 |
|
|
||
Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
Your thoughts on the 2000 season |
Why Michael and not Mika? 23 Oct - 8 Nov News |
||
 |
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
||
Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
Your thoughts on the 2000 season |
Why Michael and not Mika? 23 Oct - 8 Nov News |
||
|
||||
|
||||
Download the NewsOnF1.com | 8-Nov: The McLaren team boss Ron Dennis is determined not to let Ferrari repeat their success in 2001. McLaren lost both titles this year to Ferrari and Dennis went as far as saying "We all know that history repeats itself. But we will do everything in our power to try and prevent them from winning the title for the next 21 years!" Finish driver Kimi Raikkonen who tested this year for Sauber and impressed the teams boss Peter Sauber is trying to get a super license in order to secure a drive with the team in 2001. Peter Sauber said "We would like Kimi Raikkonen to drive our second car next to Nick Heidfeld. When we get the confirmation of the super license by the FIA, the public and media will be informed accordingly Kimi's racing experience does not qualify him for a super license however the tests he conducted with Sauber this year could help him. The FIA will consider his super license application in December. 7-Nov: Mika Hakkinen has indicated that he will start to feel angry and intense because he wants to win his third title next year. Hakkinen added that his 2 retirements at the first 2 races of the season had a negative impact on him and said "Things didn't go the way they should have gone. We had a great preparation during the winter in 1999 and that is why it was so disappointing for me to start the season the way I did this year, and that also affected my work." Hakkinen's wife Erja is pregnant and expects to deliver after Christmas. Hakkinen is hoping that his wife will deliver early coinciding with Christmas and said "I hope the baby is a little early as it would be nice to have a birthday at that time of the year. Then when the celebrations are over I can get back to work and concentrate on winning back my title." Michael Schumacher will undergo an
operation to remove the pins inserted into his leg following his accident last year at the
British Grand Prix. Ferrari have indicated that Michael will not take part in any testing
in December allowing for his leg to recover. He is expected to get back into the car early
in the new year. 6-Nov: Mugen who supplied the Jordan team with modified Honda engines in 2000 have finally confirmed that they are pulling out of Formula 1. Jordan secured a 'works' deal from Honda for 2001. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Mugen said that they could still be in Formula 1 in 2001 and there would be an announcement at the Malaysian GP. They released a statement at the Malaysian GP indicating that their plans were not finalised. Now they have decided to pull out. Mugen's president Hirotoshi Honda said "Regrettably, we have decided to stop our F1 activity at the end of the season. We are going to continue to compete and show our good performances at other racing categories, so your unchanged support will be much appreciated." It was believed that a deal between Mugen and Minardi for a supply of engines in 2001 was being negotiated but it appears that the dealing has fallen through. Minardi is still looking for an engine deal with Supertec looking as the only option! 5-Nov: Rubens Barrichello has indicated that while the Ferrari team had a number of bad races during the season, he always thought they would win and said "Michael easily deserves this title. He's fast and strong in every situation. He has contested a magnificent season and has exploited a very competitive car. I always thought we would win, even if at one stage there was a blank period when for two or three races we were very unlucky." Most Formula 1 teams will be heading to Spain in December to start testing in preparation for the 2001 season. The teams usually test 2000 specification cars with components for the 2001 car until their 2001 challengers are ready (usually in January). The first testing session in Spain will be at Jerez from the 4th till the 7th of December with most teams expected to attend. 4-Nov: Jaguar Racing had high expectations at the start of the year after taking over the Stewart Racing team who finished in 4th place in 1999 with 36 points. This year Jaguar had a disastrous season finishing 9th in the Constructors' championship and with only 4 points, all of which were scored by Eddie Irvine. Eddie Irvine expects big changes for next year and is hoping that Jaguar will be stronger. He said "I think we will get better. We have areas to work on, but we know them now so that makes it a little bit easier. I think we will see big changes for next year. We have gone through all the points where we need to improve and I think if we get it right we will be okay next season. I believe that we have enough experience here and we have some new people here, so my feelings and thoughts are that you are going to see some improvements. We are going to be stronger." 