AUGUST 30, 2002

No juice for Orange Arrows

The Orange Arrows team stayed in the garage when practice for the Belgian Grand Prix began on Friday morning. The session was delayed by an hour because of fog in the Liege area which meant it was impossible for the medical helicopter to land at Liege if there had been a serious accident.

The lack of movement at Arrows was no real surprise given that one of the team's nominated drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen was in Monte Carlo and not intending to go to Spa at all. The whisper in the paddock (unconfirmed as usual) was that the team had not paid the Cosworth engine bills.

While the announcement that Arrows is on the verge of being sold raised hopes on Wednesday, the goings-on at Spa once again suggested that the team still has many bridges to cross before all its problems are solved.

The shortened first session lasted half an hour and saw the two Ferraris fastest with Rubena Barrichello ahead of Michael Schumacher.