October 2002

31 October 2002 The organisers of the Humgarian GP said that they have a firm contract to host a race in 2004, despite ruours that the Hungarian GP is a prime candidate for removal to make room for the new China and Bahrain GPs.

31 October 2002 FIA have confirmed that the 107% rule is to stay in 2003, depite changing the qulifying session from the best-of-12-laps model to the one-flying-lap model.

30 October 2002 The Toyota team is reportedly asking British broadcaster ITV for a rebate. The Guardian newspaper reports that there is a clause in Toyota’s contract with ITV, whose F1 coverage it sponsors, that entitles it to a cash rebate if the television viewer numbers fall below the 2001 levels. Last season saw a drop in TV numbers due to the lack of competition to Ferrari.

29 October 2002 Bernie Ecclestone dropped hints that the Belgian GP could be readmitted into the Formula 1 schedule in 2004, if the Belgian government agrees to pass a law to exempt motorsport events from the tobacco advertising ban until 2006.

29 October 2002 EU Health Commissioner, David Byrne, has slammed Formula One for removing the Belgian Grand Prix from the calendar on the ground of the tobacco advertising ban. According to Byrne the FIA is looking after corporate backers rather than the true interests of the sport.

28 October 2002 The new rules for the 2003 Formula 1 season are as follows:

• Qualifying:
  There will be two qualifying sessions - Friday and Saturday, both 13.00 - 14.00.
  Qualifying to be one (only) flying lap for each car, cars to run one at a time.
  Running order on Friday to follow Championship (previous year at first race), with Championship leader going out first, 2nd in Championship running second, and so on.
  Running order on Saturday will be determined by the Friday times (which do not count for the grid), so that the fastest on Friday runs last on Saturday, the second fastest second last, and so on.
  
• Practice schedule:
  This will remain Friday: 11.00 to 12.00 and Saturday: 09.00 to 09.45 and 10.15 to 11.00 (with qualifying from 13.00 to 14.00 both days, as above).
  
• Testing:
  Provided that by 15 December, at least three teams undertake to the FIA not to run more than 10 car-days of private testing between 1 March and 1 November, the teams which have given this undertaking will be able to test at each Event from 09.00 to 11.00 on Friday and may use their spare car and their test driver during this period.
  
• World Championship points:
  From 2003 points will be awarded down to 8th place on the scale 10:8:6:5:4:3:2:1 (previously to 6th place on the scale 10:6:4:3:2:1).
  
• Team orders:
  Team orders which interfere with the race result are prohibited.
  
• The 2003 Belgian Grand Prix:
  In the absence of unanimous agreement by the teams to run at the 2003 Belgian Grand Prix without tobacco advertising, this event has been removed from the World Championship calendar.
  
• Tyres:
  Each team will be allowed to use two different dry tyres at each Event, (previously each tyre company could supply only the same two dry tyres to each of its teams). Teams will continue to be limited to 10 sets of dry tyres per Event. Only one type of wet tyre to be used per Event.
  

27 October 2002 Juan Pablo Montoya has married model Connie Freydell. The ceremony took place in the catholic church of Santo Toribio in Cartagena de Indias, in the Carribeans, under heavy security. Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello was one of the witnesses.

25 October 2002 The Belgian GP has been scrapped from the 2003 Formula 1 calendar because of the ban on tobacco advertising that will come into effect in the whole of Belgium in August 2003, just before the scheduled race. The decision was made yesterday during a FIA informal meeting. The decision, which reduces the number of next season GPs to 16, still needs to be ratified on Monday, when the controversial proposed changes to Formula One rules will also be discussed.

24 October 2002 Next Saturday Rubens Barrichello will act as witness for racing rival Montoya's wedding with Connie Freydel in Cartagena de Indias in the Carribeans. Frank Williams has been invited to the ceremony, but not the two Schumacher brothres, despite the fact that R. Schumacher is Montoya's team mate. There are fears that Farc guerrilla might try to stage an attack on what is seen as one of the biggest media events of the year in Colombia.

