Competition This Week.(Brief Article)

Ferrari's headache

West McLaren Mercedes launched its all-new MP4/16 race car at the Valencia circuit in Spain. ``My first impression is that it has more grip and seems a little easier to drive than last year's car,'' said David Coulthard, who completed 300 trouble-free miles over a two-day period. McLaren technical director Adrian Newey said Formula One's new aerodynamic regulations are significant for 2001. Newey said that raising the front wing two inches might not seem like much, but it has had an enormous effect in reducing available front wing downforce. The regulations also address rear wing configuration, which is now restricted to the use of three upper elements and one lower element. Newey said the car's new design had to practically start over from scratch. ``We also had to consider the new side-impact test, so that prompted longer sidepods relative to the driver's position. The MP4/16 is a product of those regulation changes. Whereas our last two cars, the 4/15 and the 4/14 had been evolutions of the 4/13, this is a totally new car and we think it is a good base from which we can develop.'' The new Mercedes V10 has been tested in a modified version of last year's car. The five fastest drivers on the final day of testing at Valencia were Coulthard, McLaren MP4/16, 1:29.323; Jos Verstappen, Arrows A22, 1:31.292; Alexander Wurz, McLaren MP4/15K, 1:31.302; Jarno Trulli, Jordan EJ11, 1:31.976; and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan EJ11, 1:32.063. Bernie and Max at war?

There has been an astonishing war of words between the FIA president Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone. Mosley revealed Ecclestone's holding company, SLEC Holdings, has yet to pay the $60 million down payment on its extended deal for exclusive broadcasting rights to Formula One, for 100 years beyond 2010. Ecclestone countered by saying that SLEC had not paid because there was some confusion as to where the money should be placed. ``Max has been trying to do some extortion,'' Ecclestone said. ``Maybe he has some problems with the tax authorities in France. He wants the money paid immediately, but he has no right to do that.'' That brought an objection from Mosley. ``There is no question of extorting money from Mr. Ecclestone. We are just trying to get his family trust to keep to their undertaking to agree to a contract and make an initial payment of $60 million. This should all have been done last July. We have now informed them that if they don't comply immediately, the next FIA general assembly [on March 22] may decide to make other arrangements. This seems to me entirely reasonable.'' The disagreement became public at a time when a consortium of five automobile manufacturers (Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, BMW and Fiat), all involved in F1, hired an investment banker to advise them on the move to buy a substantial stake in SLEC. Mosley has threatened to sell the rights outright instead, unless Ecclestone pays up before the general assembly meeting. It's coming...

Traction control and other electronic systems are set to return to F1 at the Spanish Grand Prix (April 29), subject to the final approval of the FIA World Council, which will convene March 1. All 11 teams approved the proposal at a recent meeting of the Formula One commission. The teams have also agreed to introduce a number of unspecified safety devices that were proposed by FIA president Max Mosley. Full schedule

It's increasingly unlikely that CART will replace the Rio de Janeiro race on its 2001 schedule (AW, ...