Stoddart: British GP Move Aimed at Clearing Rules

Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart today said that he has no intention of taking advantage of his rivals by his plan to run without driver aids at the British Grand Prix.

Stoddart has circulated a letter to the sport's governing body, the FIA, and the other nine teams on the grid insisting his team will not use drivers aids at Silverstone, the race where a ban was due to come into force before the FIA delayed their plans.

But the Australian said he had made the move in order to make rival teams aware of the situation and not because he plans to take advantage of anybody who does not match the decision.

"We are coming up the British Grand Prix which was always the watershed for driver aids," Stoddart told Atlas F1. "There was much discussion in the early part of the year linked to Fighting Funds, 10 million euro engines, but we didn't actually change the rules as a group of people.

"I've looked at it very closely so whether I'm right - and I don't necessarily want to be right, I just want someone to tell me 'Paul, you are wrong', I felt as we approach the British Grand Prix we are going in to some very dangerous territory where we could be running illegal cars.

"What I did was I sent a letter to Max and to all the teams, so there can be no issues here, saying that as from the British Grand Prix in the absence of a rule change I have no choice but to run my cars without driver aids and would urge other teams to do the same.

"There is no issue here about Minardi taking advantage or a position or whatever, we are saying there is a big loophole in the rules at the moment and we are getting to the race where it is due to be brought in, best we sit down and sort it out.

"Please tell me my advisors have got it wrong, happy for them to do that just point out to me how we are not contravening the rules. But it is only right and fair that I was giving the other teams warning that we were not going to be running driver aids because we feel it is in accordance with the regulation.

"That gives us two weeks to sort this issue out as a group of people and I'm sure that this will be all be gone by the time we get to Silverstone.

"But it would have been wrong to go there without anybody saying anything because in the extreme it would have left the whole thing open for somebody to protest the results of the race and that wouldn't be good."

The ban on traction control and driver aids was initially to be brought in at the British Grand Prix but the FIA said they will lift it providing major manufacturers make engines available at 10 million euros for privateer teams.