Updated: 18 March 1998, 21:45 GMT
(c)M-WEB
21:45 GMT
According to sources, Television-producer Walter Eisele lost the first step in his trial against the FIA's exclusive rights to market broadcasting rights of international motor sporting events.
The court's opinion is that the FIA contributes essential performance to support interest to spectators, television stations and industry.
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(c)M-WEB
21:00 GMT
Location : Mugello
Ferrari's Eddie Irvine continued testing his Ferrari F300, chassis number 183 at Mugello on Wednesday.
Weather conditions at Mugello was again sunny with an air temperature of 12 -19 C and a track temperature of 17 -35 C.
Irvine began testing at 09:30 on Wednesday morning. He completed a series of set-up and suspension tests. Irvine completed a total of 56 laps with a best lap time of 1:28:893s.
Testing ended at 18:15. The team will continue testing on Thursday at Mugello with Michael Schumacher taking over the driving from Irvine.
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(c)M-WEB
20:45 GMT
Former world champion, Nigel Mansell, will according to sources be reunited with Ford Mondeo.
Sources indicated that Mansell will be competing in selected rounds of the British Touring Car Championship in 1998.
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20:45 GMT
The Honda company, may according to sources be returning to Formula One in 1999.
Sources indicated that Japanese racing car constructor Dome already has a chassis under production that will be ready to test later in 1998.
Dome already had plans to enter Formula One in 1996 under their own name.
Sources indicated that Dome is overlooking the possibility of buying an existing team of which British American Racing and Benetton are two possibilities.
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20:45 GMT
According to sources, the Ford company are considering supplying two Formula One teams with works engine deals in 1999.
Sources indicated that the Ford company have been in talks with Benetton.
Jackie Stewart has strongly denied the rumours in saying that the contract with Stewart is quite clear. He said that they can't supply two teams and that Ford has not shown any interest in doing that.
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20:45 GMT
According to sources, the new Goodyear tyre that was developed after the Australian Grand Prix, may be worth three seconds a lap to the Goodyear running teams.
The new Goodyear tyre has a new compound and construction but retained the same tread pattern as their previous tyre.
Goodyear's racing manager Tony Shakespeare said that they found something in testing last December and it does seem to be an improvement. He said that the drivers who have tested with the new tyre, are very enthusiastic about it.
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20:30 GMT
Location: Mugello.
The Minardi team joined Ferrari on Tuesday at Mugello for a shakedown session of the M198. Japanese driver Shinji Nakano completed 52 laps, but the team did not make any times available.
Nakano said, "I think that it is very important for me to get prepared for Brazil Grand Prix on this track: in fact it is a very technical one but mostly it is very similar to the Interlagos circuit. I am quite happy also for my car, which is going better and better."
The team worked on the reliability of the engine on Tuesday. Nakano continued the shakedown session on Wednesday afternoon.
The team's test driver, Laurent Redon, drove the M198 for the first time on Wednesday.
More details later.
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20:00 GMT
Location: FIORANO, Italy
Sauber's Johnny Herbert drove the C17 at FIORANO in Italy on Tuesday. It was Herbert's first test session after the Australian grand prix, but managed to clock almost the same times as teammate Jean Alesi.
Herbert clocked a fastest time of 1:03.32 seconds and completed 98 laps or 293 km. Alesi's fastest time set Monday (his second day) was 1:03.18 seconds.
During Alesi's first day of testing, he could only managed 1:03.43 seconds. Herbert will continue the test session on Thursday as the team prepares for the Brazilian and Argentinean grand prix's.
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Schumacher returns from holiday
(c)M-WEB
20:00 GMT
Location: Mugello
Double world champion Michael Schumacher will join Ferrari at Mugello on Thursday after a short break in Norway. The German took some time of to relax after the Australian grand prix.
Schumacher will do extensive testing on the 047 Ferrari engine to ensure that his car is reliable during the Brazilian grand prix. His Ferrari's engine failed during the Australian grand prix after only five laps and he said that he wants to make sure it does not happen again.
The Brazilian grand prix is followed by the Argentinean grand prix, both in South America. It will make things difficult for teams with technical problems.
