Politics pose no problem, says BAR designer

In an interview with Autosport's sister publication F1 Racing this month, Oastler said that the core of the Brackley-based outfit has become immune to stories of boardroom battles between founding partners Craig Pollock and Adrian Reynard.

When asked if morale suffers at BAR as a result, the Australian design guru replied: "Not at all, because it has been a bit of a mess from the word go. It's not like it's big news here. Craig's fighting Adrian - big deal. People are so bored by it. It might affect those who get worried about who they are working for, but there is an operational side of the company that just gets on with going racing."

On the subject of the rumoured buy-out bid that was supposed to oust Pollock from the helm of the team, Oastler believes the doomed plan was "foolhardy".

"That was an attempt by somebody - I'm not sure who - to generate funds to buy the team," he added. "That seems quite foolhardy because, as far as I know, the team is not for sale."

Despite an improved 2000 season, British American Racing will be under increased pressure to perform this year as it no longer has an exclusive works engine deal with Honda, which has chosen to supply the Jordan team as well. BAR has, however, recruited former McLaren test driver Olivier Panis to partner Jacques Villeneuve, and the Frenchman was highly impressive during testing in Spain before Christmas.