The financially troubled Minardi team is expecting to find out in the next 24 hours, if it has been thrown a cash lifeline. Team owner Paul Stoddart admits the smallest equipe in the pit lane is in trouble and he has long been campaigning for the TV rights money which should have gone to the now defunct Prost GP. The sum is not inconsiderable - around ten million Euros, but at a recent team owners meeting at Heathrow, the other ten teams could not reach agreement on whether Stoddart should get the cash.

The alternative is to let Minardi go to the wall, splitting the Prost money between themselves. However, according to the Reuters news agency, Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley are pressuring them to come up with legal reason why Minardi should not get the benefit. If they cannot, then Stoddart will get the money and stay afloat.

Obviously, Ecclestone and Mosley do not want to see grand prix racing devalued by the departure of another team, just a few months after Prost had to throw in the towel.