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FIA clamping down on team orders
(c)REUTERS
18:40 GMT
By Timothy Collings
Location: LONDON, March 18
FIA moved on Wednesday to clean up the tarnished image of Formula One Grand Prix racing, clamping down on team orders.
An announcement by the sport's ruling body will prevent a repeat by the McLaren team of the position-swapping by its drivers, Briton David Coulthard and Finland's Mika Hakkinen, on the closing laps of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne 10 days ago.
For Coulthard, who gave way to Hakkinen and allowed him to win in order to honour a pre-race pact, it may prove costly.
The Scot is now unlikely to be allowed to benefit from any attempt by his teammate to return the favour in the next race, the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, on March 29.
In a statement following a meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Paris, the ruling body said the stewards of all future international events would be informed that "any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition" should be penalised severely in accordance with Article 151 (c) of the International Sporting Code.
This article refers to fraudulent conduct and its effect on the competitive spirit of the sport, the very essence of which was at the heart of Australian Grand Prix corporation president Ron Walker's angry complaints following the race in Melbourne.
McLaren team chief Ron Dennis, who said in Melbourne that he favoured team orders for the two opening races because of the unproven reliability of his cars, was unavailable for comment on Wednesday evening.
A McLaren spokesperson said the team was still waiting for a fuller explanation of the implications.
Coulthard was also unavailable, having earlier in the week joined his McLaren partner at Silverstone for more testing which proved that the Mercedes-Benz team are comfortably dominant.
In Melbourne, after seeing his two drivers crush the opposition by lapping every other car, Dennis had said:"We have a performance advantage and it was important we finished the race.
"They should not be pilloried for what they have done -- we are not doing anything that's against the spirit of Grand Prix racing.
"After Brazil, they will be able to go hammer and tongs against each other. The world championship is decided over 16 races -- not one."
FIA also announced on Wednesday it was expanding the world championship to 17 races by including the French Grand Prix on the calendar after settlement of a television rights dispute. The race will take place at Magny Cours on June 28.
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(c)REUTERS
18:40 GMT
Location: PARIS, March 18
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) on Wednesday gave the green light for the French Grand prix to take place this season, French radio said.
The race, which is scheduled for June 28 at Magny Cours, was provisionally dropped from the 1998 world championship calendar because of a row over broadcasting rights.
The French parliament paved the way for the Magny Cours grand prix to be reinstated with a new bill passed in January.
The FIA wanted to protect their exclusive contracts with broadcasters and objected to French law which said that media were allowed to broadcast pictures from sports events freely.
The new French bill stated that the organisers of a sports event could sell broadcasting rights to a given organisation but also had to authorise other media to use freely brief excerpts from the event.
The French grand prix is the oldest in the calendar, dating back to 1906.
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South Africa will not host grand prix this season.
(c)M-WEB
05:30 GMT
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa.
AA Racing, South Africa's motor sport governing body said Tuesday that the country would not host a Grand Prix this season, but said a grand prix in 1999 is possible.
After the FIA world council meeting scheduled for Wednesday we should have the final schedule for the 1998 season available.
The French grand prix should be reinstated after the dispute over television rights were resolved earlier this year.
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Motor racing-McLaren set pace in testing
(c)REUTERS
05:30 GMT
Location: SILVERSTONE, England - March 17
McLaren drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard continued to set the pace in the new Formula One season by posting the fastest times in testing at Silverstone on Tuesday.
The pair coasted to a one-two success in the Australian grand prix earlier this month.
Hakkinen set the fastest time of one minute 24.4 seconds on Tuesday, with Coulthard one-tenth of a second behind.
Austrian Alexander Wurz, in a Benetton, was third in 1:26.7, with Tyrrell's Tora Takagi (1:28.0), Arrows' Mika Salo (1:28.3) and Pedro Diniz (1:30.2) and Stewart's Jan Magnussen (1:29.2) behind him.
Ralf Schumacher showed Jordan were making progress when he finished fastest at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, ahead of Williams pair Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Schumacher set a 1:22.17 benchmark in the morning run. At the end of the session Villeneuve (1:22.72) was closest in the FW19, and Frentzen, in this season's FW20, managed 1:23.70.
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