Press Snoop: F1 silly season, HANS and more!

...the latest news from around the world, courtesy of press snoop Lynne Huntting.

SILLY SEASON SCENARIOS unfolded last week [Wednesday] with a pair of announcements.

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA of Italy will leave Sauber for Renault next season, replacing JARNO TRULLI, also of Italy. And, as expected, Williams announced it hired MARK WEBBER of Australia for next season and beyond. He will fill out this season with Jaguar, who helped him in the process and wished him well in his new venture.

Earlier last week, TRULLI announced he was leaving Renault, although he declined to provide further details regarding his 2005 future. Some speculate he's headed for Toyota. Trulli started with Minardi, going to Prost for two years,
then to Jordan for two years and Renault for the past two years. Renault Technical Director, PATRICK FAURE, defended the dropping of Trulli, saying he had made mistakes this year. If Trulli does go to Toyota, this would leave both current Toyota drivers - CRISTIANO da MATTA of Brazil and OLIVIER PANIS of France - out of rides, as current Williams driver, RALF SCHUMACHER of Germany, has already signed with Toyota for next season. Trulli is also leaving his ten-year client status with FLAVIO BRIATORE.

Webber is also managed by Briatore. The tall Aussie is reported to have passed over Renault in favor of Williams, while Fisichella is said to have passed over Williams in favor of Renault. BMW was part of the Williams selection process, and was kept informed at all times of the progress of the discussions. Jaguar Newly installed managing director, DAVID PITCHFORTH, said: "We understand his decision and respect it. I would like to thank him on behalf of Jaguar Racing, Cosworth Racing and Pi Research for his unwavering commitment to the team and we will monitor his progress to the top with great pleasure."

Webber said: "Of course I am focused on my job with Jaguar Racing for the remainder of this season, but I cannot wait to take up my position with the BMW WilliamsF1 team for next year."

Fisichella will keep his current manager, ENRICO ZANARINI. Fisichella has been in F1 since 1996 when he started with Minardi as a reserve driver and Ferrari as a test driver. He's raced with Jordan and Benetton before going to Renault the first time. Fisichella left it to return to Jordan where he raced for two years before going to Sauber this season.

The whole Silly Season Scenario is actually more complicated than it appears on the surface, and we probably don't know the half of it.

This year the December RACE OF CHAMPIONS will move to Stade de France in Paris, from the Canary Islands. This event, whose organisers include former rally driver, MICHELE MOUTON, pits teams of two drivers from the same country against other in driving events in various kinds of vehicles over an one km figure eight, parallel course. American drivers JEFF GORDON and JIMMY JOHNSON have participated in the past, representing the USA. Among the 2004 invited drivers named so far are F1 champion, MICHAEL SCHUMACHER/Ferrari, World Rally Championship points leader, SEBASTIEN 'EAR' LOEB, and maybe Moto GP rider, VALENTINO ROSSI of Italy.

TONY DOWE, who was Team Manager for Arrows and Ligier Formula One teams, will be the new Crew Chief and Chief Engineer for PAUL FIX/No.77 Mustang Cobra, who is returning to the Motorock Trans-Am Series after a year and a half hiatus. Fix will compete in the Road America race this weekend.

BAR, which recently had its engine supplier relationship with Honda extended through 2007, made headlines Tuesday - literally and figuratively, with claims of the unsafe HANS devices used by its two F1 drivers - JENSON BUTTON of the UK and TAKUMA SATO of Japan - Sunday at the German Grand Prix. Button claimed that a helmet strap worked loose and he nearly choked. Sato said that his seat belt slipped off the HANS after he loosened it, which he did to lessen the pressure on his shoulders. Sato is still hurting after an old injury was intensified in Bahrain.

However, the story is different at Hubbard/Downing Inc, manufacturer and originator of the Head and Neck System. JIM DOWNING said Tuesday that Sato had his three inch shoulder harness positioned at a 40 degree (wrong) angle down the back. Belts aren't supposed to go down. The BAR belts are incorrectly mounted down the back, and that causes pressure on top of the shoulder. It was basically poor belt practice. JAMES PENWISE of Hubbard/Downing has been corresponding with the BAR team for the past three seasons on the issue of HANS fit and seat belt mounting. Downing said the perception is that the newer two inch harnesses over the shoulders are better for fitting of the HANS device, but "perception is not always reality." The two-inch belts have a tight weave in the belt material which makes them very slick. They would be better if they were mounted at the same place as the three inch belts, which better cover the HANS straps.

On another HANS-related front - Downing said they haven't yet received the HANS device worn by DALE EARNHARDT Jr/No.8 Budweiser. It is usual in such cases in NASCAR that the helmet is confiscated and returned to Hubbard/Downing. Although Earnhardt's fiery crash at the Infineon Raceway was in the American Le Mans race, not NASCAR, Downing seemed to think that the helmet was impounded and will eventually make its way back to Downing, along with the HANS device, to check for stress fractures and the like. Because it is made of carbon fiber, the HANS holds up well in fires, said Downing. GM Motorsports Safety Group, headed by TOM GIDEON, is already working on reviewing the damaged Corvette.

KLAUS GRAF, who once dabbled in Formula One, has turned his sights to NASCAR. He was one of the rained-out drivers Monday in upstate New York for the ill-fated NASCAR Nextel Cup test at Watkins Glen International. He and others will try again next week, after this weekend's race at Pocono. Graf, who raced at Infineon Raceway in his first-ever NASCAR race, finished seventeenth. He raced for BAM and teamed with KEN SCHRADER. Graf has already planned to race the September ARCA race at Talladega, and two more cup races after Watkins Glen - Martinsville and Homestead.