27 February:
Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix - "A
change is coming" ... Race Preview
16 February:
Your Say - Your predictions for the 2004 Formula 1
Season - Have your
say
13 February:
The Jordan Grand Prix team announced today that Italian Giorgio
Pantano with drive alongside Nick Heidfeld for the 2004 Formula 1
season. Following the collapse in the negotiations between Jos
Verstappen and Jordan, Pantano emerged as the front runner for the final
seat on the grid.
The 25 year old won the German F3 championship in his debut year in 2000
then moved to International F3000 series in 2001. He finished 2nd in
2002 and 3rd in 2003.
Team boss Eddie Jordan believes Pantano is ready for Formula 1
and said "Giorgio performed consistently with accomplished
racecraft at the front of the field for three years in F3000 and he’s
ready for the challenge in F1. In Jordan Ford’s driver pairing I
believe we have the best possible combination of youth, experience and
natural ability. Giorgio and Nick are seriously quick, skilled and
hungry for success, which is exactly what we need to rejuvenate the team
and lead Jordan’s fight-back in 2004. I can’t wait for the first
race!”
Giorgio Pantano was delighted with the deal and said "I’m
so happy. I want to thank Eddie Jordan and everybody at Jordan Grand
Prix for giving me the opportunity to be in F1 and show my ability. I
will be giving my all as I really want to guarantee them good results.
There are a lot of people I have to thank for helping me get to this
position and I hope I will make them proud. I’m looking forward to
driving the car some more in the test sessions, and then of course, I am
really excited about my first Grand Prix in Melbourne in just a few
weeks time."
11 February:
The FIA issued the Formula One Official Grand Prix Timetable for
the 2004 season. The Grand Prix weekend timetable will be as follows:
Friday*
11:00 - 12:00
Practice Session 1
14:00 - 15:00
Practice Session 2
Saturday**
10:00 - 10:45
Practice Session 3
11:15 - 12:00
Practice Session 4
14:00
Qualifying Session
Sunday ***
14:00
Race
*Friday Practice sessions at Monaco will take
place on Thursday.
**Except for Canada and United States:
Practice Session 3: 09.00 – 09.45 / Practice Session 4: 10.15 –
11.00
Qualifying Session: 13.00
***Except for Malaysia (15.00), Bahrain (14.30),
Canada (12.30),
United States (12.00), Great Britain (13.00), Japan (14.30) and Brazil
(15.00)
All times are local time.
7 February:
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for the 2004 season. Book through NewsOnF1 and you'll get an exclusive
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6 February:
Announcing the start of the 2004 8
'n' Pole Competition. This season in addition to our major prizes, we
are giving away a prize to the winner of every round. It will be a close
season and 8 'n' Pole will even be closer ... Introduction
... Register ... Submit
1 February:
The Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda team launched their 2004 challenger today with the
aim of challenging the top 3 teams. Team Principal David Richards said "As we enter the third
year of my tenure at B.A.R, a great deal of the groundwork is behind us
and we are now in a position to provide a consistent challenge to the
top three teams.
Our relationship with Honda has developed immeasurably, to the point where we
now have a totally integrated engineering team, and the B.A.R Honda 006 is
testament to the strength of our partnership.
Our driver line-up of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato provides us with an
exciting combination of youth, experience and ambition, which has dramatically
boosted the team's motivation to succeed. The whole operation is moving
forward relentlessly and as each week goes by I see our team taking another
methodical step towards our long-term goal of front line competitiveness."
Technical Director Geoffrey Willis said "I am very confident that we
have made another big step forwards with the B.A.R Honda 006. It has been a
big challenge, particularly with the tough new engine regulations, but has
been ten months in design and represents another milestone in our long-term
strategy.
Our main objective in 2003 was to establish a credible engineering base, and
2004 provides us with the opportunity to use that credibility and be
innovative in design. We now have the extra resource of Honda engineers
recruited into the B.A.R design team, and we are beginning to see the benefits
of an integrated, stable engineering base. In addition, testing with Michelin
has given us the confidence that we have made good progress this winter. By
the time the first race comes around, we will have completed almost three
times as much testing as in the same period last year, and that extra effort
is already visible in our greatly improved reliability. It is always difficult
to predict performance against other teams before the first race, but we are
certainly looking forward to getting the 006 on track."
Honda F1 Project Leader Takeo Kiuchi said "We are very pleased
with the RA004E because, although we have doubled the engine life, we have
been able to make it lighter and smaller, with a lower centre of gravity. As
for the power output, it is already more powerful than last year's final
Suzuka engine and we plan further increases before Australia. We have achieved
this by improving the quality of the parts and the precision of the structure,
as well as reducing vibrations further. We are confident that it will be a top
class engine."
Jenson Button said "2004 looks set to be a very exciting season for
us. Pre-season testing has been going really well and the highlight so far was
setting the new lap record in Barcelona two weeks ago. We didn't disguise the
fact that we were running low fuel but the purpose of the run was to gauge car
performance in that trim. As you can imagine, we were very pleased with the
result!
The car is a major step forward and I feel very confident that the team isn't
overstating its expectations for this year when we say we can fight with the
top three teams. I think Taku and I will work very well together and hopefully
we can look forward to the same kind of results we achieved in Japan. I think
this year will definitely bring us podium finishes and, who knows, perhaps my
first win as well."
Takuma Sato said "I'm very excited about racing with B.A.R this
season. Jenson and I will be a strong partnership I think, and I hope we can
expect some more performances like Suzuka at the end of last year. The car
looks very good and I think we have every reason to feel positive. This will
be my second full year of racing in F1 and my first opportunity to build on
the valuable lessons I learnt in 2002. In my position as B.A.R third driver
last year I had a great opportunity to prepare for this season, so I feel very
comfortable that I will be able to play a big part in achieving the team's
ambitions."
