When does Jos Sign?
Published on 16 October 2002 by Huub Rothengatter
The checkered flag at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix also meant the end of the F1 2002 season. Plenty of rumours have been going round for months. One of these rumours is about our man Jos Verstappen. His contract with Arrows was ended even before the season started.
Huub Rothengatter, who has just returned from a short vacation in Portugal has picked up the pace where he left off. The court case against Arrows is still pending and, more importantly Jos does not have a seat for 2003. The court case, how are things going? "The court case which was solved was not ours, that was between the Inland Revenue and Arrows Autosport Company. It seems that Arrows has paid the taxes due. Our court case is with Arrows Grand Prix and how that will end? No one knows. On 13 November we are in court again. A lot depends on how much Morgan Grenfell and Tom Walkinshaw want to keep Arrows alive. We will just have to wait." according to Huub.
Huub is not very talkative concerning an F1 seat for 2003 for Jos, only about Minardi he is willing to say something: "Our deal with Minardi can be sealed as soon as Paul Stoddart has signed the Cosworth deal. If Minardi will use the Cosworth next year then we are very happy for the team and we will be very interested to contribute to their success."
It is obvious that not only Paul Stoddart has one name at the top of his list, Huub and Jos have one name at the top of their list. Huub does not mention any of the names of the other teams with whom he is talking. It appears that a possible seat might be available at four other teams. Excluding Minardi, these are Arrows, Jaguar, BAR and Jordan.
- Arrows; we will have to wait and a positive or negative decision could be made pretty soon
- Jaguar; as it seems, nothing is for certain at this team. Pedro de la Rosa keeps on mentioning that he has a contract for next season, but if the team will honour that is a big question. Another doubtfull fact is that Eddie Irvine's multi million salary creates great pressure on Jaguar's budget.
- BAR; rumours that Jacques Villeneuve is leaving are getting strongen. The sources who mention these rumours seem to get more reliable too.
- Jordan; Giancarlo Fissichella is quite sure of his seat, but that cannot be said of Takuma Sato. The Japanese drive backed by Honda wrecked quite a few car during the season. The last few races not a much and his latest 5th place at Suzuka was very beneficial for the team. Sato should open a lobby for a seat because his drive at Jordan could end. Especially now Honda has taken away its engine supply to the team. Eddie Jordan is quite taken with Jos Verstappen's talent and experience, something Eddie Jordan confirmed once more last week. The so-called problems between Eddie Jordan and Huub Rothengatter is absolute nonsense. Huub emphasised that these would not be a problem in possible talks.
