MAY 4, 1998

Magnussen staying at Stewart?

DENMARK's Jan Magnussen, who has been struggling this year with the Stewart Ford team, looks like staying with the team for the rest of the year, despite attempts which have been made by the team to replace him.

DENMARK's Jan Magnussen, who has been struggling this year with the Stewart Ford team, looks like staying with the team for the rest of the year, despite attempts which have been made by the team to replace him. Stewart management has been involved in talks with Holland's Jos Verstappen but it seems that Verstappen's manager Huub Rothengatter was not able to agree financial terms with Jackie Stewart and so Verstappen looks likely to stay as the unofficial test driver for Benetton - at least for the moment.

Stewart managing-director Paul Stewart said that Magnussen would "probably" be in the car for the rest of the year. Stewart says that the team wants to build up Magnussen's confidence so that he will perform with the same brilliance as he did in the junior formulae. In order to do that Stewart needs to produce a better car and be in a position to run it more effectively than is currently the case so that the drivers feel that every possible effort is going towards making them successful.