A few weeks before i wrote about the Bono project. It was BAT (British American Tobacco)’s project to enter the Formula One. It was all about appearing on the grid in 1999 with their own team. As well, how to reach that goal. We all know that they eventually purchased Tyrrell Racing from Ken Tyrrell. Only using the Concorde agreements eventually to be allowed on the grid. Interestingly enough was
During the 2000 season the Minardi team came in serious financial troubles. It is really interesting to read all the articles and reports from those days about the team. There were many people, companies and investment groups that were interested to take over the Minardi team. Eventually Paul Stoddart would save the Minardi Team. However, there was also a South African guy named Riccardo Ferrari that was willing to save
The new and old fans have one thing in common. We both love the Minardi two seaters, or how they are called today, that appear on the track before the start of a Grand Prix. Today the Two Seaters function as parade cars, driving around fancy people whom most of the time don’t have a connection with the sport. How different was this 21 years ago when the cars for
During the PDC World Championship of Darts, there was Phil Taylor. Phil Taylor was the absolute number one and people are still singing, “There is only One Phil Taylor.” In the Formula One there was Nigel Mansell. The song would suit Mansell his personality perfectly, because we all love the moustache. It seems that in the late 80s and early 90s almost all the teams were interested in Nige. Let’s
History teaches us that there was no Dutch driver in 1999 on the grid. We had Jos Verstappen who was busy with the Honda project. Intentionally, he would become one of their drivers. Sadly, the program was cancelled. Tom Coronel was busy racing in Japan and would only test with the Arrows A20 in December 1999. However, another Dutch driver came “close” to appear on the grid in 1999. His
Ik liep onlangs onze lokale boekhandel binnen om sigaartjes te halen. Op weg naar de balie werd mijn aandacht onttrokken aan een Spyker F8-VII op de cover van een boek. Het boek genaamd “Geen plek voor kleine jongens” van Nando Boers. Gaat over het turbulente jaar van Spyker in de Formule 1. Hoe alles begon in 2005 vol positieve energie, en hoe alles in 2007 vervolgens van kwaad naar erger
Jos Verstappen drove in 2003 for the Minardi team, and if you ask me, he did a marvellous job with the PS03B. For 2004, he could even stay with the team according to Paul Stoddart. Only did Verstappen had other thoughts, as he did not want to race for a backmarker in 2004. There were a few options left Jordan, Sauber and Jaguar Racing. Let Jaguar Racing made an offer
Laurent Delahaye born in Perpignan the 6th of January 1977 had a promising career in karting. Together with Patrice Gay and Christophe Ravier it seemed they had a great future in the autosport. However, after some seasons of autosport Delahaye disappeared from the scene. What has been long forgotten is the fact that Delahaye was rumoured to test for Minardi in 1999. So who was Laurent Delahaye and how was
Many drivers tested for the Minardi team during the years. There are also a bunch of drivers that should test though did not test with the car for many reasons. As well, there are some unknowns of drivers if they did or did not test. Like Taki Inoue that seemed to have tested with the M195B.Several sources state that he did. Several sources say he didn't. What to think of
Scuderia Minardi and later Minardi F1 Team, the small Italian team we all love. They did what many team didn’t they survived 20 years in the Formula One on a tight budget. Their hay days were in the early 1990s when Gustav Brunner designed the M193 and Aldo Costa the M191. However, always with a tight budget it meant that many drivers were able to fulfil their dream to a
