Minardi faces Cosworth engine deadline
The Minardi Formula 1 squad, which yesterday sealed its tyre deal with Bridgestone, is now facing another race against time to be present on the grand prix grid in Melbourne - which is now just three weeks away
Ford's Premier Performance Division CEO, Tony Purnell, revealed yesterday (Monday) that Minardi is yet to pay for its supply of Cosworth engines for the 2003 season. Formula 1's smallest team will have to pay about £3million for the engines, which were used in the back of last year's Jaguars.
"Paul [Stoddart, Minardi's boss] is struggling a little bit, but he always seems to come up with the goods," said Purnell. "We are being supportive as well as rational. He will have the best engine in the back of his cars ever, and it is working out."
But Purnell warned he would not tolerate a situation arising similar to that which occurred with Arrows last year, when it became embroiled in rows over payment.
He added: "Put it this way, if you wanted to buy something, and you haven't paid for it when closing time comes around, then you don't get what you want. Closing time is a few weeks away yet, but he [Stoddart] will have to pay before Australia."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Alonso showed championship credentials on F1 debut - ex-Minardi boss
Top 10 Minardi F1 drivers ranked: Alonso, Webber, Badoer and more
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
Mercedes joins Williams and RB with 'quick and cheap' F1 cockpit airflow upgrades
Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time in 2024 as lighter chassis appears in China
F1 Chinese GP: Stroll leads FP1 as small fire causes early red flag
Live: F1 Chinese GP updates – FP1 & Sprint qualifying
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments