JULY 4, 2002

Arrows "doomed"

THE decision handed down by the High Court in London against the Arrows team in its case against Morgan Grenfell would seem to suggest that the team has reached the end of the road in Formula 1. Leaving the court, Arrows lawyers told the judge that nothing "short of a miracle" would save the team. The team has to pay $7.9m by the end of the week if it is to have engines and deal with other important creditors. Following the ruling the team must also pay Morgan Grenfell. And if that is not enough Jos Verstappen is understood to be poised with a winding up order if the team manages to find a last-minute compromise with Morgan Grenfell.

The important issue now is whether or not the team can stay afloat during the weekend, because if the team misses a race while insolvent it immediately loses all its rights under the Concorde Agreement and ceases to have any value.

The cars were not present at Silverstone on Thursday afternoon and so missed the scrutineering. It remains to be seen if there is some escape route left for Walkinshaw but it looks at the moment as though Arrows has reached the end of the road.

If a deal can be struck Walkinshaw will sell the rights to the Concorde Agreement to Red Bull GmbH and Red Bull North America Inc.

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