Midland boss Alex Shnaider has hit back at rumours circulating over the future of the MF1 Racing team and said that he isn't looking to offload the Toyota powered outfit.
Barely a week after the team issued a statement about its future to try and ease rising speculation that the team could be up for sale, the Russian-born Candian insisted that the team hasn't been sold off to anyone and he has no plans to cut his investment.
It follows reports in the press that Midland was looking to sell up and cut its ties with the team barely a year after buying out Eddie Jordan and that managing director Colin Kolles could be on his way out.
"I wonder what their motivation is for spreading this bullshit, and why they never seem to grow tired of publishing the same lies, over and over again,? Shnaider told Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. "The fact is, despite the constant rumours, I have not sold the team and it continues to operate at a healthy level.
"It's lazy, irresponsible journalism, and in the end, the lies only serve to damage their own credibility. The media writing these rumours should go back and analyse everything they wrote about us last year and see whether
anything they reported happened.
"I will continue investing in the team for as long as I'm passionate about competing in the sport, and given that I've loved F1 since my childhood, I don't see that enthusiasm fading any time soon. It frustrates me when people say we're not investing in the team, because we've been investing non-stop since we bought it."
That investment was underlined earlier this week when Midland announced plans for a major project to upgrade its wind tunnel facilities ahead of the new-look regulations that come into play in 2008 - with aerodynamics likely to be a key area of development when the FIA imposes its latest rules revamp.
That announcement itself came days after reports from Spain that GP2 team Racing Engineering was planning to make an offer to purchase MF1 in an effort in get into Formula One. However, despite team boss Alfonso de Orleans Borbon being quoted as saying that he was planning to sit down with Shnaider at Imola to discuss a possible deal, Shnaider said no such talks would be taking place
?I find that one quite amusing, actually,? he said. ?I spoke to this Spanish gentleman once, at last year's Turkish Grand Prix, because he wanted to introduce to me to someone who was interested in buying steel, but we never spoke about the sale of the team - not once. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I was interested in buying a team, wouldn't it make sense for me to speak to the owners about it first, before going to the media?"
MF1 will hope to put all the rumours and speculation to one side this weekend in San Marino, with Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers hoping to take advantage of a revised aerodynamic package on the M16 to move up the order.
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Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan
