SEPTEMBER 30, 2002

Jos and an abundance of riches

Jos Verstappen will almost certainly join Minardi next year - but the announcement will not be made until the Cosworth engine contract is inked.

Jos Verstappen will almost certainly join Minardi next year - but the announcement will not be made until the Cosworth engine contract is inked. Once that has happened it is expected that the Dutchman will put pen to paper with Minardi. But the team is in no hurry to sign up a second driver because there is a long list of good drivers available and Minardi boss Paul Stoddart says he is happy to wait and see who comes up with the best deal.

The list is believed to include Mika Salo, Allan McNish, Felipe Massa, Bryan Herta, Townsend Bell, Tomas Enge, Justin Wilson, Anthony Davidson, Giorgio Pantano, Enrique Bernoldi, Ricardo Zonta, Tarso Marques and several of the current F1 test drivers. There are other drivers who may be looking for work by the end of the year, notably Takuma Sato and possibly even Pedro de la Rosa, who are thought to be talking with the team, just in case...