DECEMBER 17, 2002

Minardi confirms Wilson

The Minardi team has confirmed that Justin Wilson be driving for the Faenza-based team next season. Wilson has impressed the team in recent months with his speed as a test and demonstration driver.

The Minardi team has confirmed that Justin Wilson be driving for the Faenza-based team next season. Wilson has impressed the team in recent months with his speed as a test and demonstration driver but still needed to find some sponsorship to secure the drive, which many drivers have used in the past as as springboard to better drives in F1. Wilson's talent has never really been in question. He won the International Formula 3000 Championship in 2001 but could not find a route into F1 this year and ended up racing former F1 driver Ricardo Zonta for the Formula Nissan title.

Wilson's biggest problem has been his size because his six foot three inch frame will not fit into many of the current F1 cars. Minardi has a larger chassis than most because of the need last year to accomodate Mark Webber.

Team boss Paul Stoddart says that Minardi's tradition is to show the F1 world new stars and he believes that Wilson has everything he needs to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Webber, Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli who were all former Minardi drivers.