JULY 4, 2003

Trouble brewing...

Team sources suggest that the problems with the Formula 1 fighting fund are far from over with Minardi having sent a letter to the team bosses telling them that as of Silverstone Minardi will be removing all driver aids from its cars.

This may seem like a strange thing to do but the implication is clear: Minardi will run the cars in this configuration and will then protest the other cars in the race because at the moment the rules state that a drive must drive the car "alone and unaided" and there is no agreement on traction-control. The obvious solution to the problem is for the teams to agree to the fighting fund that Minardi boss Paul Stoddart says he was promised. The teams know that Stoddart is unlikely to back down, given what he did in Canada, and so there will be pressure for them to find a solution.

The FIA says that it has no comment to make on the whole business because there has been no protest but if one comes it will have to be sorted out by the stewards of the meeting, wherever the protest is made.