DECEMBER 3, 2002

Arrows to appeal

Arrows is to challenge the decision of the FIA to not include the team on the entry list for the 2003 World Championship. This is not a surprise as the team is famously litigious. There is expected to be an announcement shortly. Arrows says that it would like a decision on the matter from the F1 Commission. The Concorde Agreement is secret so it is not entirely clear whether or not the team has the right to ask for such a decision but even if it does it is unlikely that the Commission is going to accept an entry as the majority of the F1 teams (which have an important voice in the process) have already indicated to Bernie Ecclestone that they do not believe that Arrows has any rights left under the Concorde Agreement.

Arrows says that it has paid $300,000 to register its entry but there is no indication that this cheque has been cashed and the fact that a cheque was included with the entry is not itself evidence of anything. There is possibly a case for Arrows to go to the FIA International Court of Appeal as the refusal to accept the entry was, it seems, based on Arrows's breach of FIA regulations. This could, in theory at least, allow for an appeal but the team wouyld need to come up with a good case to convince the judges. The rules with regard to participation in races and with regard to acceptance of the regulations are very clear.