24 October 2002 A spokeperson for the American CART series has denied the rumour reported yesterday by Canadian paper "The Toronto Star" that Ecclestone is in talks in order to merge it with Formula 1. The rumour was allegedly sparked by the frienship of Bernie Ecclestone with CART boss Chris Pook.

23 October 2002 While Bernie Ecclestone works to merge Formula 1 with CART, the European carmaker consortium is busy trying to salvage the current Formula 1 situation. GPWC Holding (Grand Prix World Championship) has presented a plan aimed at "achieving stabilisation of Formula One in the near future". The plan is thought to contain points that would form the backbone of a new Concorde Agreement that should come into force once the current edition expires in 2007. GPWC's aims are to increase payments to teams, to ensure a stable platform for the sport, including a reliable and regulatory framework, to reach the broadest possible global audience, in particular through free-to-air television and o operate transparently. Should the plan be approved, the threatened parallel Championship will not happen.

23 October 2002 Bernie Ecclestone is in talks to buy a stake in American series CART, according to Canadian paper "The Toronto Star". There are rumours that CART and Formula 1 could merge, with the drivers openly swapping series.

22 October 2002 Alex Yoong explained that he is pursuing a drive in CART because he would benefit more from active driving than from the year of testing that is being offered to him by Minardi.

22 October 2002 Bernie Ecclestone said that the Formula 1 calendar will not be extended to include the newly-added Chinese GP. Instead, one of the existing races will be scrapped, but the decision as to which GP to eliminate has not been made yet. The most likely candidates are the European GP or the San Marino GP.

22 October 2002 According to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the creditor banks of the fallen Kirch Gruppe, Bayerische Landesbank, Lehman Brothers and J.P. Morgan & Chase, are close to agreeing a deal with the consortium of European carmakers. The deal, with the consortium that includes BMW, Ford, Renault, DaimlerChrysler and FIAT, which could prevent the 2008 GPWC breakaway Championship from going ahead.

21 October 2002 Japanese electronics company Brother might raise to Eddie Jordan's challenge to provide sponsorship money to the team in order to retain Japanese driver Takuma Sato. The Tokyo based giant today held a press conference to announce the extension of its sponsorship deal with Jordan for a fourth year. Takuma Sato attended the press conference in which the announcement was made. Brother's Senior Director Seiichi Hirata said that the firm’s involvement in Formula One had significantly helped its European marketing strategy and that Sato’s reputation had boosted Brother’s brand recognition in Japan.

21 October 2002 BMW has not yet decided whether to continue in Formula 1 after 2004, when its contract with WIlliamsF1 expires. BMW's general manager Mario Theissen said that they want to win the Drivers Championship by 2004, with either Montoya or R. Schumacher.

21 October 2002 The Chinese Sport Minister has officially announced that a Chinese GP will be part of the Formula 1 calendar from 2004. The contract signed with Bernie Ecclestone is for seven years and works to build the new circuit have already started under the direction of German architect Hermann Tilke, who was also responsible for the Sepang complex in Malaysia. The circuit is expected to be finished in March 2004, right on time for the start of the racing season. The track will be 5.45 km long and the complex will be able to seat 200,000 spectators.

20 October 2002 Frank Williams said that the upcoming F1 commission meeting in just over a week is possibly the most important one in the last two decades. The proposed changes to Formula One rules will be discussed and voted on. Williams warned that the meeting was crucial to F1’s future and stressed the importance of making correct decisions.

19 October 2002 The mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, is blaming Bernie Ecclestone for the failure of the talks aimed at bringing a Formula 1 GP to the Russian capital. According to Luzhkov, Ecclestone wanted to have total control over the broadcast, the publicity and the ticket sale. The organisers would receive no returns from any investment so the talks could not proceeed. He added that Moscow will continue to build the circuit and that when it is ready M. Schumacher and Barrichello will be invited to try it out.

19 October 2002 Max Mosley has announced that China will host a GP from 2004 to 2010. The race will be held in Shanghai at the new "Shang" circuit, whose construction is due to start shortly.

