Rogue Profile of Arrows

“We couldn’t achieve the necessary balance today. Missing most of the second practice session this morning after stalling doesn’t help as that is the time you do your fine tuning for qualifying,” Frentzen said. “It only accounts for a few tenths of a second but that would have made a lot of difference today. We were basically fighting against understeer and oversteer in each of the four runs. We need to analyse why we have this problem more here than we did in Malaysia or Australia.”

“I’ve had one hell of a day today,” he said. “First, the accident I had this morning, then all the dramas in the race. After our difficult qualifying session, it was good to be able to show our pace was good for the race. I’m sorry that my home Grand Prix ended this way as I had a good start and was having a good time fighting for positions.”

“That was a real shame as I was having a very exciting race,” Frentzen said. “Our race set-up was working well and I was really enjoying myself out there. I felt that something was wrong with the rear of the car a few laps before my scheduled pit stop so I came early. As it was the same problem Enrique had we decided it was safer to retire from the race.”

“I had a tough start to the race as, while I was defending my position from Fisichella, his teammate Sato got past,” Heinz-Harald explained. “I managed to retake him on the next lap though. The car felt good until I experienced a sudden loss of power a couple of laps before I was due to come in for my pit-stop. We have a lot of work to do at Silverstone next week.”

“I was approaching ‘Rivazza’, shifted down, and had no power so had to pull off the track,” the Brazilian driver said. “For sure it is disappointing to have my race cut short as I was enjoying myself out there today.”

“That was a real shame as my race was going well today,” he said. “I had to retire due to a hydraulic leak. My car felt good all weekend and was running well in the race. I’m very happy that the team got its first point as it proved we are all heading in the right direction.”

“I really am very disappointed,” he said afterwards. “I was having a great race today as the car felt good and I was able to overtake. Straight after my pit-stop I felt there was a problem with the car and that was effectively the end of my race.”

Team boss, Tom Walkinshaw had until the 30th of June to pay the monies owed to Cosworth. Reports suggested that Cosworth have removed the electronic control units that power the V10 units until the money was received. Walkinshaw had hoped to raise the funds by selling his rights to Red Bull energy drink, something current investor, banking conglomerate Morgan Grenfell halted by taking out an injunction in the high court. As the other cars circulated the rain soaked track during the practice session, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi remained in the team garage as Walkinshaw busied himself scrabbling for a solution to the team’s woes.

Arrows did not actually have to participate in Friday’s free practice to compete in the event on Sunday. However, a deal was struck with Cosworth to pay off their debt and the cars took to the track for the Saturday Practice and qualifying session and they were able to participate in the race.

“I had a great start again today and was up to 12th by the end of the first lap. I was able to push hard and was thoroughly enjoying the race. I started from pretty much the back so to be in a position to score points by the halfway point was great,” he said. “We made the right choice on tyres for the first stop (intermediates) but not the second time because as soon as we put on the dry weather tyres it began to rain more heavily so I had to pit again. In the end it didn’t matter as I stopped for good soon after that. It is a shame to lose such a good opportunity as they don’t come along very often.”

“Unfortunately we were unable to qualify either car today,” Tom Walkinshaw said. “Our priority has to be to get this team back on its feet and in a position where we can build a positive future. It’s sad but we’ll go home and prepare for Hockenheim.”

This was done in order for the team to avoid penalty from the FIA for not participating in the race weekend, but saving the maximum amount of money in the process to help toward the fight for the team’s survival. However, it may not have gone quite as smoothly as they originally thought with the FIA thinking seriously about imposing a penalty for their deliberate attempt, and success, at missing the event.

After putting in just three out of the allocated 12 laps in one attempt, both Bernoldi and Frentzen came back into the garage and climbed from their respective cockpits. Frentzen was then seen dressed in casual attire before the session was completed, the German leaving then leaving the pits and heading for home while his colleagues continued to battle it out.

It is this that has apparently angered the governing body as the team made it clear they had no intention of making the grid. The FIA are now taking a further look into the situation before deciding whether or not to impose a penalty for the qualifying farce, but it seems unlikely as what they did was in the confines of the rules, just like Ferrari’s team orders in Austria.

Arrows were forced to sit out the Hungarian Grand Prix due to their ongoing
financial crisis. It had been reported that Arrows’ decision would more than likely
prove to be suicidal but team boss, Tom Walkinshaw was confident that the FIA
will not issue them a hefty fine, or exclude them form the sport for their non-participation.
Walkinshaw claimed a “force majeure” as the reason behind their no-show this weekend.

“It’s force majeure and I cannot see why we would be penalised because we
are acting under advice from lawyers. The lawyers have said that we have to focus
instead on getting a deal done with investors,” Walkinshaw said. “There
are three different offers on the table from three different continents and we
have been running around all over the place. I had hoped to have this matter finalised
before Hungary, but the best thing now is to sit down and get it sorted.”

“Force majeure” is a legal reason why a team can be made exempt from
the rule that requires participation every event on the calendar. If the FIA accept
this, Arrows would be able to resume where they left off in Germany at the Belgian
Grand Prix. However, it is still unknown whether the FIA will swallow this, especially
as it is widely speculated that the team is insolvent after they failed to pay
their staff’s wages in July. If this is the case, they will be thrown out of Formula
One.

Arrows announced late on Friday night that they would not be competing in the
2002 Belgian Grand Prix after missing the available ninety minutes of free practice
earlier in the day.

The team had recently announced that they had found an American investor to
keep the team afloat and it was believed that after they sent their cars to Spa,
their financial difficulties were largely solved. Following legal advise it was
made known that non-participation in Sunday’s race was a condition for any transaction
to take place.

"Further to the statement made on Wednesday, Arrows Grand Prix International
confirms that the legal teams are still working through the detailed documentation
that supports the sale of Arrows," a team statement read. "Professional
advisors on all sides have been working extremely hard all week to finalise the
deal in time for this weekend. Unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of paperwork
involved, the process cannot be completed by close of business today. Consequently
the team has been advised to do nothing that could jeopardise the successful completion
of the transaction so will not race in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix."

Arrows had been at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit since the Thursday, with both
its cars passing inspection. Enrique Bernoldi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen appeared
on the entry list, however there was no sign of Frentzen at the circuit and the
team did not participate in Friday’s practice session, the two cars remaining
in the garage throughout the day.