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This week's Grapevine brings you
information fresh from the paddock on:
- Prost Faces Facts
- The Button Phenomenon
- Silly Season Update
- Picked from the Bunch
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Prost Faces Facts
With his drivers thoroughly destroying each others chances in the last couple of races, Alain Prost has been left with an awful lot to think about, before he can field a car for the 2001 season.
 Any chance of Peugeot remaining in the sport is rapidly evaporating as the manufacturer faces the fact of competing at the back of the pack. In return for their investment in Formula One, Peugeot have seen McLarens running strongly, ensuring that the eventual engine expiry was given maximum possible coverage. Then Jordan gave the team moments of glory, running well in several races, but with inexperienced drivers. Moving rapidly on to Ligier/Prost seemed an ideal mating of an ever more competitive French chassis, and the increasingly impressive French engine.
However, the years at Prost have not been kind. In a bid to shake the "unreliable" tag earned at McLaren, Peugeot engines were built like tanks. Powerful, reliable, but heavy. The move to Prost coincided with a move towards lighter, integrated units that work with the car, minimising the impact of hard, grooved tyres. Peugeot was out of step, and slow to listen to the requirements coming from Prost, has never caught up.
Adding the woes of Alan Jenkins' departure, and the team is looking highly dependant on John Barnard to produce a decent chassis via his English drawing board - the team left at Prost are the core of the old Ligier designers, and plenty competent, but not leading edge. Intentions to develop "hydraulic active suspension" and other advanced gimmicks are so far from being realised that the team has aborted the projects in all but name. They are struggling to even produce a basic, well engineered machine to take on Minardi, and they know it.
A few months back, there was talk of a Canadian consortium, looking to build a centre for Motorsport Excellence in Montreal (see the Grapevine for Issue 6)), and rumours of their interest in buying a Formula One team lock, stock and barrel have taken a big step forward, after Alain Prost was seen talking to Canadian business men over the last couple of Grand Prix. It appears that rather than wait the anticipated three to five years expected before being properly ready to take on the challenge, the Consortium effort is prepared to move now. The reasons are simple enough...
 A French speaking team should pose little problem to taking on the challenge; and initially at least, it would be possible to continue working in France at what is currently the Prost headquarters. New management, minimal disruption, and a chance to develop their new - and impressive, in theory - engine, whilst the remainder of the business proceeds according to the original plan.
Moving in now would save the team an estimated hundred million dollars: Prost is thought to be looking for eighty million, and the price would more than double once Toyota have actually made an appearance. Prost walks away without further loss of sleep, the company runs on minimal budget for two years, competing Minardi style whilst developing the engine and infrastructure in Canada, then a year after relocating, comes out all guns blazing.
Alain Prost is not known as a quitter, and is seriously looking to make his team competitive to continue on Formula One. But if he cannot close the deals to make it happen, he knows when to cut his losses... and unless things start to happen for him soon, that is precisely what he expects to be doing.
The Button Phenomenon
Continued speculation over the movement - or otherwise - of Jenson Button is making the young British driver's future one of the most talked about in Formula One history, certainly for a relative unknown.
This year, Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button have been the basic target of the vast majority of Silly Season speculation. In the case of the 1997 World Champion, his pending choice between Renault and BAR holds some intrigue, for BAR are much improved this year, and expect to get better with Honda power behind them. Renault on the other hand have always impressed Villeneuve with their whole approach to racing, and proven track record. Not to mention the fact they are not quibbling over his fee...
 Jenson Button, on the other hand, is being talked about as though his departure from Williams is not on a fait accompli, but the only question for 2001 is where he will be driving. As things stand, Frank Williams himself does not know that Button will be out next year: the decision depends on talking Chip Ganassi into parting company with Juan Montoya.
Williams is a very shrewd and persuasive man, so the press are betting he will get his way, and Montoya will be competing on this side of the pond in 2001: however, this is not a done deal. All the speculation on Buttons future depends on this "fact," and accordingly his future is tied to:
- partnering Villeneuve at Benetton, where Button is to replace Fisichella to "keep salary costs down," though Briatore is known to be prepared to pay the price for performance;
- at Sauber to replace the departing Pedro Diniz, rumoured to have written off too many cars this year;
- at BAR in place of the disappointing Zonta, whose future is already being discounted;
- with Jordan, who are concerned with Heinz-Harald Frentzen signing elsewhere;
- with Arrows, who are showing improving form, but are unlikely to keep both current drivers; and
- at Prost, who originally spotted Buttons talent, and regret calling Williams attention to it.
There are other rumours too, essentially tying Button with every team except Williams, Ferrari and McLaren. The funny thing is, none of these stories originate in the paddock. Almost without exception, views on Button's future are based on the premise that "he must be out from Williams, because everyone is saying so," and as a noted talent this year, clearly he has to have a seat in 2001. So whenever the merest hint of a vacancy arises, it's clear to see who will be slotted in, at least in the minds of the media.
Button has a future in Formula One - should he wish to pursue it - that is for sure. But until Williams, Ganassi and Montoya make up their minds on the CART champions 2001 position, it is with Williams. And there-after, your guess is as good as anyone else's, - cos the press certainly do not know.
Silly Season Update
Every year, particularly around this time of the season, speculation about the future of all the key players in the sport takes off. For the most part, the rumours are contradictory, unlikely, or just plain untrue, but all too often there are gems hidden amongst the dross that bear consideration.
Over the remainder of the year, the Grapevine will be keeping tabs on the latest hot gossip from the Silly Season, to keep you up to date on who is going where, and why, in 2001:
 Jenson Button and his future continues to ride high in the speculation stakes. Benetton and Jaguar are top of this weeks rumoured targets, though BAR, Sauber and Arrows also get mentioned periodically.
Alexander Wurz could have a new home at Sauber, as Peter Sauber reacts to expectation that both his current drivers will move on in 2001.
Olivier Panis is expected to close an option to drive at Sauber, pending Mika Salo's departure, before the next Grand Prix. There is no comment from either party on this news...
Picked from the Bunch
Plans to change testing rules in 2001, in a bid to improve Friday running for spectators and reduce costs, are not expected to garner the support of all the teams.
Mark Webber's test running with Arrows looks set to end, following his refusal to sign a "standard" contract which it is widely believed would have given Arrows a binding option on him - in a testing role - next year.
Uncertainty has met the news of Bernie Ecclestone gaining a 100 year lease-hold of the commercial rights to Formula One. Teams are pensive, but expect business to continue as usual at least while he is in control.
Croatia is rumoured to be lining up a Grand Prix in the coastal town of Rijeka. Talks are at initial stages, with no definitive statements from any party at this time.
Start line antics are expected to be a big issue at future Grand Prix: the drivers have largely reacted badly to Zonta’s stop-go penalty, as they see his actions as a standard racing incident. No amount of appealing can recover the time lost to an unfair stop-go penalty.
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