3-Nov: Despite the fact that Benetton and BAR finished equal on points in the Constructors' championship, Benetton still claimed 4th as a result of higher finishing positions with Fisichella finishing 2nd in Brazil while the highest position Villeneuve finished in was 4th. Flavio Briatore has indicated that he didn't expect Benetton to finish in 4th place in the championship early in the season as they expected Jordan to be in front of them. He also indicated that while they are targeted at 2002, the year Renault will officially enter as a team, he will do everything he can to make 2001 as good as possible. Briatore said "We didn't expect to be here at the beginning of the year, as we had Jordan in front of us who were stronger. But we got ahead of them and the whole team is very happy. We are looking forward to Jenson and Giancarlo next year. We are also working very hard with the new engine and chassis. Next year we are going to do everything possible to be as good as we can. Our aims are targeted at 2002, but to be good in 2002, we need to be good in 2001." 2-Nov: David Coulthard doesn't believe that he is not capable of winning the championship and believes that all he needs is consistency of performance and some luck. He said "I don't see winning the championship as the hurdle that others might see it. It's not a wall. Consistency of performance and some luck is what stands between myself and winning the title." Coulthard who has finished 3rd or 4th in the last 4
championships doesn't believe that this is the best he can do and said "Do I need to
apologise that two guys on top of their form have been finishing in front of me? Can I not
have the dream that I can improve to the point where I can beat them? Do I have to accept
that I'm just never going to because I just haven't? I don't think I have. The Prost team has announced 2 new senior appointments, Joan Villadelprat and Henri Durand. Villadelprat takes the role of Managing Director taking
control of the day to day running of the team. He reports to Alain Prost. Durand joins Prost from McLaren where he used to be the Chief Engineer of Aerodynamics. Durand will take over the technical department vacated by Alan Jenkins who left the team earlier this year. 1-Nov: Toyota have announced that they have agreed to purchase a
further 49% of the Fuji International Speedway for 2.5 billion yen (around 23 million
dollars). Toyota's stake rises to 67% and becoming the majority shareholder. The Fuji circuit ran 2 Formula 1 races back in 1976 and 1977. A BAR spokesperson has announced the delay of the scheduled board meeting for a week but denied that the delay indicates a major reshuffle. He added "The meeting scheduled has been postponed. It is neither an Emergency Meeting or an Annual Meeting. It is simply a bog-standard meeting held quarterly. There is nothing sinister in it as some people have been suggesting." One of the strong rumours concerning the BAR team indicate that Honda is planning to buy the team, something Honda said that they will only decide on by the end of next season. Another rumour indicates that Adrian Reynard and a number of other senior managers are planning a take over. BAR still appears to be suffering from too much political infighting, something they have to solve if they want to achieve their ultimate aims. 31-Oct: Willi Weber, Michael Schumacher's manger has indicated that Michael could retire from the sport when his contract expires in 2002. He also indicated that Michael had no plans to switch to Mercedes after 2002. He said "We must wait and see whether Michael assumes the challenge of driving after 2002" Weber added that he expects Ralf Schumacher to give his older brother some tough times next year. Weber manages both drivers. 30-Oct: Paul Stewart who stepped down from the position of COO
back in April after being diagnosed with Colon cancer has resigned from Jaguar Racing. Alexander Wurz is expected to undergo a knee operation this week after delaying it for a month due to his race commitments with Benetton. Wurz who moves to McLaren as a test driver after a difficult season at Benetton said "I should have done this month ago but it is simply not possible to drop out for 4 weeks during the season. This is a bit scary; I go in upright and walking and will leave the hospital on crutches. However, I will push to recover quickly and without a doubt I will be fit before December." 29-Oct: "Why Michael and not Mika?" is the title of the 35th issue from the Diagnosis and Prognosis Series for the 2000 season. In this issue, the Heretic looks at the aftermath of the Malaysian Grand Prix - Check it out here !! 28-Oct: The Williams test driver, Bruno Junqueira will be driving in the CART series with the Target Chip Ganassi team taking over Juan Pablo Montoya's seat who will be driving for Williams next year. Junqueira was delighted with the news and said "I am very proud and very lucky today. Target Chip Ganassi Racing has proven that it is one of the world's best teams and expects a lot from its drivers. I expect a lot out of myself, and I know that with the talent at Team Target, we can expect many good things in the future." This leaves the Williams team without a test driver for next year and it is also a setback for Johnny Herbert who was hoping to take the seat in his plans to race in the CART series in 2001. 27-Oct:
Jarno Trulli described his first year at Jordan and the worst of his career and
blamed reliability and bad luck and said "I came to Jordan in the
hope of scoring a lot of points, to have a chance of victory, but the opposite has
happened. It has been a really bad season, in fact it has been the worst of my career.
