Dutch driver Jos Verstappen appears set to make his F1 comeback with Minardi next year following the announcement that Cosworth will power the Faenza-based team next year.
Dutch driver Jos Verstappen appears set to make his F1 comeback with Minardi next year following the announcement that Cosworth will power the Faenza-based team next year.
Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart is hoping to confirm at least one of the team’s 2003 drivers by the end of the week. Verstappen, who was controversially dumped from the Arrows Cosworth team in favour of Germany’s Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the beginning of the year, has stated that he would sign for Minardi once the team had acquired a competitive engine supplier for the upcoming season.
CARtoday.com reported recently that Minardi’s Australian team boss was also keen to sign former Jordan test driver Justin Wilson for the 2003 season. However, the young Briton would need to contribute a sizable amount of sponsorship money to the team if he was to secure the drive.
“I hope Justin finds a budget, but unfortunately we’ve made it quite clear that whoever drives for us this year is going to need to have sponsors. That’s life,” Stoddart told . “We have to look at the team first, we make no secret of the fact that the team needs money. That money must come from drivers or their sponsors. But I also have a great personal faith in Justin’s ability and it would be a crying shame if he missed the opportunity.”
But as CARtoday.com reported yesterday, Enrique Bernoldi’s backing from Swiss energy drink maker Red Bull could make him a strong candidate to fill the remaining seat at Minardi or indeed replace Takuma Sato at Jordan Cosworth ahead of the experienced Eddie Irvine or the talented young Felipe Massa.