November News Digest - II

The mid of November was dominated by the news of Ferrari signing Luciano Burti as its test driver for 2002. Burti, the Brazilian driver who was in the limelight in 2001 for a couple of devastating crashes, will test alongside Luca Badoer, the long serving Ferrari test driver. Burti had a dreadful season with two horrifying accidents, the first with Michael Schumacher, at the start of the race, when Michael had a stuck gear and Burti, unknowingly, hit him from behind, only to fly a few feet above the ground and hit the ground upside down. The second crash was a 185 MPH accident when Burti lost his front suspension in a duel with Eddie Irvine at Spa Fracorchamps, and hit the barrier head on. The crash left Burti with several cerebral injuries and had to end his 2001 campaign. With rumours that Burti would leave Formula One for good, the news for his appointment as a test driver with Ferrari was much of a surprise to many.

The global recession had its impact on Formula One, with many smaller teams finding it hard to rope in sponsors for competing in 2002. With Mclaren Boss Ron Dennis confirming the news, its under much concern as to how the teams will gather the required income for testing and development for the next season. The main affected were Prost, headed by legendary French racer Alain Prost. Prost was reported to be trying hard to find interested people from around the world to make it the starting grid at Melbourne in 2002. The attacks on the World trade center on September 11 had caused quite concern in the Formula One world and slowed down global economy as well. While the stronger teams secured for their sponsors for next year, other teams may cut down on their development and testing plans in the winter break.

Jean Alesi, one of the few drivers who have completed 200 races in Formula One history, who retired earlier in October, has signed up with Mercedes for the DTM championship. He was delighted and said that it was a good switch for his racing career and very interesting to be with a team like Mercedes. Jean Alesi had changed teams in 2001 to Jordan after being ousted from Prost. The Frenchman failed to make a record of finishing all the races in a Formula One season as he crashed out of the final Grand Prix at Suzuka after a freak accident with Kimi Raikkonen.

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