18 October 2002 Pedro De La Rosa has spoken out against team mate Eddie Irvine and has urged the team's management not to retain him in 2003. The Spaniard said that working with Irvine was the worst part of the season. Irvine, according to De La Rosa, is very inconsistent with his decisions, especially when things go wrong which is really when the whole team should pull together. The two drivers stopped talking to each other as the season progressed and in the last few races they even refused to look at each other. At the start of the season Irvine, who has scored all the Jaguar's points this season, had expressed his reservations towards De La Rosa.

18 October 2002 Eddie Jordan has dropped hints that it is likely that Takuma Sato will stay with the team, but that Jordan needs more funds to dispel all doubts. He called for Japanese business to offer sponsorship money to keep the Japanese driver going.

17 October 2002 Bernie Ecclestone said that M. Schumacher is overpaid and that Ferrari should reduce his salary if the team needs more money. Ferrari has allegedly asked for a 33% increase in commercial fund benefits as part of the prize money allocation under the Concorde Agreement. Ecclestone's statement has exacerbated the strained relationship between him and Luca di Montezemolo, who has been vociferously critical of the proposed changes to Formula One rules. Montezemolo has also been saying that Ecclestone receives too much money for his position.

17 October 2002 BMW Motorsport co-director Gerhard Berger said that the Bavarian firm has no intention of buying a stake in Williams F1. Frank Williams had recently suggested that the results would improve if BMW became involved with the team beyond technical partnership.

17 October 2002 Legendary Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker, who retired last year, said that he is against the proposed changes to Formula One rules, because the sport could be badly damaged if the wrong decisions are made.

16 October 2002 Takuma Sato, who brought home the two points in the Japanese GP that allowed Jordan to leapfrog Jaguar, in keen to continue driving for the team next season. His drive is however under threat by Eddie Irvine, who has a clause in his contract allowing him to move to Jordan if the team switches engines. Jordan is ditching the Honda engines for Cosworth.

16 October 2002 BMW are working hard to try and close the gap with Ferrari. They have already track tested the 2003 V10 the P83 and have put a rigorous programme in place to boost its performance and reliability over the coming months.

15 October 2002 Max Mosley is pressing for the other commissioners to pass the changes for Formula 1 that have been proposed in order to increase the spectacularity of the show. There has been serious opposition to the proposal and Mosley wants the competitors to come up with ideas too.

15 October 2002 Arrows has settle out of court with the British Inland Revenue service. Next month the team will face another winding-up petition in the London High Court with numerous creditors seeking compensation, including former drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jos Verstappen and engine supplier Cosworth. Arrows have not competed since the German GP in July 2002 and is also facing fines from the FIA for missing the races. However the FIA Governing Body has said it will wait until clarity over the team’s financial future before taking action.

14 October 2002 Underperforming Malaysian driver Alex Yoong has a new personal manager, British American Racing co-founder Rick Gorne. Gorne said that he has been keeping an eye on Yoong and that he believes the young driver has what it takes to succeed in Formula 1. Yoong will not be driving for Minardi next season, but he could be the team's test driver. Minardi have an option on Yoong that they have to enforce within a month.

14 October 2002 Asiatech has revealed in Japan that financial restrictions have prevented the company from going ahead with phase two of its F1 project, building the chassis. Asiatech announced at the same time that they are pulling out of Formula 1 after a two years presence to concentrate on World Rallying. Minardi, which used Asiatech engines, is expected to sign a deal with Cosworth for engines next year, provided that the team can obtain the money freed up by the dissolution of Prost Grand Prix.

14 October 2002 Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has labelled the proposed changes to Formula 1 "idiotic" and has threatened to pull Ferrari out of Formula 1 if they are approved. According to the President of Ferrari, the rules, whoich have been heavily criticised, go completely against the spirit of competition. He believes that the plans will not be passed but has admitted to feeling frustrated at the rule change talk.

13 October 2002 Petronas is currently working on the development of a Formula 1-specific fuel and aims to use it in 2003. The Malaysian petrochemical giant has already developed an engine oil, known as Syntium, that has been used by Sauber in the Petronas-badged Ferrari engines for the last two years.