We've had a very unreliable car and a lot of bad luck, but basically we were just not
strong enough. I've had so much bad luck that one day I must be paid back, but so far it
just hasn't happened." Gerhard Berger is hopeful of winning a race or two next year but remains cautious as it will be very difficult to catch Ferrari or McLaren and a few other teams like BAR, Jordan and Benetton can also catch them. Berger said "It's fine to take this third place as a platform and try to do better. But we have to be careful. All the teams are quite capable of turning things around and making a big step forward but we just have to concentrate on doing our job. I think it's realistic to think in terms of taking a win next year perhaps, but you cannot rely on these things just happening. We don't intend not to win in a championship with. Whether that will be in two years, three or four, you cannot say. Motor racing is unpredictable." Pedro de la Rosa's manager has confirmed that de la Rosa will be driving for the the Arrows team in 2001. The Arrows team have yet to confirm their driver lineup for 2001. Click here for the latest on driver and team movements 26-Oct: Celebrating Ferrari's double championship win, Sports Director Jean Todt personally thanked every member of the Ferrari team for this achievement. At a ceremony held at the Gestoine Sportiva, Todt said "Now, we feel better. We have wanted and yearned for this result for so long. Now our life will change. We achieved a dream with a dream team. In 1997, we came within 15 minutes of taking the Drivers' title. In 1998, we fought right up to the last race and in 1999, the year Michael suffered a serious accident at Silverstone, we took the Constructors' title. This has been a record year: 170 points, 10 wins, 10 pole positions and both world championships. I want to thank all of you and tell you how proud of you I am." Jean Todt was joined by Ferrari's president Luca
Montezemolo and Michael Schumacher. Montezemolo said "I
have been waiting for so long to live through this incredible moment. It is great because
I am standing here with all the people who had the capacity and the strength to bring
these two titles to Maranello. When I came here for the second time in 1992, I was very
concerned about the state of the Gestione Sportiva and I did not believe it was capable of
taking Ferrari back to the top. My first thanks must go to Jean Todt. Your boss is a loyal
and capable person who works for the good of you all. These titles are yours. Enjoy this
victory, be proud of them just as I am proud to be your President. Rory Byrne and Paolo Martinelli were also present and thanked everyone. Ross Brawn was on holidays but sent everyone a thankyou letter. 25-Oct:
In the first heated exchange of comments between the 2001 Williams drivers, Ralf
Schumacher has warned his future teammate Juan Pablo Montoya of overconfidence
and said "Juan seems to be a very confident person with regard to his abilities, the
day he starts driving and he is not quick enough it will be difficult. Remember, he was
fighting with Nick Heidfeld in Formula 3000 for the championship and Nick seems to have
found it difficult to adapt to Formula 1. Look at Alex Zanardi, he won two titles in a row
and was the quickest man in the US, coming here he was basically nowhere. Juan Pablo Montoya hit back and slammed Ralf's comments when he said "European people are very weak mentally, they always start these kind of mind games in order to show who is in charge or to make a point. To be honest I don't care. If I do well or not it would be because of me, and not because of some guy who thinks he is going to affect me by his comments." The pair will be testing for Williams in December. It seems that Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head will have a tough time trying to get these two to work together next year. 24-Oct: Luca Montezemolo was celebrating Ferrari's win of the Drivers' and Constructors' titles with the other members of the team and described their double as Ferrari's true objective and said "For four seasons we chased this double objective. In '97 we lost it when there were 14 kilometres left until the end of the World Championship; in '98 we were on pole in the last, decisive race; in '99 Irvine finished only 2 points back in the driver's championship but we made a resolution to win the constructors title. But the achievements of this season were our true objectives." Montezemolo indicated that it was a very difficult year and it will be hard to repeat when he said "The figures speak for themselves because in modern Formula 1 the competition is at the highest level. To win is difficult. What's more, it is very difficult. But this was our objective and having achieved it makes us proud and happy. It will be difficult to repeat a year like this one." David Coulthard has indicated that he will work on his weaknesses in the aim of beating a world champion next year and said "I know there are still some weaknesses in my package, but I'm going to work on them, and I'm going to work hard. I'm not prepared to take the easy option and take a pay day and take a walk down the pit lane, giving it Billy Big Balls' pretending I'm number one. I want to earn that by beating a world champion in one of the best cars. Coulthard's areas of weakness appear to be at the start of races as he made 2 crucial starting mistakes in Canada and the US. He added "I'm sure it's because you're not at boiling temperature, you're not at race speed, and that's why I'm slightly off guard and I make mistakes. I have to work at myself mentally to make sure that I have a complete plan that doesn't allow me to get into those areas where I make mistakes." David also wants McLaren to work on their race strategy as they have been beaten by Ferrari several times through a more effective race strategy and said "We were pretty poor in the second half of the season, and I'm part of that process. Spa - too late; Hockenheim - too late; Hungary - too early. You just can't afford to make those sort of calls if you're going to get those extra two points or extra four points that you need to win a championship." Coulthard described his year as most unusual especially after surviving a horrific plane crash early in the season and said "I think when you consider all the things that happened this year, it's been a helluva year, a most unusual year. To be able to come through the things I've come through and still be able to perform at a high level shows that I've got the strength to want to go out there and fight and to want to improve. And I believe I can." 23-Oct: "Your thoughts on the 2000 season" is the topic of the month - Have Your Say |
 |
|
|
