Prost Team Made to Wait Two More Days

Prost employees kept their hopes up on Monday as the French team's struggle to stay in Formula One entered a decisive phase.

Prost went into receivership in November with debts estimated at around $28 million and a decision on their fate is expected within days after weeks of waiting for would-be rescuers to emerge. Spokeswoman Virginie Papin said team principal and four times champion Alain Prost had an important meeting scheduled on Monday evening to study various proposals in greater depth with court-appointed receiver Franck Michel.

"It was an important meeting," said Papin. "It was not the first meeting, but it was one of the important meetings and it will be a big step."

Papin said it would be probably a day or two before an appointment was sought with the court in Versailles which named the receiver. The new season starts in Australia on March 3, with Prost the only one of 12 teams still without any named drivers and with no title sponsor.

If they do not find a rescuer, the team - with 300 employees - faces bankruptcy but Formula One will have the same number of teams that it had last season since Toyota will be making their Grand Prix debut. Prost used Ferrari engines in 2001 and that team's sporting director, Frenchman Jean Todt, said last week that the World Champions were waiting for word from Paris before deciding what steps to take in their relationship with Prost.

The team, formed in 1997, denied suggestions that current driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen would be forced to drive for the team if they do make it to Melbourne.

"He is not bound to us in a legal way to my knowledge," said Papin. "We have no option with him and he has not signed an agreement from what I understand. He is just willing to wait for us. He is in close touch with Alain on the phone and everything is ready, he just has to sign something. It is a miracle that he is still waiting so close to the start of the season."