Stepney - Jaguar or Arrows?

Despite rumours to the contrary, it appears that Ferrari team chief Nigel Stepney may not be heading for Jaguar Racing after all.

Much has been made in recent weeks about the possibility of Stepney returning to British shores, and a place co-ordinating Jaguar's new-look assault on the world championship, but denials on both sides now point to this not being the case. The Milton Keynes team last week ousted technical director Gary Anderson in favour of former McLaren man Steve Nichols, and also lost the engineering services of Andy Le Flaming, Andy Rice, Dave Rendall and Gerry Hughes.

Stepney, meanwhile, may be in line for a similar role at another British team, Arrows, after team manager Steve Nielsen quit the operation at the end of last week. Although no comment has been forthcoming on the issue, the Leafield team has said that it expects to make an announcement regarding Nielsen's replacement sometime later this month.

Of course, the Arrows rumour could always prove to be another red herring, with Stepney deciding to stay with the new F1 world champions at Maranello. He has always said that he enjoyed the Italian way of life, having moved there to be close to the team, and pictures of last week's wet Silverstone test may not be the best enticement to get him to return home.