| Minardi Fact Box |
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| Team Information |
| Based: |
Faenza, Italy, and Ledbury, England |
| Team principal: |
Paul Stoddart |
| Managing director: |
Gian Carlo Minardi |
| Technical director: |
Gabriele Tredozi |
| Drivers: |
Justin Wilson (Britain) Age 24 (July 31 1978)
Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) 30 (March 4 1972) |
| Test driver: |
Matteo Bobbi (Italy), 24 |
| Car: |
Minardi PS03, powered by Ford Cosworth V10 |
| Tires: |
Bridgestone |
| Starts: |
287 (poles 0, wins 0) |
First GP entered
(as Minardi): |
Brazil 1985 |
| 2002 finish: |
Ninth overall with two points |
| Milestones |
| 1979 |
Team founded by Giancarlo Minardi. |
| 1985 |
Formula One debut with Italian Pierluigi Martini. |
| 1989 |
First points (fifth and sixth in Britain). |
| 1991 |
Ferrari engines take team to best season, finishing seventh with six points. |
| 1992 |
Powered by Lamborghini engines. |
| 1994 |
Team enters into alliance with Scuderia Italia. |
| 1996 |
Flavio Briatore and Gabriele Rumi, who owned the former Fondmetal team, acquire majority stake in team. |
| 1997 |
Briatore sells shares to Rumi and leaves company. |
| 1998 |
Austrian designer Gustav Brunner, who designed the car in 1993, returns to Minardi. |
| 1999 |
Cesare Fiorio arrives as team manager. |
| 2000 |
Team sold to Australian businessman Stoddart. |
| Prospects |
|
Another season of struggle for Formula One's smallest and least-funded team.
On the bright side, the new Cosworth engines will provide more power than the team have enjoyed for years and they also have their most-promising line-up in ages.
The downside is money, or lack of it, and the familiar question mark over the team's ability to last the season.
The drivers will do their best wuth Wilson hoping to emulate Australian Mark Webber and use the team as a springboard for better things while Verstappen is hungry for action after sitting out 2002.
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