairly wild racers which included his business partner Jim Redman.
PAYING FOR TURKEY
There are reports in the Turkish media that the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce is looking for money to be able to finish construction work at the Istanbul Otodrom, which is scheduled to host the Turkish Grand Prix in August.
BANKS CONSIDERING CHANGE
The Formula 1 banks are considering making changes in the management of the Formula One Group. A spokesman for the leading bank Bayerische Landesbank told Bloomberg that the three banks would appoint new directors "in due course".
FIAT LOOKING TO TATA FOR HELP
The troubled Italian industrial company Fiat SpA is in talks with India's Tata Motors to enter into some form of joint venture, which it is hoped will save the indebted Italian firm.
ZANARDI TO RETURN TO WILLIAMS?
Former F1 driver Alex Zanardi may be seen testing a Williams-BMW at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at this year's United States Grand Prix.
THE MEANING OF THE WORD "UNDERWEIGHT"
There has been a lot of rubbish written in the last 24 hours about cheating in Formula 1.
THE JORDAN ENGINE SUPPLY
The news that Red Bull Racing is to use Ferrari engines in 2006 and 2007 will move speculation about engine supply on to Jordan F1, which has a deal with Toyota for this year but is shopping around for the future.
LORD TROTMAN
Lord Trotman of Osmotherly, the man who took the Ford Motor Company into Formula 1 in a serious way back in 1996 when he joined forces with Stewart Grand Prix, has died at the age of 71.
DOES BAR HAVE TO TURN UP?
British American Racing was cleared of allegedly running its cars underweight at Imola. The FIA stewards took six hours to come up with a decision. For the moment, however, the team is innocent and all the talk about possible penalties is irrelevant.
RACE REPORT - JUST WHAT THE BERNARD ORDERED
At the end of the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, as Fernando Alonso crossed the finishing line just inches ahead of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari, the Media Centre erupted into cheering. It has been a long time since we heard that kind of reaction because the race was so exciting.
THE PROBLEMS WITH BAR AT IMOLA
The problems after the race in Imola with regard to the BAR-Honda team raise a number of questions: some legal, some political and, for the moment at least, there is little in the way of answers.
THE FIA VERSUS THE FIA
The FIA is to appeal against the decision by the stewards at the San Marino Grand Prix not to take any action against BAR after the race. There was a six-hour period in which something was obviously happening before the stewards decided that the BAR-Honda was legal.
PITLANE POLITICS
The FIA Stewards at Imola decided to give Ralf Schumacher a 25-second penalty for an unsafe pit stop, arguing that the Toyota driver was released into the path of Nick Heidfeld's Williams. Heidfeld said that he had to brake hard to avoid the Toyota.
RUNNING UNDERWEIGHT IN F1
It took the FIA Stewards the best part of six hours to confirm that Jenson Button's BAR-Honda was legal after the San Marino Grand Prix. According to a statement the car was weighed after the race and was above the minimum weight limit but was subsequently drained of fuel and found to be underweight.
A PROBLEM FOR BAR?
As night was falling in Imola word went around the F1 paddock that there might be a problem with the BAR-Honda of Jenson Button. The car remains in the scrutineering area at the moment.
SUNDAY PHOTOS
San Marino GP - Sunday Photos
SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
San Marino GP - Sunday Press Conference
RACE INCIDENTS FROM IMOLA
San Marino GP - Race Incidents
SUNDAY TEAM QUOTES
San Marino GP - Sunday Team Quotes
RACE RESULTS
San Marino GP - Race Results
CARROLL SINGING
The GP2 series had its second race on Sunday morning with the top eight finishers on Saturday starting in reverse order for the event. This gave Nicolas Todt's ART team 1-2 on the grid.
IMOLA HAS A DEAL UNTIL 2009
Reports in the Italian media suggest that Bernie Ecclestone has just done a new deal with the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
THE FUTURE OF COSWORTH IN F1
There are some serious implications as a result of the Red Bull Racing deal with Ferrari.
QUALIFYING 2 REPORT - RAIKKONEN CONFIRMS POLE
San Marino GP - Qualifying Session 2 Report
STARTING GRID
San Marino GP - Starting Grid
QUALIFYING 2 RESULTS
San Marino GP - Qualifying Session 2 Results
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - A CHINESE PUZZLE
It was a fascinating qualifying session at Imola with the weather changing in the middle of the session but at the same time the track getting faster as more rubber was put down by the cars.
