Concern over EU arrest warrants

The FIA and team bosses are concerned about new European Union warrants relating to deaths of drivers on track that could see team personnel arrested in such circumstances. Britain, Spain and Belgium have already introduced the laws and FIA president Max Mosley has written to sporting bodies in Europe to express concern over the European Arrest Warrants (EAW).

Teams want guarantees that they will be legally exempt from the warrant in the case of a driver fatality. "This is a matter of serious concern and the FIA will continue to hold talks with the various European Union governments and the European Commission in an attempt to resolve it," Mosley was quoted as saying.

The teams do not want another case like the Ayrton Senna inquiry, which is still going on ten years after his death at Imola. Williams technical director Patrick Head and then-designer Adrian Newey were acquitted of manslaughter in 1997. The verdict was upheld in 1999 after appeal but in 2003 a new hearing was announced.

Eight EU member countries have agreed to the EAW and seven others -- including France, Italy and Germany -- will bring the law into force by March. Teams are reportedly threatening to boycott EU races affected by the law unless the exemption can be guaranteed.