SEPTEMBER 18, 2001
Designers on the prowl at Monza
The problem boils down to money. There are some very good engineers at Arrows but if they do not have the budgets to build a proper car they are not going to get anywhere and in the long-term will leave to find better jobs elsewhere. There is no shortage of demand for good engineers in F1 at the moment.
The problem that exists is more one of credibility as Walkinshaw has now been trying to turn Arrows into a successful team since he took over in March 1996, more than five years ago. The team has been through a series of relaunches since then but the package has never been right and the team's reputation has remained much the same as it always has been. The team has no passed through a series of technical directors: Frank Dernie (1996-97), John Barnard (1998) and since August 1999 Mike Coughlan. Three years on, contracts which he signed with engineers are coming to an end and it will be interesting to see if the team will keep men like Coughlan and its head of research and development John Davis.