13 October 2002 There was no story to the Japanses GP, last instalment of the 2002 season, as M. Schumacher took the lead from pole position and held it to fly to his 11th victory this season, setting the new record for wins in any one year. M. Schumacher also managed the remarkable achievement of finishing on the podium every single race of the season. Except for his third pace finish in Malayisa, the German finished first or second in all other GPs. The other Ferrari driver, Barrichello, finished second ahead of McLaren's Räikkönen. A lacklustre Montoya settled for fourth place, while Sato managed the first points finish of the season to give Jordan two precious points that allowed the team to leapfrog Jaguar in the COnstructor's table. Jenson Button finished sixth. R. Schumacher retired with a blown engine with only five laps to go, so he still qualified as a finisher. Coulthard, on the other hand, opnly managed seven laps before mechanical problems took the unhappy Scot out. Villeneuve retired with whgite smoke pouring out of his engine while being engaged in what was possibly the only battle of the race with Fisichella. The Italian's own car, which was the spare one, gave up the ghost on lap 38.

The Japanese GP finishing times:

1. M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:26:59.698 2. R Barrichello Ferrari (B) +0.506 3. K Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) +23.292 4. J Montoya BMW-Williams (M) +36.275 5. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) +82.694 6. J Button Renault (M) +1 lap 7. N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) +1 lap 8. M Salo Toyota (M) +1 lap 9. E Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) +1 lap 10. M Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) +2 laps 11. R Schumacher BMW-Williams (M) +5 laps

13 October 2002 Despite previous statements about McNish's presence in the Japanese GP following his accident, the Scot will not take part in the race. McNish had taken part in the warm-up session, but the swelling of his knee worsened in the lead-up to the race and professor Watkins decided that the Toyota driver is not fit for racing. Only 19 cars will line on the grid.

12 October 2002 M. Schumacher more than made up for his sixth place in Friday practice by snatching the last pole position of the 2002 season, improving on his own pole position time in the very last lap. Team mate Barrichello took the second place. McLaren put its name on the second row on the grid with Coulthard lapping marginally faster than Räikkönen, while the third row was all Williams', with R. Schumacher ahead of Montoya. The session was interrupted halfway through by an ugly accident suffered by McNish, who crashed out of the track at the 130 degrees bend, cutting through the guardrail and stopping with his car split into two pieces. McNish was able to get out of his car unaided and was rushed to the Medical Center, where he was found to be in shock but without broken bones. He will take part in the GP tomorrow. The session was suspended for an hour to allow for the guardrail to be repaired.

The Japanese GP qualifying session times:

1. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'31"317 (average 229.482 Km/h) 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'31"749 3. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'32"088 4. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'32"197 5. R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'32"444 6. MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'32"507 7. SATO Jordan Honda B 1'33"090 8. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 1'33"276 9. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'33"349 10. BUTTON Renault M 1'33"429 11. TRULLI Renault M 1'33"547 12. HEIDFELD Sauber Ferrari B 1'33"553 13. SALO Toyota M 1'33"742 14. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 1'33"915 15. MASSA Sauber Ferrari B 1'33"979 16. PANIS BAR Honda B 1'34"192 17. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'34"227 18. MCNISH Toyota M 1'35"191 19. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech M 1'35"958 20. YOONG Minardi Asiatech M 1'36"267

11 October 2002 Arrows are facing a petition from the Inland Revenue to wind up the company next week. The proccedings were started on 2 September and Arrows have failed to attract new investors in the six weeks leeway allowed by the court. FIA are waiting until the court ruling before they decide on the Arrows team's status in the Formula 1 Championship.

11 October 2002 Ferrari suffered problems in the second hour of the Japanese GP Friday free practice session, allowing McLaren to dominate it. Räikkönen and Coulthard clocked the fastest lap times, followed by Barrichello, Montoya and R. Schumacher. M. Schumacher was unable to take part in the second session because of hydraulic problems and had to settle for the best lap time he had clocked in the first session, ranking sixth. Montoya went wide five minutes before the end of the session and hit the tyre barrier, causing serious damage to his car, but coming out unhurt.

