04.10.93

Steve Nichols has joined the Sasol Jordan Grand Prix team as chief designer, following succesful stints with McLaren and Ferrari. The 46-year-old American said: "I think that Jordan Grand Prix has a very exciting future and I think the potential exists for progress."

05.10.93

Milton Keynes-based Footwork Grand Prix have dismissed speculation that it could be forced to pull out of Formula One next year. Reports from Japan suggested that the team's parent company was withdrawing sponsorship. Team managing director Jack Oliver said: "They have not said they are pulling out of Formula One at all. It is simply a case of the owners asking for support from outside. That is nothing new in Formula One."

07.10.93

Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill are expected to be confirmed as the two Williams drivers for 1994, at the team's HQ in Didcot, on Monday. Senna, a triple world F1 champion, will replace Frenchman Alain Prost, the newly-crowned champion, who has decided to retire from F1 racing. Hill is said by informed sources to have successfully negotiated a new contract with the team after a successful first full year in which he won three successive GPs in July. Senna's first ever F1 test outing was in a Williams, in 1982.

08.10.93

Peugeot have announced they are to supply Formula One constructors McLaren with engines next season. The French company opted to branch into top-level motor racing after years of successes in rallying and sports car racing. In a statement they said: "Peugeot will exclusively equip McLaren with its new V10 engine for several years and aim to win the Formula One title as soon as possible." McLaren, lying third this year with three races to go, are currently supplied with Ford engines.

Eddie Irvine will make history at the forthcoming Japanese GP when he becomes the first Irishman to drive for an Irish Formula One team. The 27-year-old from Conling has been signed by the Sasol Jordan team for the final two races of the 1993 season. Team boss Eddie Jordan said; "To see an Irish driver racing one of my cars will be the accomplishment of a long-held personal ambition." Irvine should be popular at Suzuka after driving in the Japanese F3000 series for the last three years.

09.10.93

Lotus have named Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy as their replacement for Alessandro Zandari next season. The 21-year-old has already filled in for Zandari in the Italian and Portuguese Grands Prix and may continue to deputise in the final two races this season. Zandari was injured in during the Belgian Grand Prix and may not be fit again in time for the races in Japan and Australia. Lotus picked Lamy after his success at Formula 3000 where he is second in the standings in his first year.

11.10.93

Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill have been confirmed as the Williams-Renault drivers for next year's Formula One world championship. Three-times world champion Senna, who will quit McLaren at the end of this season, replaces retiring world champion Alain Prost. Hill has cemented his position at Williams after an impressive season which has brought three successive Grand Prix wins. Senna's replacement at McLaren is his former team-mate Mika Hakkinen who steps up from number two.
Damon Hill reacted to the news of teaming up with Ayrton Senna by saying he had "mixed emotions." Hill said of Senna: "He does have a reputation for getting what he wants out of a team and that may be to my detriment." Hill admitted he feared Senna's competitive streak. Senna says the Williams challenge is one he has wanted to take up for a long time. "It is a dream come true for me," he added. Team boss Frank Williams said Hill has been outstanding and Senna's track record speaks for itself.

14.10.93

The South African and European Grands Prix at Kyalami and Donington have been axed from next year's Formula One calendar. The new season is scheduled to start in Argentina on March 20, the first time the country has featured since 1981. The second new venue has been confirmed as Aida in Japan. FIA chiefs have also approved several technical changes including the banning of traction control.

PROVISIONAL F1 CALENDAR
March 20 (prov) - Argentina
March 27 (prov) - Brazil
April 17 - Pacific (Japan)
May 1 - San Marino
May 15 - Monaco
May 29 - Spain
June 12 - Canada
July 3 - France
July 10 - Great Britain
July 31 - Germany
August 14 (prov) - Hungary
September 11 - Belgium
September 18 - Italy
September 25 - Portugal
November 6 - Japan

17.10.93

World Formula One champion Alain Prost has denied reports that he is considering joining McLaren for next season's world championship. A French newspaper report suggested Prost - who retires at the end of this season - had been made an offer by McLaren boss Ron Dennis. Prost said: "I categorically deny it. I haven't changed my mind about retiring. The report is absolute nonsense." Dennis said Mika Hakkinen would probably be retained and two other drivers would be named later.

