Minardi Hopeful of Accord Before Silverstone

Minardi hope to settle their differences with Formula One rivals by the end of the week to prevent the British Grand Prix from being thrown into chaos.

The 10 team bosses and commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone met at the French Grand Prix today after Minardi's Paul Stoddart threatened a 'zero tolerance' interpretation of the technical rules for the July 20 race.

He said Minardi would strip their cars of all 'driver aids', such as traction control, at Silverstone and raised the possibility of the team seeking to disqualify any rivals who did not do likewise.

There is effectively a gentleman's agreement in place at present to allow the use of such aids. Minardi's stance could lead to fans leaving Silverstone without knowing who has won. Stoddart said his action had dominated the second half of Sunday's meeting but was confident that a settlement could be reached.

"There were some proposals tabled this morning, we need to get everybody to agree unanimously to it. If that happens over the next few days, then I believe that we can quickly do an amendment to the 2003 regulations.

"I'd like to see it all solved by Friday. I really don't want to go to Silverstone not knowing. What a crazy situation we'd have, with some cars legal and some not," he said.

Stoddart said team bosses also agreed to an all-day meeting, possibly in London in the next few weeks, to thrash out all the proposals and options for 2004.

The Australian has been at loggerheads with rival bosses for months over a so-called 'fighting fund' to ensure struggling small teams like his can survive against the big manufacturers.

The absence of any assistance led to him blocking planned technical changes for next year and the arrival of Ecclestone as a Minardi shareholder to ensure the team could compete for the rest of the year.

Stoddart left the meeting with McLaren boss Ron Dennis, seen by many as an arch-opponent who had accused him the previous day of destabilising the sport.

"It's difficult to actually understand what is the motive behind it," he had said of Minardi's action.

"One can surmise that it has its roots in a desire to continue the destabilisation process and try and cause disharmony between the teams and governing body."

Stoddart said they now understood each other better.