JULY 16, 2002

No movement from Arrows

The Formula 1 transporters normally set off for European races on the Monday before each race but on Tuesday afternoon it seems that the Arrows trucks are still at Leafield and have yet to set off for Magny-Cours.

Enrique Bernoldi, Australian GP 2002
© The Cahier Archive

THE Formula 1 transporters normally set off for European races on the Monday before each race but on Tuesday afternoon it seems that the Arrows trucks are still at Leafield and have yet to set off for Magny-Cours. This is not a good sign but there is still time as the team could leave as late as Wednesday evening and still be at the French GP in time for scrutineering on Thursday. They could even leave later than that if the team applied for an extension until Friday morning. It is possible that the team could miss the French Grand Prix and not suffer for it as the rules are not clear as to a punishment. This is up to the organizers of the race who can claim damages from a team if they choose to do so. The only issue is if a team misses a race while insolvent as this means that all its rights and benefits under the Concorde Agreement are immediately cancelled. Tom Walkinshaw says that the team is not insolvent, despite comments made before Silverstone by High Court judge Hon Sir Gavin Lightman.

The major problem would seem to be that the team negotiated a deal before the British GP to pay Cosworth Racing around $1.6m on the Wednesday before each race. However it is possible that there are other creditors who are not happy that Cosworth is being paid while they are not and there may be more legal issues than are currently obvious.

Whatever the case it is bad news if Arrows does miss the French GP as the sport does not need to lose a second team in a year.