Formula One News — September 2002

Following an anti-doping test at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Formula 3000 driver Tomas Enge tested positive for a substance prohibited by the FIA in the International Sporting Code.

The FIA continues to adopt a very wary approach towards the issue of Arrows. The federation has outlined what everyone already knows - if Arrows is in an insolvent state, it has lost its rights under the Concorde Agreement.

The Formula 1 team principals will meet tomorrow at Monza for their first meeting for several months.

Minardi will have Malaysian title sponsorship again next year - if all goes to plan. Paul Stoddart flew into Monza after a successful trip to Kuala Lumpur to talk to his sponsors and confirmed that all seems to be set for the relationship to continue.

The FIA has issued a statement saying it is waiting to see what happens with the Arrows team and will not be taking any action against the team at the moment.

Williams announced Thursday that American consulting firm Accenture has extended their sponsorship of the team until 2005, and it will include the company's business consulting services.

The chief executive of Octagon Les Delano has stepped down amid a major reorganisation of the company which controls an important number of motorsport activities, including the Silverstone racing circuit, home of the British Grand Prix. A permanent replacement is being sought.

The European Commission has announced that the Bayerische Landesbank, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers have applied for clearance to jointly purchase SLEC Holdings, the parent company of the Formula One group of companies.

The situation surrounding Arrows is a complex one for those who are interested in Formula 1 and not in the finer points of English law. However in order to clarify the issues involved in the Arrows case it is best to explain the options that exist for the team and some of the potential pitfalls ahead.

Arrows has bought itself a little more time by paying off a creditor who was trying to have the team wound up. The team announced that the High Court in Leeds has agreed to postpone a winding-up petition hearing for 28 days.

The provisional Formula 1 calendar is expected to change when the FIA Formula 1 Commission meets again before the World Motor Sport Council meeting in October. We understand that the teams have made it clear to Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone that they are not willing to accept the current situation .

Although it is yet to be officially confirmed Tom Walkinshaw is understood to have told Arrows staff that the team will not be at Monza this weekend. Walkinshaw said that this will not create a problem and that the transfer of ownership of the team continues to go ahead.

The Asiatech company is facing an uncomfortable future as there currently no Formula 1 teams which want to use its engines next season. Asiatech intends to respond to this at Monza by announcing that it has designed and is developing a Formula 1 chassis for 2004.

Although Arrows yesterday paid off one of its creditors, there are still eight others who have attached their claims to the winding-up petition which was to have been heard today. These are believed to include Cosworth Racing, Jos Verstappen, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, CSS Stellar and a number of smaller firms.

These Schumachers get everywhere. At the recent National Hot Rod Association US National event at Indianapolis Raceway Park Tony Schumacher, driving for his father's Indianapolis-based team, beat the series leader Larry Dixon in his Army-sponsored Top Fuel dragster.

It seems that Arrows refuses to die. According to reports on the Reuter newsagency, the troubled team has now paid off Champion Recruitment Limited, the employment agency which had a winding-up order against the team.

The news that British American Racing is planning to rebrand itself has brought a few ideas out of the woodwork, notably from something called British Racing Green International which would like to see Team Lotus back in Formula 1. It is a nice idea but it is never going to happen.

The Sauber team is going to be supporting United Nations efforts to increase AIS-awareness in the final three races of the season.

It seems now that Cristiano da Matta is not coming to Formula 1 in 2003. Da Matta has reportedly remarked that Toyota only seems to be interested in him as a test driver - and he has no interest in doing that job. Da Matta also said that he was not happy with the way in which Formula 1 teams view the drivers in CART.

The bid by a mysterious American multi-millionaire Carl Smith to buy the Arrows team must be completed by today or else the Arrows team will be going out of business - at least in its current form. Arrows is facing a compulsory winding-up order in the English courts on Tuesday.

The Silverstone bypass has finally been opened although for the moment there is still only going to be one lane operational in each direction. The new road has been planned for years and will help to alleviate congestion at the Silverstone racing circuit - a big problem for the British GP in recent years.

The Belgium Grand Prix paddock was relatively quiet this year - at least in terms of celebrities. Nigel Mansell and Thierry Boutsen were there but almost unnoticed there was also former F1 driver Erik Comas, who has been racing in recent years for Toyota in Japan. The Frenchman was at Spa in his role as the manager of Romain Dumas,

It is becoming increasingly obvious that CART is going to lose the Green, Ganassi and Mo Nunn teams next year, the three following Penske Racing into the rival Indy Racing League series. This is not because of any desire to be there but rather because there is pressure from sponsors.

The French weekly magazine Autohebdo is reporting that Jordan Grand Prix is looking at some kind of a deal with rising star Gary Paffett. Paffett is currently leading the German Formula 3 Championship.

Although it has yet to be officially announced we expect there to be a completely new name for British American Racing at the end of the current year. And it will not be Honda F1, nor will it feature the Prodrive name.