BILLIONAIRES AT DAWN
Billionaire racing team owner Dietrich Mateschitz was in a very jolly mood at Imola, having announced a new engine deal with Ferrari for 2006 and 2007.
SATURDAY PHOTOS
San Marino GP - Saturday Photos
WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?
The GP2 series kicked off in Imola on Saturday with a race which left bemused observers wondering what on earth is going on in motor racing. The race was won by Heikki Kovalainen from Jose Maria Lopez and so the Renault Development Driver programme did all right.
BRIATORE STAYS ON FOR ONE MORE YEAR
Renault has announced that Flavio Briatore will stay on with the F1 team for another one year.
SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
San Marino GP - Saturday Press Conference
SATURDAY TEAM QUOTES
San Marino GP - Saturday Team Quotes
RED BULL SIGNS WITH FERRARI
Dietrich Mateschitz's desire to send a representative to the meeting last week in Paris is perhaps best explained by a press release which came out at lunchtime on Saturday when it was announced that the team will be supplied by Ferrari next year and in 2007.
QUALIFYING 1 RESULTS
San Marino GP - Qualifying Session 1 Results
PRACTICE 3 & 4 - BUTTON DOES IT AGAIN
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.
PRACTICE 4 RESULTS
San Marino GP - Practice Session 4 Results
MARCHY LEE TO TEST MINARDI
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.
TEAM BOSSES TO MEET AGAIN TODAY
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.
PRACTICE 3 RESULTS
San Marino GP - Practice Session 3 Results
LAPIERRE TAKES GP2 POLE FOR ARDEN
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.
PRACTICE 2 REPORT - BUTTON UNDERLINES BAR SPEED
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.
FRIDAY PHOTOS
San Marino GP - Friday Photos
FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
San Marino GP - Friday Press Conference
FRIDAY TEAM QUOTES
San Marino GP - Friday Team Quotes
PRACTICE 2 RESULTS
San Marino GP - Practice Session 2 Results
SOUTH AFRICA RATIFIES ANTI-SMOKING TREATY
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.
PRACTICE 1 REPORT - DE LA ROSA LEADS THE WAY
McLaren led the way in the first practice session at Imola.
PRACTICE 1 RESULTS
San Marino GP - Practice Session 1 Results
GROUP OF SEVEN TEAMS TO MEET THIS AFTERNOON
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.
HONDA USING DOME WIND TUNNEL
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.
ROSBERG TO TEST FOR WILLIAMS
The BMW Williams team is to use GP2 driver Nico Rosberg to do some of its testing in the next few weeks.
AN INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT IN THE LAND OF DRINK
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 GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
San Marino GP - Preview
HOW TOBACCO CAN STILL HELP F1
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 RUNS AT 20,000RPM!
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.
TODT TALKS TO SCHUMACHER
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.
FERRARI RE-UPS WITH SHELL
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.
F1 TO GET IPS SUPPORT RACE AT INDIANAPOLIS
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.
A CHANGE FOR QUALIFYING?
The Formula 1 teams want to get together in Imola to discuss the qualifying format but they do not want any meeting to be confused with the separate issue of the 2008 regulations. The proposal they wish to put forward is, we believe, for a single qualifying session on Saturdays, with a completely new format.
RENAULT GETS A SPANISH SPONSOR
Having Fernando Alonso in one of your cars is a great idea if you want Spaniards to pay attention and the Renault team has taken advantage of this to land a sponsorship deal with Mutua Madrilena, a large Spanish insurance company.
FIAT SHARES TAKE A BIG DIVE
Ferrari is sticking to its guns in F1 politics at the moment, having negotiated itself a very favourable deal with Formula One Management for the period 2008-2012. The problem is that none of the other teams want any part of the same deal.
STANDING AGAIN IS ALL THE RAGE
The president of the international federation of football associations (FIFA) Sepp Blatter has announced that he intends to stand for re-election at the next elections in 2007.
WURZ IN FOR MONTOYA
Alexander Wurz will make a return to Formula 1 at the weekend, driving the second McLaren-Mercedes-Benz. It will be Wurz's first drive in a Grand Prix since the end of 2000 when he left Benetton.
