NewsOnF1 - 23 - 24 May News

24-May: Following the confusion during the podium ceremony at the Austrian GP where Michael Schumacher insisted that Rubens Barrichello receives the winners trophy from the Austrian Chancellor, the FIA have apologised to the Austrian Chancellor for what happened. The President of the FIA Max Mosley said "I have written apologising on behalf of the FIA. I felt I had to do that. It couldn't wait for a decision of the world council. It obviously was a disagreeable situation for him to be in."
Mosley didn't speculate the outcome of the world council meeting but said "The issue of the race will probably be not so much the team orders as the way it was done, and then the issue on the podium would presumably be the suggestion that the procedure was not followed."
He also added that they haven't told Ferrari what to do in upcoming races as that is a matter entirely up to them and said "I believe Ferrari may well have taken internal decisions, but that's a matter for them. We can't say to them what they should or shouldn't do. We just sit there with our rule book and try to deal with any infringements."

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has warned Ferrari not to repeat their team orders of Austria and indicated that he would only support such move if the world championship was hanging in the balance and said "Ferrari would be ill advised to do such a thing in the future. If they were to repeat it, that would not go down well with the fans - nor me. So many people want to see someone beat Schumacher but in Austria they were cheated out of that.
The only time I would condone it would be if the world championship hung on it. But Michael is 27 points clear. It was the way they did it that upset me. They could have performed it more elegantly or disguised it. But the way they carried it out insulted people. I am not surprised by the reaction.
What happened wasn't good for Formula One but I don't see why the sport should be punished by an incident from one team. I am sure that had they known what the reaction from the fans was going to be, they wouldn't have let it happen."

23-May: At the Thursday press conference for the Monaco GP, Peter Sauber indicated that while Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen are completely different characters, their talent is similar and said "I think on one thing they are really similar, and that's their talent. They have big big talent and very good driving feeling, but otherwise they are completely different. One is from the north and the other one is from South America, the characters are completely different. I think their talent is similar, and both drivers are immediately fast on different tracks."
Peter Sauber also indicated how limited his team's budget is compared to the big teams and how that affects them and said "The budget is similar (to last year's), it's not big enough. I don't think it's easy to cut costs in Formula One. When you look at testing, we speak about 160 days or 120 days and we do only 100 days testing, and that's only with one car, and that's a big big disadvantage for us compared with other teams."
He refused to speculate on his driver line-up for next year but indicated that he was pleased with both Heidfeld and Massa.

Patrick Faure doesn't believe that Renault can challenge Ferrari this year and said "It's very simple, that's not our goal. It's the first year of the return of Renault as a 100 per cent team in Formula One. We have set ourselves the target of being one of the top four at the end of the year and we stick to it and we think if we do it we will have done a very good job."
Patrick Faure maintains their target is to win races next year and challenge for the championship in 2004 and said "We know how tough is Formula One and we organised for us a target over three to four years and we will try to stick to it and improve every year but this year we have absolutely no illusion on our results. If we can make some podiums we will be very happy and for next year we will have a higher target and from 2004 onwards then we will try to challenge the people on the top."
He does however believe that they have a good chance here and said "We need is to wait for Saturday and see what happens between one and two on Saturday afternoon. We think we have a good chance of having reasonable results here, at least on Saturday, and after that we will have to keep on improving."

Frank Williams have confirmed that the team is looking into a B version of this year's car and said "It's talked about. Clearly all teams try and improve their product. I can truthfully say we have not made a positive decision about that matter at the moment.
It's a possibility, yes. I think it would take several months. They've done some work already but I wouldn't want to answer when it would be ready because I don't know."
Frank Williams also indicated that team-orders will be used as long as they are legitimate and said "Well, Williams, like Ferrari has been criticised before in the past for using team orders to help with the championship. It is permitted and I'm sure it will be done again in the next ten or 20 years, as we have done from time to time in the last twenty years."

