Panis set to join BAR

[Minardi fan]

From Planet F1:

Olivier Panis is poised to sign with
British American Racing following a year in
testing wilderness.

The deal that will see Olivier Panis return to F1 is
virtually a matter of crossing the ‘Ts’ and dotting the
‘Is’, Planet F1 has learned.

Following last week’s shock news that Jacques
Villeneuve is to remain with the Brackley based
outfit for (virtually) the remainder of his career,
many F1 insiders believed that the team would look
for a wealthy ‘rent-a-drive’ in order to balance the
books. However, in an effort to be taken more
seriously the team are opting for the 1996 Monaco
GP winner.

In 1997, Panis was seriously injured in a
horrendous crash during the Canadian GP,
following his return to the cockpit later in the
season pitlane pundits remarked that he’d lost his
sparkle.

It’s widely believed that Craig Pollock and his men
have lost faith in current number two Ricardo Zonta
and believe that if they want to be taken more
seriously – by the media as well as rival teams –
then they need the strongest line-up possible.

Many of those involved in F1 were shocked when
Panis chose to take a year’s Sabbatical in 2000,
however watching the abysmal performances of the
Prost this year Olivier seems to have made a wise
decision.

At the height of the ‘David will go’, ‘Mika to retire’
saga Panis was widely tipped to be the man most
likely to replace whoever departed.

In his role as test driver for McLaren, Panis has
been outstanding, but as Olivier is only too happy
to admit, he wants to race not test.

Expect an official announcement within the next
three weeks.

[angst]

I hope so. He's one of the best of the drivers around at the moment, and providing he gets equal treatment with Jacques and with further input from Honda this could be one of the surprise packages of 2001.

[Ralf's Girl]

I thought Zonta was on his way out anyway, but after yesterday's dismal performance it pretty certain now.