News from the Paddock - German GP

Rain Cancels Press Conference

The traditional FIA's Friday Five press conference was cancelled today, due to the loud noise caused by the heavy rain, falling on the media center's roof.

Minardi Close to Being Sold, Says Owner

The Minardi team is close to being sold, says 70% team owner Gabriele Rumi. "We can't continue like this. A Formula One team can no longer be owned by an individual. It needs to be owned by a company involved in communication, because Formula One is all about communication. We are very close to doing a deal but we have to find an engine partner, and there aren't many of those. I can't sell the team without an engine."

Rumi went on to say that he was chasing deals with Mugen-Honda and Renault. Ford has advised the Italian team that it cannot continue to supply parts. These two-year-old units are badged Fondmetal, in deference to Rumi's company. The former Peugeot engine supply is going to Arrows, and Renault may well be supplying Prost in some form or another (see separate story). Rumi is believed to be negotiating with PSN, the Miami-based PanAmerican Sport Network which is already a sponsor of the team and sends crews to Grands Prix.

Once the deal is done, Rumi says the team will expand, initially with a test team and, later, with an entire new factory.

Prost-Renault?

Alain Prost is believed to have sold the majority of his team on the Sunday of the Austrian Grand Prix to a new Canada-based consortium, which could see it become a second-string Renault team. Prost bought the team (then Ligier) three and a half years ago from Flavio Briatore, who is now running Benetton. It could be that the team has gone back to Briatore, who will put Supertec chief Bruno Michel in charge. Apparently Renault does not want to supply Prost Grand Prix but, with Prost standing down, Supertec or Renault engines might become available. Benetton, under Briatore, is to become the works Renault team in 2001.

Burti Pays Up Record Fine

Luciano Burti had the dubious honour of breaking one of Formula One's 2000 records on his Grand Prix debut in Austria. Eager to get out of the pits at the end of the Sunday morning warm-up, he not only broke the pit lane speed limit by some 19km/h but went through the red light too. The result: the biggest fine seen so far this year, $2500 for speeding, and a further $5000 for going through the red light. Both Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher were fined a similar amount for ignoring the red light at the Brazilian Grand Prix, but they did not get the speeding fine.

Benetton to Michelin

Benetton have notified Bridgestone that it will be on Michelin tyres next year, thus joining Jaguar, Williams and, in 2002, Toyota. Bridgestone has already signed up Ferrari, McLaren, Jordan and Arrows, which leaves Prost (probably Michelin), Minardi, BAR and Sauber as the teams that have yet to confirm a deal.

Gascoyne Sidelined

Jordan technical chief Mike Gascoyne has been sidelined because of worries by Honda, the team's new technical supplier. Gascoyne is likely to be relieved of his contract in order to join his next team, Renault/Benetton, before the original date of July 2001. Understandably, it is a sensitive issue and Honda would not want Gascoyne to know any details of their new engine.

Consequently, Gascoyne has emptied his office and will not attend any more races even though Jordan had wanted him to honour his contract. A temporary replacement is Tim Holloway, a renowned and solid engineer, but he has never led a design team. The possibility that Sam Michael, Heinz-Harald Frentzen's race engineer, might take over as chief designer has receded in the face of an offer from Ferrari.

Panis to BAR?

While McLaren's Ron Dennis is very keen to hold onto his third driver, it seems that Olivier Panis has already done a deal to move to BAR next year. Panis's view is that he was always only temporarily at McLaren, but he has been invaluable to the team, and Dennis says he would like him to stay, almost at whatever cost. BAR have talked to several drivers, some of whom have money which will aid their position. Pedro Diniz, Alexander Wurz, and Pedro de la Rosa would all be in a favourable financial position to join the team. Jenson Button has also been mentioned. For the present incumbent, Ricardo Zonta, qualifying ahead of Jacques Villeneuve in Austria will have helped his situation.

Magny-Cours Until 2006

Magny-Cours is likely to continue to host the French Grand Prix until 2006 at least. Probably the least popular circuit on the Grand Prix calendar due to its inaccessibility, the circuit has done a deal which is apparently linked to the FIA's proposed return to Paris. Bernie Ecclestone was thought to be hoping to move the French race to the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France, which he bought last year, but it now seems that that track will become a major testing venue.