Barnard-prost Moves Stalls.

Alain Prost's desire to have a renowned designer to pen his 1999 chassis appears to have taken a blow, as Arrows have refused to release John Barnard before the end of the season.


In a move reminiscent of Williams delaying Adrian Newey's move to McLaren, Arrows' boss Tom Walkinshaw has agreed to continue paying Barnard's reputed ?300,000 salary in order to prevent him jumping ship before the end of the year. The relationship between team boss and designer has deteriorated so badly, however. that Barnard no longer attends races, effectively meaning that Arrows are paying him to do nothing.


Prost, meanwhile, are faced with having to pen its 1999 chassis without Barnard's input. The team has a lot of faith in current designer Loic Bigois, but has suffered because of the relative inexperience of the rest of the technical staff. Barnard's arrival would have helped the team overcome this problem and, hopefully, improve on a pointless 1998 season.