INVESTMENT AT JORDAN
The Midland Group has bought the Jordan windtunnel at Brackley, which was obviously not part of the original purchase deal between the Russian group and Eddie Jordan. The team says that it will now upgrade the tunnel to deal with 50% scale models.
RENAULT AND NEW YORK
Renault has been funding a number of Formula 1 street demonstrations in recent months in order to promote sales of its cars and interest in its F1 activities. The road show has been to Lyons, Madrid, Moscow and last weekend was in Rome.
WHAT CHANCE OF A GRAND PRIX IN INDIA?
The news last week that there is interest in holding a Grand Prix in Chennai, India, was interesting but it is unlikely that it will lead to an event because of political battles that have been waging between the country's motor sport authorities for the last six years.
A WARNING SIGN FOR THE FUTURE
As Formula 1 forges on towards a potential split with the big teams on one side and the FIA and Ferrari on the other, there is no better advertisement for the stupidity of such a move than what is happening in the United States of America.
PORSCHE GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT ALMS
Porsche has announced a deal with Penske Motorsports to run a new prototype sports car in the American Le Mans Series. Porsche Cars North America and Porsche Motorsport North America have commissioned parent company Porsche AG to design and build a car to compete in the LMP2 class in ALMS.
THE PRESSURE IS ON BRIDGESTONE
Bridgestone goes to Imola this weekend with a 100% record in 2005. The tyres have failed to win all three races so far this year. And that means that the pressure is on the Japanese tyre company to come up with tyres to compete with the best that Michelin has to offer.
STREET RACING IN BUENOS AIRES
Formula 1 has always enjoyed visiting Argentina. Even in the darkest days of military government in the 1970s Formula 1 was an annual fixture at the Autodromo Oscar Galvez in the Parque Almirante Brown.
THE BRDC SETS A DATE
The British Racing Drivers' Club's current problems will be settled on May 12 when the club - which owns Silverstone and promotes the British Grand Prix - meets to discuss the role of its president Sir Jackie Stewart. A number of club members have demanded that Stewart and the board of directors stand down.
MEANWHILE IN ESTORIL
The Estoril MotoGP paddock featured a number of Formula 1 visitors with Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner in attendance along with the team's new driver Tonio Liuzzi.
ROSSITER WINS AT HOCKENHEIM
James Rossiter and Loic Duval gave the Signature Plus team a 1-2 result in the second round of the Formula 3 Eurocup at Hockenheim. Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the first round, finished third and leads the championship.
IDE WINS AT SUZUKA
Yuji Ide gave the Mobilecast Team Impul victory in the second round of the Formula Nippon series at Suzuka, beating Tsugio Matsuda (5Zigen) by 14secs. Third place went to PIAA Nakajima's Takashi Kogure on a day when the European drivers were up against it.
HAMILTON WINS AT HOCKENHEIM
McLaren protege Lewis Hamilton won victory in the opening round of the Formula 3 Euroseries, establishing himself as the favourite for the title and extending the domination which the ASM team has enjoyed for more than a year. Hamilton was followed home by his team mate Adrian Sutil.
HAMILTON ON POLE AT HOCKENHEIM
Lewis Hamilton (ASM F3, Dallara-Mercedes) took pole position for the opening round of the Formula 3 Euroseries at Hockenheim ahead of his team mate Adrian Sutil. The pair were followed by Giedo van der Garde (Team Rosberg Dallara-Opel) and Paul di Resta (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes).
THE NEW MINARDI ON TRACK
The first Minardi Cosworth PS05 had its initial shakedown test at Mugello yesterday in the hands of Christijan Albers. The new car is very different to the PS04 and ran without drama, Albers completing a total of 125 miles of testing.
ART CROSS
Art Cross may not be a name that is wellknown in the annals of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship but he took part in four Grands Prix, all of them at Indianapolis, and finished second in one of them. He was also the first man to be given the title of Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500.
MEANWHILE IN THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE
This morning in Paris FIA President Max Mosley meets with Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and the man from Jordan to discuss the rules and regulations for 2008 and beyond. The FIA muezzins in the minarets of the Place de la Concorde are wailing out a message that consensus is the way for the sport to move forward.
GO TO COURT THE LOT OF YOU!
