Tuesday March 12th, 2002

An FIA spokesman clarified this evening that the Phoenix consortium will not be allowed to race in any of the 2002 Grands Prix, and not just in Malaysia.

Earlier, the FIA informed Phoenix that the proposed entry for the 2002 Championship was invalid because they had not purchased the all-important "right to compete" when they bought assets from the now-liquidated Prost team.

However, in a statement to the press the FIA referred to the Malaysian Grand Prix only, opening the door to speculations that Phoenix might be allowed to race in Brazil or later in the season.

FIA spokesman Francesco Longanesi put an end to this by stating: "Phoenix will not be allowed to compete in the Championship at any time this season and will therefore not be on the grid in Malaysia."

If the consortium was still interested in joining the grid in 2003 it would have to put up a deposit of $48 million.

Following the news, a Phoenix spokeswoman said tonight: "We have just been notified of FIA's decision but it is too early to say what we will do. We need to sit down and talk about our options."

Published at 22:26:03 GMT