The struggling Arrows team intend to race on in Formula One after meeting an official deadline to enter the 2003 championship.

Arrows, who did not compete in the final five races of last season because of funding problems, had to come up with the entry fee of around �200,000 by 15 November.

But as deadline day threatened to pass without any announcement, a team spokeswoman claimed: "The entry has gone in."

The FIA, the sport's governing body, refused to confirm whether it had received an application.

Even if it has, it could still deny Arrows a place on the grid when the new season starts on 9 March.

Arrows could be barred from the championship on the grounds that they missed six of the last seven races last year.

F1's rules dictate that teams have to compete in all the races of a season or they lose their rights to take part.

Rivals may oppose Arrows

Even if Arrows gain an entry from the FIA, the team will still find it difficult because they have no engine supplier and no title sponsor and many of the staff have left.

The FIA could refuse Arrows' entry - or treat them as a new team and thereby demand a $48m deposit.

Even if the FIA does grant Arrows an entry upon payment of the standard �200,000 fee for existing teams, rule-making body the F1 Commission can exclude the team.

The F1 Commission includes representatives of the teams, who would all gain around $1m in TV and prize money if Arrows did not race.

That means the Commission would be likely to reject any application from Arrows.

If Arrows were to be excluded, just 10 teams would take part in 2003.