The announcement today by the FIA that it is to push ahead with its plans to create new rules for Formula 1 in 2008 will, no doubt, lead to much talk. There will be reaction (indeed there already has been) and then there will counter-reaction (the phones are already ringing in the world of F1 journalism).
THE FIA LAYS DOWN THE LAW
The FIA has issued a statement after its meeting this morning with Ferrari, Red Bull and Jordan which seems to indicate that the federation intends to try to make rules without the current Concorde Agreement.
FORMULA 1 AMBITIONS IN SPAIN
It is no secret that engineer Enrique Scalabroni wants to have his own Formula 1 team. He has tried several times to make that dream happen, the most recent plan being with the Asiatech engine company.
WANNA BUY A SECONDHAND CAR COMPANY?
The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation says that it no longer has an interest in buying the beleaguered MG Rover car company in Britain. The news means that unless a white knight appears very quickly around 6,000 jobs are going to go at the company's factory at Longbridge, near Oxford.
BREAKING UP DAIMLERCHRYSLER
There are some interesting reports doing the rounds that DaimlerChrysler shareholders are being approached by private equity firms seeking to buy the company and break it up into different companies.
BAR KEEPS UP THE PACE
The Lucky Strike BAR Honda team continued to set the pace in testing at Paul Ricard on Thursday, following on from the successful test last week in Barcelona, when Jenson Button broke the lap record at the Circuit de Catalunya.
WHY A SAUBER IS SUDDENLY ATTRACTIVE
The news that F1 teams have agreed to allow third drivers to be anyone who holds a Superlicence is interesting, particularly if you are a driver who has some sponsorship available and wants an F1 drive.
KLIEN GETS THE GREEN LIGHT
The FIA, with the unanimous agreement of all teams taking part in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, has made a change to Article 58b of the Formula 1 Sporting regulations concerning eligibility of drivers taking part in Friday practice prior to the Grands Prix.
ARDEN TO RUN BRITISH A1 TEAM
John Surtees, the chairman of the British A1 Grand Prix team, has announced that the UK's entry in the new racing series will be run by the International Motorsport in Banbury and will be carrying out a driver evaluation programme at Brands Hatch on May 23-24.
LG AND FORMULA 1
LG (or rather Lucky Goldstar to give the company its full name) is one of Korea's famous industrial "chaebols", vast corporations which are involved in a selection of different businesses.
ECCLESTONES PAYS TRIBUTE TO PRINCE RAINIER
Bernie Ecclestone has told Agence France Presse that the late Prince Rainier of Monaco was "a loyal supporter of Formula 1".
INDIANAPOLIS HITS 33 ENTRIES
There had been fears that the Indianapolis 500 this year would not have a full field of cars but the announcement that Champ Car team Newman Haas Racing will field two cars means that there are now 33 cars on the entry.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR PRESIDENT
Sixty-five years ago today Max Mosley made his first appearance on this earth. The son of Sir Oswald Mosley and Lady Diana Mitford, he has been making headlines ever since.
HASTA LA VISTA MEXICO (PART II)
The Mexican Grand Prix which was being planned for 2006 has looked rather dodgy for some months, in fact ever since the project was announced. Now the locals have admitted defeat and say that the race will be postponed until 2007.
RACING UNDER LIGHTS
In the United States of America there has been a trend towards running motor racing events under lights.
CHAMP CARS IN CHINA
The Champ Car World Series has signed an important new deal with Beijing Assets Management Company Ltd to hold a race in Beijing, beginning in 2006.
MG ROVER SPORTS AND RACING GOES INTO ADMINISTRATION
MG Sports and Racing, the motor sport subsidiary of MG Rover, has followed the main company into administration.
SUPER NOVA CONFIRMS STRONG LINE-UP
Super Nova Racing has announced that it will be running former F1 driver Giorgio Pantano and rising star Adam Carroll in the forthcoming new GP2 Series.
SOME TEAMS TO ATTEND THE FIA MEETING?
There are indications that one or more of the F1 teams may attend the FIA meeting on Friday to discuss the federation's plans for 2008 and beyond.
BOURDAIS AIMS FOR INDY 500 VICTORY
Sebastien Bourdais will be trying for victory in the this year's Indianapolis 500 with the Newman Haas Racing team.
FLAVIO BRIATORE TALKING TO HIMSELF AGAIN
Flavio Briatore has been making statements about the future of Renault F1's Fernando Alonso.
