Updated: 19 March 1998, 21:30 GMT
(c)M-WEB
21:30 GMT
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The Brazilian city, Sao Paulo was extra busy on Thursday as shop, restaurant and hotel owners prepare for the arrival of Formula One teams.
According to a source in Brazil, it's impossible to get any type of accommodation at this time. Entrepreneurs are selling Formula One merchandise on every corner.
The source also told ARN that a group of supports is expected at the track on Friday as some of the teams arrive. Jordan shipped their equipment to Brazil on Thursday.
Ferrari will ship their equipment to Brazil on Friday.
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(c)M-WEB
20:00GMT
Location : Mugello
Ferrari Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, driving F300 chassis number 183, took over testing duties from teammate Eddie Irvine at Mugello on Thursday.
Weather conditions at Mugello was sunny and warm with an air temperature of 10 - 17 C and track temperature of 15 - 27 C.
Schumacher concentrated on the set-up of the F 300 as well as testing various engine parameters. The German completed 61 laps with a best lap time of 1:28:015s.
Schumacher will continue testing at Mugello on Friday.
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(c)M-WEB
20:00GMT
Location : Fiorano
Eddie Irvine completed the shakedown tests of the three cars that the Ferrari team will be taking to the Brazilian Grand Prix scheduled for the 29th of March.
Weather conditions at Fiorano was sunny with an average temperature of 15 C. Irvine completed a total of 27 laps with a best lap time of 1:30:290.
The team revealed that their cars will be shipped and despatched on Friday for its flight to Brazil.
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Minardi satisfied with testing
(c)M-WEB
18:00GMT
Location : Mugello
The Minardi team said after their final day of testing in preparation for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Mugello that they are satisfied with the testing results.
Minardi driver Shinji Nakano completed the preparation work on the car. He completed another 16 laps on Wednesday, in addition to the 52 he completed on Tuesday, with a best lap time of 1:31:550s.
Minardi's test driver Laurent Redon also made his debut at the wheel of the M198 on Wednesday. He completed a total of 23 laps (over 120km) with a best lap time of 1:32:220s.
Minardi team boss, Gian Carlo Minardi said afterwards that Redon's performance confirms that they made absolutely the right choice. He added that Wednesday's testing was the first step in the driver's athletic and technical training program with the aim being to get him into optimum shape as soon as possible.
Laurent Redon said that he is grateful to the team for allowing him to drive despite the extremely short amount of time remaining prior to the next Grand Prix. He said that the M198 is much more powerful than the M197 which he drove in Barcelona back in December. Redon added that he can't wait to climb back on board for the next series of tests.
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(c)REUTERS
18:00GMT
Location : PARIS
Revised Formula One championship calendar issued on Thursday by the International Automobile Association (FIA) following the reinstatement on Wednesday of the French Grand Prix:
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Wednesday's Silverstone testing
(c)M-WEB
18:00GMT
Location : Silverstone
The Benetton Formula One team was the only team who stayed at Silverstone for testing on Wednesday after the McLaren team ended their tests on Tuesday.
Benetton's Alexander Wurz completed a total of 54 laps on Wednesday with a best lap time of 1:26:22s. Wurz's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella completed 7 installation laps according to sources and set a best lap time of 1:29:41s.
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(c)M-WEB
18:00GMT
Location : Barcelona
Williams' Heinz-Harald Frentzen managed to set the best lap time for Wednesday at Barcelona with a time of 1:22:26s after completing 80 laps.
Teammate Jacques Villeneuve followed Frentzen closely with a time of 1:23:65s after completing 54 laps. Third fastest was the Prost-Peugeot of Olivier Panis. The Frenchman completed a total of 45 laps with a best lap time of 1:23:98s.
Damon Hill, who took over from Ralf Schumacher on Wednesday could only finished fourth with a best lap time of 1:24:02s.
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(c)M-WEB
18:00GMT
The FIA announced at the World Council meeting on Wednesday that the "lifetime" ban of Jerez, Spain had been lifted, according to sources.
The FIA banned the Spanish circuit from ever hosting another Formula One event, or any FIA sanctioned race, after local goverment officials disrupted the winner's ceremony during the 1997 race.
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(c)M-WEB
18:00GMT
The Benson and Hedges Jordan race team on Thursday confirmed that they are all packed up in preparation for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Both Jordan drivers' race cars was freighted to Sao Paulo on Thursday morning. The Jordan team personnel are scheduled to leave for Sao Paulo early next week.
