OCTOBER 2, 2003

Verstappen and Minardi

There are stories circulating in Holland that Jos Verstappen is going to leave Minardi at the end of the season. This may happen but it is still a little to early for the Dutchman to turn his back on the team as other opportunities at Jordan and Jaguar may not come to fruition, leaving Jos with nowhere to go in F1. If Verstappen confirms the rumors it would suggest that he has a deal elsewhere but it is hard to imagine that anything is yet decided at either Jordan or Jaguar as there is no hurry to conclude a deal as talks are still going on with potential sponsors and to hire a driver at this early point in proceedings would limit the possibilities in the future.

With the impending departure of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jos will become one of the oldest F1 drivers next year although he is still six years younger than the oldest driver, Olivier Panis. Only Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and (if he is in F1) Jacques Villeneuve will be older.