LONDON, 12 July 2003 — Minardi have withdrawn a threat to throw next week’s British Formula One Grand Prix into confusion. Team owner Paul Stoddart told Reuters yesterday that Minardi had dropped plans to compete without so-called ‘driver aids’ at Silverstone, a move that could have led to the mass-disqualification of rivals.
“That’s all gone,” he said of the threat to drop traction control and other driver aids. “What we have effectively done is adopted the rules for the rest of the year and they will stay that way for 2004 as well, with the exception that you will lose as previously agreed launch control and multigear shifts.”
“Silverstone is 100 percent guaranteed safe (from protest),” added the Australian before Minardi’s Justin Wilson gave British Sports Minister Richard Caborn a ride in a Formula One two-seater in London’s Hyde Park. “Clearly with a championship as close as this one is, we don’t want any controversy, we want each race to take its own course and see the year out.” Four drivers are divided by just 17 points at the top of the championship, with Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher leading McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen by eight and the Williams of younger brother Ralf Schumacher by 11 points. Williams are three points adrift of Ferrari ahead of what counts as a home race for seven of the 10 teams.
Stoddart last week raised the prospect of protesting against the race result on July 20 under a strict interpretation of existing rules if rivals competed with driver aids and Minardi did not.
Silverstone was supposed to be the race where systems such as traction control were to be banned, before a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ was reached with the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA).
Minardi argued that since the teams had not upheld their part of the deal, notably in paying money from a fighting fund to help them and Jordan, the FIA should adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to the rules.