The team revealed that they will not be returning to Silverstone after the Brazilian Grand Prix, but rather head for Argentina where the cars will be stripped down and reassembled for round three of the Constructors' World Championship.
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Benetton may renew links with Ford
(c)M-WEB
12:30GMT
The Benetton Formula One team is considering replacing their current Mecachrome-tuned V10 engines at the end of the 1998 season to renew their partnership with Ford, according to sources.
A Ford executive said last year in Hungary that his company wants to support two teams, rather than one. He said that if two teams could get on well together and push engine development in a mutually productive fashion, they would be better off.
On Monday, Benetton boss David Richards denied reports that negotiations had taken place.
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(c)M-WEB
12:30GMT
According to sources, Max Mosley, president of the FIA, has hit out at the Ferrari team for not bringing its criticisms of McLaren's brake steer system into the open.
Mosley said that the Ferrari team should have made an official protest if they were unhappy with the brake steer device. This device allows the driver of the car to brake individual wheels through a second brake pedal to improve traction and stability in corners.
At the Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari circulated a document among the other teams which questioned the legality of the brake steer device. According to earlier reports, this document was signed by six of the teams including Arrows, Benetton, Ferrari, Jordan, Sauber and Stewart.
Mosley said that it is hard to understand why Ferrari has not protested officially but instead choose to complain to the Press.
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(c)M-WEB
12:30GMT
A Decision on the success of Formula One's new technical rules has been deferred until after the San Marino Grand Prix, scheduled for the 26th of April.
The FIA said that they want to keep an eye on the new cars on a variety of tracks before taking further steps to slow them down, because in Melbourne they only proved to be fractionally slower than their 1997 predecessors.
FIA sources said that the governing body do not see grounds for concern yet. He said that taking the field as a whole, they are closer to the 1997 times than the FIA anticipated. He said that this only emphasises how fast the cars would have been if the FIA didn't do what they did. He said that it is now very clear that something needed to be done.
Ferrari's Ross Brawn said that in their opinion, Melbourne will be terribly representative of the situation that they're going to see for the rest of the year, which is in most cases a couple of corners slower.
Jordan technical chief Gary Anderson said that Silverstone, Suzuka and Spa will be the slowest tracks, because of the lateral control you need in the long corners. He said that they could see Monaco being quicker for the new cars, because the narrow track will help there, and Monza and Hockenheim being as quick.
The FIA has reserved the right to change the number and size of grooves in tyres if speeds continue to grow, although such moves are likely to be met with Goodyear and Bridgestone's disapproval.
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Stewart admit they were not prepared
(c)M-WEB
12:30GMT
The Stewart Formula One team tested at Silverstone on Monday in their search for solutions to the teething problems they experienced at Melbourne.
The team was particularly keen to sort out the unreliability of their carbon fibre gearbox, which left Rubens Barrichello and Jan Magnussen struggling in Australia.
Stewart admitted that they were not as prepared as they should have been for the first race. He said that they did not have the kind of preparation they should have had and said that he was less than aware that they were heading in that direction.
Stewart said that he does not like working people to the extent they worked in Melbourne, because they went in with problems that they knew about before they got there. He added that he has got to be a realist and accept that some of their systems aren't working together.
Stewart said that they feel comfortable that they can fix the transmission oil seal troubles they've experienced, but added that there are different elements to a carbon fibre gearbox that they are still working on.
Stewart said that the nightmare start to the Formula One season that they experienced will never be repeated and said that if they've got to have a back-up, a Plan B system, then they will get one.
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(c)M-WEB
12:30GMT
According to sources, British Sky Broadcasting may bring digital Formula One programmes into British homes in the near future.
Digital TV allows viewers an unprecedented choice through a series of different screens. These screens provide both a variety of camera angles and real-time data to the viewer.
British Sky Broadcasting is part of a group of companies owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who have, according to sources done a deal with Formula One power broker Bernie Ecclestone's FOCA company on the eve of the Australian GP.
Sources indicated that this deal includes the provision to carry digital Formula One coverage on one of BSkyB's sportschannels in the near future. The first perceptible sign of the arrangement between Murdoch and FOCA was that Murdoch's American TV company, Fox recently replaced ESPN as the official Formula One channel in the United States.
Although the service has been available in mainland Europe since 1997, it has taken rather longer to reach the UK. Sky launches its own digital network in June 1998 but a spokesman said that at the moment they don't know what their capacity for broadcasting is going to be, and that it is too early to start talking about deals
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