Full Throttle

What had been the subject of rumors on most of the F1 websites has become reality. BBC is reporting Mike Gascoyne has been suspended “until further notice” by the team.

Most of the reports of the last few days seemed to suggest Gascoyne may have been leaving under his own power, so to speak. Obviously this isn’t the case and he may be a victim of Tsutomu Tomita’s “inquest” that was ordered after the season opener in Bahrain.

Speculation has centered on Frenchman Pascal Vasselon, who joined Toyota from tire supplier Michelin last year, as Gascoyne’s replacement. It’s a rather odd time to make the change given Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher scored Toyota’s first Championship points last week in Australia.

I’m betting the change won’t help. Gascoyne turned Eddie Jordan’s gang into winners when no one else was able to. He also headed Renault as technical director that ultimately resulted in their capturing the Drivers and Manufactures titles with the TF105 that he designed before leaving for Toyota.

If Vasselon is named as replacement he has very big shoes to fill. And expensive ones with Toyota reputedly having the biggest budget in F1.

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