News from the Paddock - Belgian GP

Williams is expected to confirm that Juan Pablo Montoya will join its 2001 driver line-up at the SAP United States Grand Prix on September 24. Sir Frank Williams, who is retaining the right to Jenson Button from the 2003 season onwards, said: "Jenson has astonished the BMW Williams F1 team with his immediate grasp of Formula One and with the calmness of his approach to driving an F1 car even under the greatest of pressures in a qualifying situation. There is no doubt in my mind that Jenson will go on to be a truly great racing driver." High praise, but he could find himself in a difficult situation, even in two years time if the experienced and competitive Ralf Schumacher, and the much-hyped Juan Pablo Montoya, prove to be a competitive pairing.

McLaren is now looking for a test driver, but need look no further than two potentially unemployed men who already have links with the team: Nick Heidfeld and Ricardo Zonta. The former won last year's Formula 3000 Championship with the McLaren Junior team, and the latter won the GT championship with Mercedes, a year after winning the F3000 title. Heidfeld's option to stay with Prost expires at this race, so an announcement can be expected, while Zonta, of course, has already been released by BAR. However, they join Alesi, Wurz, Verstappen and Diniz as drivers who are being considered for available Sauber, Arrows, Prost even Jaguar seats.

The Jordan team is planning to expand its factory opposite the gates of Silverstone, having acquired more land around the facility. The factory dates back to 1992, when there were originally 60 members of the team, whereas there are now around 200. The team already has its own wind tunnel facility in the nearby town of Brackley. However, planning permission may be complicated by the fact that the factory straddles a county boundary with Northamptonshire on one side and Oxfordshire on the other.

Prost Grand Prix put out a statement on Thursday that, contrary to reports that have appeared in the press, there is no contract for an engine supply for the 2001 season. However, the team will respect the fixed deadline (end of August), and an announcement on Prost Grand Prix's future projects will be made the week after the Belgian Grand Prix. Alain Prost said that he was currently in negotiations which were at a delicate stage. "There is nothing I can say at the moment," he emphasised, neither confirming nor denying that the team is for sale, or that he will or won't stay. However, it is thought that Prost is conducting a balancing act as he attempts to find the money to pay for a Ferrari engine deal. At the French Grand Prix, it was said that Ferrari are willing to offer a deal but it has to be long-term and it costs some $27m per year. This, interestingly, is apparently more than a Supertec. The predicament facing Prost is the likely loss of his Gauloises sponsorship to Peugeot and the World Rally championship, so he needs to work out how much money he has. It may be that he has to sell part of the team to raise more, and if he does so, then he may not have a role to play in the team. Prost could well continue to head his team if existing partner UFA, part of the massive Bertelsmann Group, takes a significant interest in the team. This would mean that while Alain Prost would remain a figurehead, he could stand down from its day-to-day running. Apparently UFA has come up with a big sponsor to replace Gauloises, if necessary.

Coca-Cola representatives were at the Hungarian Grand Prix to discuss their sponsorship plans in Formula One, and it seems that their interest will be rather more global than with any single team. They intend to blend driver backing, trackside signage and probably attempt to become the official soft drinks supplier rather like Foster's. They held discussions with a number of midfield runners including Jordan, Benetton and Arrows, but also Ferrari. Incidentally, the interest comes from the company's European branch, rather than the United States.

Among those expected to join Mika Salo at Toyota is Norio Aoki, a former Yamaha engineer who has been working for Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows Engines company for the last couple of years. This has now been virtually closed down and Aoki is expected to go to Cologne. Toyota have also been looking at the old Honda Racing Developments crew who were interested in joining them last year but has now disbanded. Steve Nielsen, the former team manager at Tyrrell and now at Arrows, is rumoured to be going to Toyota, but a prominent member of the Ferrari team is another possibility.

Renault's latest V10 will be ready for Benetton to use at the start of next season. It will be ready for the first test of 2001 and will be a 110 degree V10, the widest V-angle for any Formula One V10 engine, by some 10 degrees. It will mean that Benetton will effectively become a Renault team a year earlier than expected, although it is thought that the team's cars will still be known as Benetton-Renaults. Whether the new car will have any input from Mike Gascoyne, however, remains in question. Gascoyne is still contracted to work for Eddie Jordan until July 2001, but Honda, who supply Jordan next year, have already said that they don't want him working on the 2001 Jordan prior to his departure for Benetton-Renault. At the moment, then, he is at home and not working at all, while Flavio Briatore negotiates with Eddie Jordan for his release.

Bridgestone, whose Firestone road tyre division is currently under financial pressure in the USA, is developing a special tyre for use at Indianapolis in response to fears of blow-outs. Formula One teams and Bridgestone were worried about the longest flat-out section at any Formula One track, which incorporates the first corner and home straight of the 2.5 mile speedway. Tyre pressures would have to be high to withstand the high loads on the banking, but this would compromise grip around the infield section. Teams would be tempted to lower tyre pressures to get grip, at the risk of tyres breaking up on the faster sections. Tyres will have to withstand three times the forces on other tracks, so Bridgestone is building a new tyre specially for Indy. Firestone is under pressure in the States following blow-outs with sports utility and light truck tyres. Some 6.5m are being recalled, at a cost of $260m, while there are also some 20 outstanding law suits involving families who have lost relatives in accidents, all of which could threaten Bridgestone's continued involvement in Formula One.

Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard will beat the record for the most number of races for drivers as teammates at the Belgian Grand Prix. In Hungary, they drew level with Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi, who drove together at Ferrari and then Benetton from 1993 to 1997. They have spent 77 Grands Prix together. They also drew level with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost with their tally of 25 wins as teammates.