Coulthard says Hill may have made a mistake to decline on the McLaren offer. He said: "We will never know if Damon has made a mistake. I don't even know if the reports are true. All I know is that money should not be the sole priority, but the opportunity to win."

The German engine manufacturer BMW will develop a V10 engine for the Williams team. This partnership will start in 2000. There had been speculations about this for months but it is now official. The deal between Williams and BMW will be for a long time.

Former Formula One world champion Emerson Fittipaldi is in the hospital with a broken back. He crashed with his ultra light in a swamp. He was flying with his son, who could walk away unhurt. The doctors say the swamp saved his life, if he had crashed on hard soil he would have been killed.