Formula 1
Stoddart threatens to cause problems
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart could upset the tenuous peace in F1 by threatening to withdraw his agreement to the use of traction control. Stoddart originally agreed to it in return for the engine manufacturers promising to supply cheaper engines, but ...
Published: Mar 1, 2004, 3:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart could upset the tenuous peace in F1 by threatening to withdraw his agreement to the use of traction control. Stoddart originally agreed to it in return for the engine manufacturers promising to supply cheaper engines, but since the deal appears to be unforthcoming, the Australian is ready to cause trouble.
Paul Stoddart.
Photo by Minardi Formula 1.
"Our engine budget runs into millions of dollars, but the agreement made with the manufacturers to supply power at an affordable cost would have seen us make some substantial savings," Stoddart told the British press. "A solid commitment by the manufacturers was made on 29 April to cut engine costs in return for myself and Jordan agreeing the continued use of traction control."
"But, so far, nothing has happened. Unless something is forthcoming, and the promises made are honoured, I will withdraw my vote on traction control. That will cause them major problems."
"Ron Dennis (McLaren boss) told me it would cost the big teams tens of millions of dollars in design and development if traction control was withdrawn. I voted it through in the belief that manufacturers would help us cut engine bill costs. But they appear to have had a memory loss -- and that's not the way to do business."
Stoddart threatened similar action prior to last year's British Grand Prix when he said the Minardi drivers would race without driver aids, which could have given him grounds to protest other teams using them. Again, it was the lack of cheaper engines, amongst other things, that Stoddart was making a stand about.
The Minardi boss called off the threat after hasty discussions with other teams produced a compromise over finances but the engine argument was never resolved. Launch control and automatic gearboxes are now banned for this season but traction control was voted to be allowed. However, it needs the unanimous agreement of all the teams.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Button wants Schumacher's crown
Next article Webber hoping to challenge for victory
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Paul Stoddart
Red Bull confident of winning fuel flow appeal
Formula 1
Formula 1
Red Bull confident of winning fuel flow appeal
From the Guardian: Daytona date is just reward for 'adrenaline junkie' Katherine Legge
IMSA
IMSA
From the Guardian: Daytona date is just reward for 'adrenaline junkie' Katherine Legge
Teams should solve their financial problems - Mateschitz
Formula 1
Formula 1
Teams should solve their financial problems - Mateschitz
More from
McLaren
What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career
Malthe Jakobsen completes McLaren's WEC Hypercar driver line-up
WEC
WEC
Malthe Jakobsen completes McLaren's WEC Hypercar driver line-up
Latest news
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
37 min
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 h
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
2 h
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe