AUGUST 17, 2002

Lauda warns of more problems for Arrows

Jaguar Racing boss Niki Lauda has warned that Arrows will have to face a new problem on Monday because Cosworth Racing (which Lauda also oversees) has not been paid as agreed in the settlement between Tom Walkinshaw and Cosworth which was negotiated at Silverstone.

"Wednesday was the deadline which we'd agreed," Lauda said, "but the money did not come. We have looked into all legal aspects of it, and a decision will be made on Monday, but we have to fight for the money because you cannot ask for supply and not pay."

It is accepted that if Arrows is declared to be insolvent then the team faces immediate loss of all the rights as laid down in the Concorde Agreement, but although struggling Arrows is not legally insolvent and team boss Tom Walkinshaw has gone to a lot of pains to point this out. This he has to do because it is illegal for a director to allow a company to trade while insolvent.

Craig Pollock is not as confident as once he was of being able to buy the team but the general feeling in the paddock is that somehow or other Arrows needs to be saved for the good of everyone. There are at the moment around 600 people who have have been made redundant in F1 in recent months and the failure of another team would be very bad for the sport.