NOVEMBER 3, 2004

Ford already in court

The Ford Motor Company is not flavour of the month in Formula 1 circles at the moment, with continuing rumours of legal actions in the pipeline against the Detroit automobile maker. At the same time a man who was integrally involved in Ford's F1 activities, Martin Leach, now the chief executive of Maserati, is in the process of taking legal action against his former employer over his abrupt departure last year. Leach is seeking millions of dollars in damages from Ford, claiming that it unfairly blocked his move to Fiat Auto. Leach as just won the right to have access to 1500 pages of Ford strategy documents. The trial is set for March next year.