MARCH 23, 2007

Spyker moves to arbitration

The Spyker F1 team has now begun the process of arbitration against various other teams over the question of company cars. It is not currently clear which teams are involved because the terms of the Concorde Agreement remain secret but it could be that Super Aguri, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing and Honda F1 are all involved. It may simply be a question of the two teams which Spyker claims are using customer cars rather than the alleged suppliers as well. It will take several months for this to develop - allowing time for negotiation - but the process will now move forward to be ruled upon by the Chamber of Commerce in Lausanne. It may be that the court will throw the question back to the FIA for a technical ruling on the cars. This will add to the length and cost of the process.

The entire procedure will now begin but this will not stop talks between the various parties involved and we anticipate that a solution may be found before there is a ruling. This may also be related to the decision that must be made in the weeks ahead about customer cars in 2008 and beyond.