FROM RUSSIA WITH DOSH
The Midland F1 organization has not exactly been pouring money into Jordan Grand Prix in recent weeks and this has been rather confusing for observers who believed that the Russians would invest heavily in an effort to build the team up.
MONTOYA, WURZ OR DE LA ROSA?
McLaren knows at least one thing about its driver line-up in Imola. Unless something untoward happens Kimi Raikkonen will be in one of the cars.
SCHUMACHER PLANS IMOLA COMEBACK
Michael Schumacher goes to the San Marino Grand Prix next week with two World Championship points on the board after three races.
CHRISTIAN KLIEN AND THE THIRD DRIVER RULE
The third driver rule, which dictates which drivers can run on Fridays at each Grand Prix, could be rescinded in order to let Christian Klien take over the third Red Bull-Cosworth.
NOW CHENNAI (MADRAS) LOOKS AT F1
The chief minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa says that she wants to bring Formula 1 to the city. The remarks came during a visit from India's new F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan.
CHAMP CARS LOOKING TO ASIA
The Champ Car World Series has signed a deal with a Beijing promotional company to run a race in the Chinese capital in 2006.
A GLIMPSE AT DIETRICH MATESCHITZ
Red Bull Racing's Dietrich Mateschitz was an enthusiastic spectator at Sunday's Spanish MotoGP race at Jerez in Spain.
BOURDAIS WINS AGAIN IN CHAMP CAR
The Champ Car World Series kicked off in Long Beach at the weekend and Sebastien Bourdais took the lead from pole man Paul Tracy just before halfway and went on to score his 11th Champ Car victory.
LEGGE SHOWS THE BOYS
British driver Katherine Legge drove into the record books at Long Beach at the weekend, becoming the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in the United States.
STUDIES IN SINGAPORE
Singapore has been thinking about F1 - and talking about it - for nearly 20 years.
RED BULL BUYS INTO SOCCER
Red Bull is not a company that likes to buy advertising space. Instead it tends to invest its millions in those participating in events and thus gain publicity by being involved in an activity.
MOSLEY WILL HAVE HIS MEETING
The FIA president Max Mosley is going to have his meeting on April 15 about the rules of Formula 1 in 2008, despite the fact that Ferrari will be the only team present. The other teams have announced that they are not going to attend because they are not ready to make their presentation.
PETER SAUBER AND JACQUES VILLENEUVE
Peter Sauber is not a man who gives away his intentions to all and sundry. However he does enjoy a very close relationship with Roger Benoit, the Formula 1 reporter of Switzerland's Blick newspaper.
FERRARI IN ISOLATION
Ferrari is now completely isolated in Formula 1 politics - and that cannot be a good thing.
AUSTRALIAN GP FOLK GETTING IN A MESS
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation is getting itself into a knot over the question of a drink-drive charge against one of its senior executives and the local press in Melbourne is in hot pursuit.
ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS
Former Grand Prix driver Christian Fittipaldi is finally returning to race in Brazil.
JACQUES VILLENEUVE AND SAUBER
Jacques Villeneuve's press release yesterday was important in that it existed. For some reason Jacques felt the need to explain the current situation at Sauber, something which in any normal circumstance the team would have done if it felt such a thing was necessary.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS ON
One hundred years ago, the Gordon Bennett Cup was held on the Circuit d'Auvergne, near Clermont-Ferrand.
SPERAFICO AND DEL MONTE COMPLETE CHAMP CAR FIELD
Ricardo Sperafico and Fabrizio del Monte are the final drivers to be confirmed for the upcoming Champ Car season opener at Long Beach this weekend. Sperafico will race alongside Oriol Servia at Dale Coyne Racing, Gaston Mazzacane having disappeared from the scene, presumably because of lack of money.
A1 GRAND PRIX LANDS CHINESE DEAL
When Dubai's Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum announced a year ago his plans for the A1 Grand Prix series there were, not surprisingly, a lot of cynics who believed that the new championship would never get off the ground.
GOOD AND BAD NEWS FOR MERCEDES-BENZ
The Mercedes-Benz company has been having a roller-coaster ride recently with the recent announcement of a recall of 1.3m vehicles because of technical problems. This has done serious damage to the company's image of being a quality car manufacturer.