Jean Todt didn't speculate on the kind of strategy they would adopt in the future with regard to team orders by stood by Ferrari's decision in Austria and said "You know I'm not going to intend what will be the strategy for Ferrari for the future. Definitely it's a game where you need to apply strategy, at least Ferrari thinks that we need to apply strategy when we are having certain circumstances which was the case. We thought that at the moment, we cannot allow ourselves to lose four points. Whether that's a good or bad decision, it was our decision and we stand by this decision. I hear my colleagues saying how tough is Formula One. Formula One is tough, it has been tough for Ferrari. Ferrari is in Formula One for many many years. We have had good times, we have had bad times."
Jean Todt admitted that they didn't expect the level of reaction and said "Yes, it would be wrong to say that we were expecting such a type of reaction. It was probably out of the proportion that we were thinking but anyway, it has happened and we will take that into consideration for the future."
As for apologising for their podium actions, he said "We did not apologise. We realised that we did not follow the podium protocol 100 per cent. And I will not answer here, because I don't think it's the right place to answer, considering that we are summoned in front of the World Council on the 26th so we will answer to this question on the 26th."

Eddie Jordan was delighted to have 2 points from Austria and said "I would prefer not to have destroyed another car, but having said that, full marks, I have to say. We all hate having to make these rules and regulations and changes to the chassis rules, but believe me there is no team person here who cannot thank our lucky stars and the FIA for making sure these rules change because, for sure, in years gone by I am not sure Taku Sato would be here driving. So let's, on a good point, say well done to the people involved in Formula One for making safety such a key issue. The two points...when people pointed out I was propping up the end of the Formula One field I didn't like it too long, so I thought it was time that we should change it. A lot of people have been talking about the re-structuring of Jordan and again it became clear that people were not quite understanding my methodology about re-structuring and cost efficiency and prudence in running a business. Just because you re-structure something doesn't mean you are going out of business and I think it was a very opportune moment that Giancarlo drove a fantastic race to finish fifth and he held back a lot of people by not slowing them down but a lot of good cars and a lot of good teams. I think he did an outstanding job to finish fifth and in view of what had happened earlier in the race it was a big relief in terms of a weekend."
Eddie Jordan defended Ferrari's tactics and called the media to stop hassling Ferrari's Jean Todt and said "Only once we were lucky to be in a situation where Jordan could finish one and two, and I would die to have this kind of problem that he had. Do you understand that? You know you people are making me laugh because I tell you, you are killing him (Jean Todt), and you are killing him because he is doing such a good job. We are all deadly jealous, believe me, me particularly. Once, I had the chance. Did I make a management decision? Yes I did. Ralf (Schumacher) will tell you he wasn't happy, but I had to make sure that Damon (Hill) and Ralf finished in the way they were racing, because I didn't need a fight and I had told them with two laps to go, that I needed them to finish like that. That was the only chance I had to finish in a one-two. Believe me, I can't wait for it to happen again, because I will do whatever I need to do to make sure, in the interest of the team, I get the best result for the team. Give this guy a break! He has done a brilliant job. You are killing him!"

23-May: What the teams and drivers said following Thursday practice in Monaco ... Report

23-May: Monaco GP – 2nd Thursday Practice Session: Jarno Trulli sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Allan McNish and David Coulthard. Giancarlo Fisichella, Mika Salo and Ralf Schumacher make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

23-May: Monaco GP – 1st Thursday Practice Session: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli. Rubens Barrichello, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

23-May: "One for tradition" is the title of the 14th issue from the Diagnosis and Prognosis Series for the 2002 season. In this issue, the Heretic looks at the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix - Issue 14

Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix Schedule:

Session	Time (Local / GMT) - Current local time
Thursday Practice Session 1 Thursday Practice Session 2 Saturday Practice Session 1 Saturday Practice Session 2 Qualifying Session Warm-up Session Race	11 AM Monaco Time / 9 AM GMT 1 PM Monaco Time / 11 AM GMT 9 AM Monaco Time / 7 AM GMT 10:15 AM Monaco Time / 8:15 AM GMT 1 PM Monaco Time / 11 AM GMT 9:30 AM Monaco Time / 7:30 AM GMT 2 PM Monaco Time / 12 PM GMT
Go to the Monaco GP Page