Indianapolis, Oct 02: Jos Verstappen will not have earned any points with his team boss Paul Stoddart after giving his rather poor verdict on the team’s performances and the team as a whole. According to Verstappen, who has yet to score a single World Championship point this season, Minardi are ‘doing terrible’.
Verstappen joined Minardi at the start of the season, and has struggled at the back of the field for the majority of it, except for one glorious Friday Qualifying 1 session, which saw him clinch P1. However, the moment of joy was the result of the weather and had little to do with the car’s potential.
"We're doing terrible,” the Minardi driver told Dutch Race Report magazine when asked how the season had gone. “The parts on the car are getting obsolete and often fail. It all makes it more difficult for me. There's an error in the electronics, too, which sometimes prevent traction control from working."
As for the team’s politics: "It's a mess here. There are no policies. If I'd be in charge here, I'd fire twenty men. There are far too much people here which should be replaced. Perhaps I may not judge about this, but I have been in lots of teams and therefore gained much experience. Minardi beats everything. I'll be very happy when it's all over. I'd rather stay at home. It's not worth it, staying away from there for so long."

The Dutchman also revealed that he is looking forward to the season- ending Japanese Grand Prix, but only because it means his stay at Minardi will be over. "Suzuka is a nice circuit. If we are a bit lucky, we might achieve something there. Anyway, I'm happy that after the race, my time at Minardi is over."



As for his future, Verstappen is hoping to land a drive with either Jordan or Jaguar for 2004. "At Jordan I could perhaps have the team going a bit more my way, but I'd rather drive a Jaguar. It could be difficult in the beginning and I might need to fight even harder, but if I'd have a good race engineer, I think I can come a long way."


Bureau Report