Arrows Pass One Hurdle but Must Find Cash to Race

The troubled Arrows Formula One team met a key deadline on Friday before the British Grand Prix but money troubles still threatened to prevent their cars from racing.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said the team's cars had passed preliminary scrutineering after failing to turn up at Silverstone for Thursday's original deadline.

"The cars were found to be in conformity with the safety requirements of the 2002 FIA Formula One technical regulations," the FIA said in a statement before Sunday's race. Sources close to Cosworth, the team's Ford-owned engine makers, said they were still awaiting payment of some $4.7 million owed by Arrows, who face a financial crisis.

Jaguar team principal Niki Lauda, who also oversees Cosworth, said on Thursday that Arrows would be allowed the electronic control units (ECU) that control the engines in order to pass scrutineering. But he said the team would not be allowed the ECUs to qualify or race until payment was received.

First free practice was due later on Friday and both Arrows drivers, Germany's Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi, turned up for duty in a rain-swept paddock. FIA sources said there was no obligation for the team to participate in practice but they would have to qualify on Saturday for the race.

That effectively left Arrows, described in the London High Court on Thursday as being doomed short of a miracle, with a further day's grace to find the money owing to Cosworth. Team owner Tom Walkinshaw met race stewards on Friday morning and then Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"I don't know, I will have to tell you all a little bit later," he said when asked about the situation. "We are not doing any interviews until we have clarity on one or two things. First I have to go and see the boss."

On Thursday Arrows' lawyer Robin Potts, asked in court if the company was 'finished', agreed that it was - 'short of a miracle. "At the present time the prognosis is that the company is doomed," he said.

If the team miss a race due to insolvency then their right to compete in the Formula One World Championship will be in danger.