Webber salvages pride for Arrows.

Once again, Jos Verstappen and Pedro De La Rosa were denied an opportunity to prove just how good the new Arrows A21 is in race conditions when both drivers were forced to retire from the British Grand Prix with electrical problems.

The brand new A21 chassis has astounded many within the F1 fraternity with its pace and handling characteristics and the cars have been right on the pace in almost every test session they have attended. The car has also been particularly good in qualifying, regularly outpacing many more fancied runners but sadly a series of niggling problems has denied the team on raceday. Verstappen was running a highly creditable 9th on the road behind Michael Schumacher at Silverstone until electrical troubles sidelined him, the team has yet to score a point this year.

The only filip for the Leafield based outfit is that Arrows Junior team driver Mark Webber won the F3000 race that supported the Grand Prix. A superbly controlled drive in difficult conditions saw the young Australian romp home to win the second round of the series, moving to the top of the championship in the process.

The profile of the International Formula 3000 championship is rising each season and six of the eleven teams currently competing in Formula One have Junior teams, affiliated to the Senior F1 outfit, competing in the series, which supports each European round of the Formula One calender except for Monza.

Webber, in only his second single seater race since the Macau F3 invitation race in 1997, finished a superb third in the opening round of the championship at Imola and now finds himself ahead of the rest of the fiercely competitive field. The young Australian is Arrows official F1 test driver this season and is looking to make the last big step into Formula One in the near future. Comparisons between him and 1980 World Champion Alan Jones are already being made and the future is looking very bright for this hardworking young man.