The Japanese GP Friday combined practice session times:

1. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'34"232 (average 222.383 Km/h) 2. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'34"730 3. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'35"402 4. MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'35"742 5. R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'35"995 6. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'36"109 7. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 1'36"190 8. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'36"490 9. TRULLI Renault M 1'36"529 10. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 1'36"744 11. SALO Toyota M 1'36"893 12. BUTTON Renault M 1'37"014 13. SATO Jordan Honda B 1'37"196 14. MCNISH Toyota M 1'37"384 15. MASSA Sauber Ferrari B 1'37"492 16. HEIDFELD Sauber Ferrari B 1'37"781 17. PANIS BAR Honda B 1'37"927 18. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech M 1'37"997 19. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'38"138 20. YOONG Minardi Asiatech M 1'39"142

11 October 2002 Ferrari dominated the first hour of the Japanese GP Friday free practice session. M. Schumacher and Barrichello lead Coulthard, Räikkönen, Montoya and R. Schumacher. Jacques Villeneuve suffered a serious mechanical failure, possibly a suspension, and his car went crashing into the tyre barrier at turn 14, bouncing back on the tarmac in a shower of debris. The Canadian was not hurt and was able to rejoin the session, that was stopped for 27 minutes, for the last seven laps on the spare car.

The Japanese GP Friday first practice session times:

1. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'36"109 (average 218.040 Km/h) 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'36"348 3. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'36"760 4. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'37"268 5. MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'37"316 6. R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'37"614 7. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 1'38"425 8. TRULLI Renault M 1'38"426 9. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'38"630 10. BUTTON Renault M 1'38"640 11. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 1'38"698 12. SALO Toyota M 1'38"801 13. SATO Jordan Honda B 1'38"912 14. PANIS BAR Honda B 1'39"054 15. HEIDFELD Sauber Ferrari B 1'39"208 16. MASSA Sauber Ferrari B 1'39"278 17. MCNISH Toyota M 1'39"364 18. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech M 1'40"710 19. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'40"967 20. YOONG Minardi Asiatech M 1'41"596

11 October 2002 The leading designer of the BMW Formula One engines, Heinz Paschen, wil be the new General Manager of BMW’s F1 engine development in Munich from the end of the 2002 season.

10 October 2002 Eddie Irvine said that his future is in Formula 1, though he declined to say what team he will be driving for next season.

10 October 2002 Jean Todt has refused to comment on the changes to Formula 1 proposed by Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone. One of the proposals involves all the drivers rotating through the teams for the first 10 races, then the drivers will be allowed to choose what team to drive for in the last seven races. Montoya commented that such a rule would be crazy.

10 October 2002 The list of changes to Formula 1 proposed by Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley has been published. The changes are:

1. Driver Swapping:
   All race drivers would no longer be contracted to an individual team, but would apply to the FIA and the FIA would select the drivers each year for the Championship on the basis of one for each car entered. This means that each driver would rotate around the teams.
2. Aggregated Qualifying:
   A complete overhaul of the current qualifying procedure with two 30 minute sessions being held on Friday and two on Saturday. The aggregate time would give the qualifying position.
3. Tyres:
   The tyre manufacturers would be able to supply two compounds of tyre to each team, but the compounds could vary from team to team. Teams with differing chassis characteristics could have a tyre tailored to their particular package.
4. Ballast Handicap:
   One kg of ballast per championship point earned would be added to the race car.
5. Testing:
   A complete ban on testing at current Grand Prix venues and a limit of 12 days of private testing between the end of February and the beginning of November.
6. Engines:
   Only one engine allowed per Grand Prix in 2003, increasing to one engine every four Grand Prix in 2004 and one engine every eight Grand Prix in 2005.
7. Gearbox:
   A gearbox would have to last for a certain number of races before replacement.
8. Aerodynamic restrictions:
   Two sets of bodywork would be homologated at the start of the season for each team and could be revised only once during the year.
9. Standardised parts:
   Teams would all use the same electronic systems including the Electronic Control units, while standardisation of brakes would come into affect as would the restriction of where ballast can be positioned within the chassis.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande