Verstappen Considers Legal Action Against Arrows

Dutchman Jos Verstappen says his lawyers are looking at the legal consequences of claiming damages against his former Arrows Formula One team.

Verstappen renewed his contract with the Leafield-based team in the middle of last year, but was dropped when team chief Tom Walkinshaw signed German Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the 2002 season.

Now Verstappen is set for a legal battle with his former employers because their decision to drop him, announced last Thursday, has come too late for him to move to another team.

A report in Dutch newspaper De Limburger, the province Verstappen was born in, said he was going to claim "millions".

Asked whether he was considering claiming compensation for damages, Verstappen said on his website: "Maybe, but there's not much I can say about that... At the moment my lawyers are looking into the legal consequences."

"I'm getting tired of these stories. That's all I have to say about it," he added, when asked about reports that he would be seeking damages of $1.5 million.

"In June they (Arrows) renewed my contract and with that I am off the market for any other team...

"But when you get tossed out only weeks before the season starts you can't negotiate anymore. So, believe me, my financial setback is, mildly put, very considerable," he said.

Verstappen, who drove alongside Michael Schumacher at Benetton in 1994 and moved to Simtek, Footwork, Tyrrell and Stewart before joining Arrows, is now without an F1 team.

The Dutchman said he found out he was being dropped after a telephone call from Walkinshaw who offered no explanation.

Despite the blow, Verstappen believes he will still find a team this season. "I expect to be driving this season," he added. "Maybe even sooner than many people think."

Furthermore, Italy's leading sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, reported today that Verstappen is currently in Ferrari's Maranello base, where the Dutchman may be closing a deal to test drive for the team.