AUGUST 15, 2002

Herta impresses Minardi

Although Bryan Herta will not racing for Minardi in Hungary, the American did impress the team with his recent runs for them at Donington Park.

Although Bryan Herta will not racing for Minardi in Hungary, the American did impress the team with his recent runs for them at Donington Park. While this did not constitute a proper test, the Donington event did give the team an impression of how quickly Herta was able to pick up how to drive a Formula 1 car. And the team was impressed.

"He is certainly worth a look at some point in the future," said a team source.

Herta's chances of a drive with Minardi this year are almost non-existent. Anthony Davidson will stand in for Alex Yoong in Hungary and Belgium but after that Yoong will be back again.

It is possible (but unlikely) that Yoong might fail to qualify in Italy and if that were to happen the team would have to have another look at the situation for the United States and Japanese GPs. The logical thing to do would be to put Davidson back in the car but the publicity coup of running an American driver in the United States GP might be enough to sway the team. The likelihood of that happening is, however, very small.