OrangeArrows withdraws appeal

Published on 04 April 2001 by Thorsten Hendriks

After much deliberation, the OrangeArrows team has withdrawn its appeal against the $15,000 fine given to Jos Verstappen as a result of an incident during Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Due to the varied stories in the media, the team would like to clarify the situation. Prior to the collision with Montoya, Jos was travelling at reduced speed and braking a great deal earlier than on his previous lap. This explains why Jos, an experienced driver, was surprised by the incident.
As far as the OrangeArrows team is concerned, the case is now closed. Jos, who is testing in Magny Cours today, went along to the Williams garage after the race to have a chat with Montoya and later commented, “I did apologise to Montoya as none of us want these things to happen and I hope we can both put it behind us now and get on with racing.”