MAY 1, 1995

Legal action all over the place.

There is a real bonanza at the moment for Formula 1 lawyers as the Grand Prix teams are busy suing one another. Last Friday at a court in Ravenna, Italy, Giancarlo Minardi began proceedings against Ligier Sport SA and Mugen Co. from Japan, regarding the right to use Mugen Honda F1 engines. Minardi says he has a contract for the exclusive use of these engines for 1995. As the case was being heard Ligier personnel were busy loading all the engines into the team's minibus and ferrying them out of the circuit and into hiding to avoid the possibility of them being seized if the judge ruled against the team. In fact, the court decided to postpone the case until Friday May 5, by which time all the equipment will have left Italy. Minardi is also suing Cosworth over its supply of Ford HB engines last season, arguing that the engines it received were not worth the $4m which Minardi has been asked to pay. Elsewhere in the law courts Ligier boss Tom Walkinshaw is suing Business Age magazine for libel over an article which appeared last year about Team Lotus. At the same time former Lotus boss Peter Collins is suing Lotus owner David Hunt, who is himself believed to have launched a counter-suit against Collins. In France Gerard Larrousse is also expected to become the target of several law suits in the months ahead and there are suggestions that there may even be a suit against Larrousse UK Ltd owner Robin Herd as well. And finally, we also hear of a case between McLaren and Jordan over a sponsorship matter which neither team is keen to discuss. Both say that the case will never get to court.