Cosworth wants Minardi payment

Engine supplier Cosworth is waiting for Minardi to pay for its supply up front, before the start of the 2003 season, to avoid another problem similar to the situation Cosworth had with Arrows. When Arrows went into its slow decline and final collapse last year, one of the outstanding debts was payment for the use of Cosworth engines. Tony Purnell, head of Ford's Premiere Performance Division, doesn't want another unpaid bill.

"Paul is struggling but to be honest I think that he always has done," Purnell said according to the British press. "We are trying to support him but we are also trying to be rational. But I think that it will all be worked out. When Paul went into Formula 1 he knew it was going to be an uphill struggle. I don't think that has changed."

"There's a deadline for Minardi -- it is not particularly mysterious. If you go into a dress shop and you see a dress you really like you have got to come up with the money you need to buy it. The Arrows thing was tough for Formula 1 and tough for Cosworth and all the parties involved will be looking to avoid that sort of embarrassment again."

Minardi finally sorted out its wrangles with tyre manufacturer Bridgestone this week, signing a deal with the company to supply tyres in 2003. The team now needs to come up with a reported £3million to secure the Cosworth engine deal, but Minardi boss Paul Stoddart is confident: "I don't see it as a hassle," he told Reuters. "We're struggling, but there's a difference between that and being so desperate that we can't go to Melbourne."

The only other unresolved mystery is why Tony Purnell was talking about buying a dress.