Benetton is suffering a chassis crisis having lost three in the space of two weeks. Giancarlo Fisichella damaged one during the week before Monaco when he crashed with Jarno Trulli at Valencia. Alexander Wurz damaged another at Monaco, and a third - the first built - cracked during testing at Monza on Tuesday due to fatigue. Fisichella felt the car react strangely and fortunately slowed. When he returned to the garage, the chassis was found to be badly cracked. However, the team was back up to full strength for the Canadian Grand Prix with a spare chassis in the garage.
Jos Verstappen may be racing in Canada this weekend, but he will be thinking of home and in particular the Dutch Football Team and its Euro 2000 challenge. To show his support for the team he has changed his helmet design for this race. The distinctive new design is an orange background with a black lion outlined in white, the colour scheme suits the Arrows one.
Michael Schumacher skipped testing last week, in favour of an 'Easy Rider' vacation in North America. He and wife Corinna left Europe soon after the Monaco Grand Prix to visit three remote locations in the USA where they were riding motorcycles and horses on a brief holiday prior to the Canadian Grand Prix. Michael has motorcycles at home, but admits to being a cautious rider!
Egypt could be the next Grand Prix venue on the circuit, following a meeting between Ashraf Mahmoud, who represents an organisation trying to establish a Grand Prix in that country, and Bernie Ecclestone at Monaco. Also present was Hermann Tilke who is Formula One's established circuit consultant, following his work on the Nurburgring, the A1-Ring, Brands Hatch and particularly Sepang which he designed. The new track would be built near Cairo with the political and financial support of the Egyptian government, vital in some countries. It could be ready by 2002 but would have to either open or close the season due to summer heat. It would be the first GP in an Arab country since the 1958 World Championship was decided in Mike Hawthorn's favour in Casablanca, Morocco.
FIA president Max Mosley has confirmed that next year's tyre regulations will remain unchanged. There were possibilities that, with the arrival of Michelin, tyre regulations would be changed, which would be to the French company's advantage. But the governing body has said that will not be the case. Representatives from both Michelin and Bridgestone met the FIA at Monaco and agreed that the four grooved tyre would stay. Jaguar is believed to have been testing with Michelin at Imola this week.
Mika Salo's seat at Sauber next year isn't thought to be under threat, in spite of team boss Peter Sauber admitting that he's been impressed by the testing performances of Enrique Bernoldi. The Brazilian races for the Red Bull Junior Team in F3000 but is somewhat erratic. Sauber admitted that he was interested in promoting him to the Formula One team after his first circuit test at Valencia. Previously he had only conducted straightline testing. But Pedro Diniz brings US$10 million sponsorship, and Salo has another year on his contract, so it's unlikely that they would be replaced by a newcomer, however quick.
Sauber, meanwhile, has also confirmed its option to take up use of Ferrari's V10 engines again next year. The deal doesn't come cheap at US$20 million but there are few alternatives. The engines are usually the previous year's specification. It will be Sauber's fifth year using Ferrari engines. It is thought that the team also opted to stick with Bridgestone tyres next year.
British American Tobacco, the backer of BAR, has increased its shareholding the team from 50 per cent to between 80 and 87 per cent, after agreeing to boost funding by about $57 million as the team has gone over budget for the second year running. The remaining shares are held by Mount Eagle, whose principal is chief executive Craig Pollock, and Reynard F1, which includes Adrian Reynard. They have seen their share-holdings drop from 35 per cent to around 10 per cent, and 15 per cent to around four per cent respectively. Rumours persist that Mount Eagle and Reynard F1 are still jockeying for position, as to who wants to take a bigger stake from whom.