21.10.93

Martin Brundle will defy the pain from injuries suffered in testing to drive his Ligier-Renault in Sunday's race. The Kings Lynn-based driver has badly bruised ribs and legs after his 140mph accident in France. He was unconscious for several minutes following the crash, which was blamed on suspension failure. But Brundle said: "I feel OK in myself and I am confident I can do the job so we will just have to wait and see."

23.10.93

Sauber have named Heinz-Harald Frentzen of Germany as one of their drivers for the 1994 GP season. Frentzen, who has been driving in the Japanese F3000 championship, replaces J.J. Lehto as teammate of Karl Wendlinger. Ligier boss Cyril de Rouvre has denied rumours that he is about to sell the team to Benetton because of financial problems.

22.10 - 24.10.93

Japanese Grand Prix

24.10.93

Britain's Johnny Herbert is staying with the Castrol Lotus team for the 1994 Formula One season. The 29-year-old's new agreement was confirmed at Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, where he finished 11th behind Ayrton Senna. Herbert made his Lotus debut in Japan in 1990 and has led the team for the last two years. "I'm really looking forward to achieving the sort of results I know I'm capable of," said Herbert, who will partner Pedro Lamy.

25.10.93

Formula One rookie Eddie Irvine is threatening to sue Ayrton Senna over an alleged attack, according to newspaper reports. Senna is said to have floored the Irishman with a left hook following a heated exchange at the finish of Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Senna won the race, but complained that Irvine, who finished sixth, had driven "like a lunatic." Irvine is said to have told journalists he was considering taking legal action against the three-times World Champion.

27.10.93

Nigel Mansell has revealed he turned down a huge payday in favour of this weekend's race at Donington. Mansell is set to drive the highly-rated Ford Mondeo in a special touring car race, before switching to an open sports car for the final round of the TVR Tuscan Challenge. He said he was tempted by two F1 offers, for Japan and Australia, and admitted: "It would have been nice to have number one on the car." But he added: "I wanted to drive in my native country. The TVR drive is to give people a bit of fun."
Former F1 champion Nigel Mansell has admitted his first year in Indycar racing was a tough one. "It was amazing to win my first race but then came the accident and a struggle on all the road circuits. Indianapolis was not straight-forward... There were so many ups and downs so winning the series was very special indeed," he commented. He said lapped drivers behaved well better than in F1. "Having hit a wall I understand why. You cannot change your line - you would kill each other if you did that."

29.10.93

Ayrton Senna and Eddie Irvine have been summoned to an official FIA inquiry into their reported clash at the Japanese Grand Prix. Senna won the race at Suzuka but eyewitnesses said he felled F1 newcomer Irvine with a left hook in a row over the Irishman's driving. An FIA spokesman said: "At the moment we are treating this as an alleged incident because we only have press reports." The inquiry will be on December 9, a month after the season has ended.

31.10.93

Nigel Mansell is in hospital after a 120mph crash in the saloon car 'shoot-out' at Donington Park. The Indycar world champion smashed into a bridge parapet at the Old Hairpin as he battled for third place six laps from home. Mansell, initially unconscious, was cut free from his Ford Mondeo and stretchered to the circuit medical centre where he came round. He was transferred to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham and was being detained there overnight for observation.
Nigel Mansell had to be cut out of his smashed Ford Mondeo because of fears that he may have suffered spinal injuries at Donington. The 40-year-old star underwent a back operation earlier this season after ploughing into a wall at 180mph during an Indycar race. A bulletin from the Queen's Medical Centre later reported that Mansell had suffered a bruised right hip. The Donington race was re-started and won by David Leslie, with Paul Radisich second and Steve Soper taking third.