THE MEETING OF THE TEAMS
A sixteenth century country house may seem an unlikely place to discuss the future of the world's most technologically-advanced sport but the meeting yesterday between nine teams and five manufacturers at Great Fosters near Egham, in Surrey, appears to have moved things on.
BRDC MEMBERS DEMAND REMOVAL OF STEWART
The British Racing Drivers' Club announced today that an Extraordinary General Meeting has been called by members for the purpose of removing Sir Jackie Stewart from his roles as president and as a director of the club.
BAR SURPRISES IN SPAIN
Jenson Button and Takuma Sato set the surprise pace on the third day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona with Button lapping in 1m14.237s and Takuma a 1m14.247s.
TEAMS WILL NOT ATTEND FIA MEETING NEXT WEEK
The nine Formula 1 teams have decided that they will not be attending Max Mosley's meeting to discuss the rules for 2008 on April 15 because, they say, they are not ready to put forward their proposals for the future.
CLIFF ALLISON
The former Formula 1 racer Cliff Allison has died at the age 73. Born in Brough, a town in the Eden Valley, at the foot of the Pennines hills, Allison came from a family which ran a garage in the town.
AN UNHAPPY JACQUES
Jacques Villeneuve's relationship with Sauber is obviously getting rather strained. After testing on Thursday Villeneuve issued the following statement.
TROUBLES IN AUSTRALIA
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation is in the news in Melbourne this week following the conviction of one of its top executives for drink-driving.
THE F1 TEAMS MEET TOMORROW (WITHOUT FERRARI)
The nine Formula 1 teams which have yet to agree to a new Concorde Agreement from 2008 will meet in London tomorrow to hear from their various working committees about the developing plans for a new World Championship.
GP2 SORTS OUT NUMBERING
The GP2 series held its qualifying sessions for the alloaction of its numbering at Paul Ricard today and the result was that America's Scott Speed won iSport International the top two numbers with a best lap of 1m19.414s.
PANTANO TOPS THE TIMESHEETS IN GP2
Formula 1 reject Giorgio Pantano set the fastest time of GP2 testing on Tuesday at Paul Ricard, at the wheel of a car run by Super Nova Racing.
ANOTHER JOB FOR DUDOT
Bernard Dudot is not retiring, despite the fact that 66-year-old French engineer has now left the employment of Renault F1.
WADA TO REPLACE TANAKA
Honda has named Yasuhiro Wada as the replacement for Shoichi Tanaka as president of Honda Racing Development Ltd, the British-based company which oversees the Japanese company's F1 activities.
BAR CONFIRMS DE FERRAN
Lucky Strike BAR Honda has confirmed that Gil de Ferran is to join the team in the newly created role of Sporting Director, responsible for the BAR Honda team at events.
PRINCE RAINIER OF MONACO
It has been announced in Monaco that Prince Rainier has died. he had been on the throne of Monaco for 56 years and an important figure in the development of the Monaco Grand Prix as one of the world's leading events.
DE FERRAN TO BE BAR FRONT MAN
Gil de Ferran, former CART champion and Indianapolis 500 winner, is expected to be named Sporting Director of BAR-Honda this week.
F1 TESTING AT BARCELONA
A big Formula 1 test got under way at Barcelona today with Ferrari and Renault in action at the track. World Championship leader Fernando Alonso was in action and, according to witnesses suffered a rear wing failure at one point.
HVM CONFIRMS WIRDHEIM AND BREMER
The HVM Champ Car team has announced that it will be running former Formula 3000 champion Bjorn Wirdheim and Denmark's Ronnie Bremer. The funding from the team is somewhat obscure at the moment but we hear on the grapevine that much of the money will becoming from Champ Car partner Kevin Kalkhoven.
LIUZZI IN FOR KLIEN
Vitantonio Liuzzi will make his Formula 1 race debut with the Red Bull Racing team at the San Marino Grand Prix on April 24.
RACE REPORT - THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME?
Fernando Alonso won the Bahrain Grand Prix. No, he didn't. Fernando Alonso waltzed to victory, his second in as many weeks and Renault's third win on the trot. But it was more than that. Alonso saw off Michael Schumacher with a carefree wave of his magic wand.
