Welcome to the third episode of the Old Rumour Mill of Formula One. A special blog dedicated to the old rumours of Formula One. Many rumours appeared during the years. Some were just silly “Alain Prost to move to Benetton in 1992”. Others were just amazing to read “Pedro Diniz to move to Ferrari in 2000”. Every week a new episode of the Old Rumour Mill of Formula One will be published on the website!
Prost powered by Honda, and driven by Jos Verstappen in 2000? (1999)
1999 wasn’t really a good season for the Prost team. The car was a bit hopeless and the drivers were not able to score that many points. During the summer of 1999, the rumours start to appear about serious negotiations between Prost Grand Prix and Mugen-Honda. The plan was to close a deal for multiple years with Mugen-Honda. As Verstappen was sure of a seat within the Honda team, which sadly didn’t happen, he would be one of Prost Grand Prix their drivers. It never happened, for 2000 Prost would still race with the horrible Peugeot engines. In January 2002 Prost Grand Prix folded.
Jörg Müller to replace Zanardi at Williams! (2000)
Jörg Müller to replace Zanardi? Zanardi wasn’t scheduled for any testing since December 1999. In January 2000 Williams was looking for new drivers. Zanardi was one of the drivers to be replaced. Müller was rumoured for the fact that he tested in 1999 several times for BMW. They developed a brand new V10 engine, which Williams would use in 2000. Trivia: Jos Verstappen was rumoured for the Williams seat as well.
Eddie Irvine and Stewart close to a deal? (1999-2000)
Stewart was considering to take Eddie Irvine as their first driver for already the 1999 season. Irvine asked 5 million dollars as salary, a bonus for every point scored. It didn’t happen for Stewart however, it did for Jaguar that took over the team.
Two Dutchies in the Formula One ? (1999)
In the summer of 1999 the rumours came to a start when both Jos Verstappen and
Tom Coronel were rumoured to be not he grid in 2000. Jos Verstappen was almost
sure to replace Damon Hill at Jordan Grand Prix, they said, as Verstappen had a
lot of experience with the Honda Engine. And Tom Coronel was rumoured for a
seat with the Arrows team. Tom Coronel would test the Arrows at 16 and 17
December. However, Jos Verstappen would end up at Arrows for 2000.
