In the last issue of the popular F1 Racing magazine, Niki Lauda left us in no doubt about his view of Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw. “I accept that businesses can go to ****,” he was quoted as saying. “But he gave me a personal guarantee at Silverstone that he would pay (his engine bill), and when the first guarantee was due, he told me to **** off. This I cannot accept.”

“He is a rich man, of that there’s no doubt, and I’m going to go after him to get the money he owes, because then my engine business will break even.”

That left the fans doubting that Cosworth would be a viable engine option in view of the new German rescue deal. Message board speculation here at AllAboutArrows suggested a connection with Audi, and a possible deal with Ferrari. ITV-F1.com recently blew the Ferrari idea when they contacted the company about the options. “Our programme includes only one team supplied with our engines,” Ferrari have been quoted as saying by the site. There has also been nothing official from Audi.

With the recent demise of Asiatech, that just leaves Cosworth, with Minardi also believed to be chasing an engine deal with the Northampton based company.

In this week’s Autosport, in an interview with Nigel Roebuck, a distinctly calmer Lauda sang a different tune about Walkinshaw and his fight to save the Arrows team. “At the moment I must say that Tom is trying hard to find a settlement,” Niki has been reported as saying.

“I sat him down the other day and said, ‘Listen, one way or another you have to find a way of sorting this out, because if your company goes down with a Cosworth bill unpaid, it’s bad enough. You’re responsible - it shouldn’t happen, although I accept that, okay, in business it can happen. But if you - with your personal guarantee - suddenly tell us to get ******, this is a little...bad for me, I must say.’”

Now this may mean nothing, but it could also mean that Tom has swallowed a large portion of humble pie and gone back to Cosworth to seal Arrows’ place on the 2003 grid. It is largely expected that there will be no further official news on the German rescue package until the FIA announce the 2003 grid at the beginning of December. In addition there is a court hearing involving a claim by Morgan Grenfell. Assume, for the sake of argument, that both these go the way the fans hope, then we could see the team back in business - and the staff paid - in time for Christmas! Now wouldn’t that be some present?

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