Diniz father and son for Prost?

Pedro Diniz looks increasingly likely to join the Prost team next season - but may not be the only member of the family to link up with the French outfit.

The Brazilian is hotly tipped to leave Sauber to renew his acquaintance with the former Ligier operation that he drove for early in his career, and also line up alongside Jean Alesi for the second time in three years.

The move, however, is, more than ever, expected to be bankrolled by Diniz's wealthy father, who controls a national supermarket chain, with strong ties to the Parmalat dairy empire, and has helped to fund his son throughout his racing career. Although content to have been a sponsor in the past, Senor Diniz is now reported to be taking a stake in the Prost team for 2001, with the condition that Pedro has a seat there.

The story, however, is just one of a series regarding the future of the Prost team doing the rounds at present, with conflicting reports of the outfit's sale.

The involvement of the Diniz family would appear to preclude any outright sale to any of its rumoured suitors, but rival stories suggest that the team will be sold to either the German Bertelsmann media group or Canada's Vector Motorsport consortium. Indeed, reports on the internet claim that the deal with Vector is already done.

Should either sale go through, the future of Alain Prost continues to hang in the balance and, as a result, the possibility of Jean Alesi remaining as one of the team's drivers. The French-Sicilian has been linked to a seat at Jaguar if Prost quits the team.