Prost Made to Wait 'a Few More Days'

Alain Prost faces a nail-biting few days convincing receivers that his Formula One team can race in the Formula One World Championship this year after receiving the final bids for a rescue package on Tuesday.

It is thought that the team have received five certain offers, each of which will now be discussed in an informal meeting with the receivers and a representative of the law courts this week.

"It should only take a few more days," said team spokeswoman Virginie Papin on Tuesday. "There can be no more offers now, and we will just be detailing things further from now on."

The team went into receivership last November and boss Alain Prost personally set Tuesday's deadline to ensure that if the team did survive it would have enough time to prepare for the start of the new season in Australia on March 3. Last year, it was Minardi who faced extinction as the new season drew close, but Australian Paul Stoddart bought the team up and turned things around.

Stoddart has gained significant funding for publicising Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur as a main sponsor this season. If Prost manage to find a company interested in making a major investment, the team have said that they will be able to double that sponsor's input through minor deals.

The team must have enough funding to continue paying Ferrari for their supply of engines, and they also still have to secure two drivers for the coming season, not to mention eradicating debts of around $28 million. A decision from the administrators is expected by the weekend.