FERRARI GEARBOX MYSTERIES
Ferrari arrived in Bahrain with two F2005s. The spare car was an F2004M. On Friday morning Rubens Barrichello's gearbox suffered what Ross Brawn described as a "catastrophic" problem.
BRISCOE IN THE WARS
Former Formula 1 test driver Ryan Briscoe made a decent impact in the Indy Racing League race at St Petersburg in Florida. The Australia was leading the race with nine laps to go.
MICHAEL'S BRILLIANT WEEKEND
No, not that Michael Schumacher. He had a miserable time but over in the United States Michael Andretti had the kind of weekend that team owners can only dream of having.
SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Bahrain GP - Sunday Press Conference
SUNDAY PHOTOS
Bahrain GP - Sunday Photos
TEAM DUBAI F1 IS STILL OUT THERE
McLaren played host to a party from the planned Team Dubai F1 team at the weekend in Sakhir according to our sources within the team.
MEANWHILE AT DONINGTON AND MOTEGI
Danilo Dirani scored a pair of impressive wins for Lola and P1 Motorsport at the opening round of the British Formula 3 series at Donington Park. Dirani won from pole in the first event while his nearest challenger Marko Asmer made a bad start and dropped into the midfield.
RACE INCIDENTS FROM BAHRAIN
Bahrain GP - Race incidents
SUNDAY TEAM QUOTES
Bahrain GP - Sunday Team Quotes
RACE RESULTS
Bahrain GP - Race Results
QUALIFYING 2 REPORT - A LITTLE SHOCK FOR MICHAEL
Bahrain GP - Qualifying Session 2 Report
STARTING GRID
Bahrain GP - Starting Grid
QUALIFYING 2 RESULTS
Bahrain GP - Qualifying Session 2 Results
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - ALONSO STARS IN BAHRAIN THRILLER
Fernando Alonso gave the other Formula 1 teams a glimpse of Renault's supremacy in first qualifying in Bahrain with a lap that was a tenth of a second faster than Jarno Trulli's Toyota in a thrilling session. Alonso's time of 1m29.848s was two tenths of a second faster than last year's pole position time.
SATURDAY PHOTOS
Bahrain GP - Saturday Photos
SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Bahrain GP - Saturday Press Conference
SATURDAY TEAM QUOTES
Bahrain GP - Saturday Team Quotes
QUALIFYING 1 RESULTS
Bahrain GP - Qualifying Session 1 Results
TIMO GLOCK CONFIRMED IN AMERICA
Former Jordan F1 driver Timo Glock has now been confirmed as a driver with Rocketsports Racing in the Champ Car World Series. The young German will be teamed with rising American star Ryan Hunter-Reay.
PRACTICE 4 RESULTS
Bahrain GP - Practice Session 4 Results
PRACTICE 3 RESULTS
Bahrain GP - Practice Session 3 Results
SATURDAY MORNING PRACTICE - WEBBER LEADS THE WAY
Mark Webber set the fastest lap of the practice session on Saturday morning in Bahrain with a lap of 1m29.527s, which is 0.6sec under Michael Schumacher's pole time from last year.
PRACTICE 2 REPORT - ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Alexander Wurz topped the bill at Bahrain on Friday afternoon with a lap which was 1.2secs ahead of Fernando Alonso's Renault. The Austrian is serving as McLaren's third driver for the weekend.
FRIDAY PHOTOS
Bahrain GP - Friday Photos
FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Bahrain GP - Friday Press Conference
FRIDAY TEAM QUOTES
Bahrain GP - Friday Team Quotes
PRACTICE 2 RESULTS
Bahrain GP - Practice Session 2 Results
ROSSITER TOPS THE BILL AT HOCKENHEIM
James Rossiter set the fastest lap of the first day of the Formula 3 Euroseries test at Hockenheim. In very wet conditions the British youngster outpaced many of the better-known names in the series.
TROUBLE AT THE BRDC
As we reported last week there has been some pushing and shoving in British Racing Drivers' Club circles in recent days with Sir Jackie Stewart being asked to stand down by members at a general meeting at Silverstone.
FIA TO BE RESTRUCTURED
The FIA is set to undergo major restructuring of how the organisation works. The FIA Senate proposed to an Extraordinary General Assembly of the federation that the statutes be amended to create a system under which a president is elected with his team.
PRACTICE 1 RESULTS
Bahrain GP - Practice Session 1 Results