As had become customary for the small Italian Minardi team, which since 2001, with the entry of Australian businessman Paul Stoddart into the company, had been entered in the championship under the name European Minardi while still maintaining its Italian nationality, at the end of every season they had to reckon with the very limited budget available for the following year. The end of 2002 was no exception, and the departure of Malaysian driver Alex Yoong, the team’s main driver in 2002, dealt a serious blow to the already fragile finances. Yoong’s personal sponsors, Go-KL and Magnum, abandoned the Faenza-based team (a town in Romagna, in the province of Ravenna), leaving the livery of the single-seaters desolately bare of sponsorship, apart from the name of Stoddart’s airline, European Aviation.
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| MINARDI PS03, Jos Verstappen Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 2003 |
Another blow came with the shutdown of Asiatech, a company founded in 2000 with Asian private capital under John Gano and Enrique Scalabroni, who had purchased Peugeot’s Formula One program at the end of the 2000 season to develop the French V10 engines. This left Minardi without a suitable engine to install in its cars. After several attempts with Ferrari to secure their V10s, Stoddart finally managed to strike a supply deal, naturally for a fee, with Cosworth, obtaining the older CR-3 V10 engines that Jaguar had used in 2001. The choice of the CR-3, still featuring the old 72° V configuration and a maximum output of 805 hp at 17,200 rpm, on par with the Asiatech V10’s performance but heavier and bulkier, was forced, as the more powerful and lighter CR-4 version had already been reserved for Jordan, which was losing its Honda supply from 2003. Tires also became a problem for Stoddart’s team, as by the end of 2002 Michelin, already supplying five teams, decided to drop the small Faenza outfit. Bridgestone, focused mainly on Ferrari and BAR as well as two other teams, preferred not to take on Minardi, which was thus forced to conduct its first pre-season tests at Valencia with the old 2001 PS01 fitted with Avon tires used in Formula 3000. Only at the end of February, just two weeks before the start of the championship, did Stoddart reach an agreement with Bridgestone, which agreed to supply the Italian cars in 2003, though only with older-spec tires used in the 2002 season.
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| MINARDI PS03, Justin Wilson Montecarlo, Monaco GP 2003 |
Naturally, with all these issues and chronic lack of funds, the small technical staff in charge of designing the new PS03 remained unchanged from 2002. It was led by Italian engineer Gabriele Tredozi, with Minardi since 1988, as Technical Director; Briton George Ryton as Chief Designer; and Frenchman Loïc Bigois, formerly of Ligier, still in charge of Aerodynamics. The Minardi PS03 was therefore essentially the previous year’s PS02, fitted with the Cosworth CR-3 engine, with weight distribution and suspension geometry modified to compensate for the heavier power unit and the new Japanese tires. As for drivers, after Yoong’s departure and Webber’s move to Jaguar, the team brought in veteran Dutchman Jos Verstappen, out of racing for a year, and English rookie Justin Wilson, who had already been contacted by Stoddart in 2002 as a replacement for Yoong, although the deal had fallen through at the time due to difficulties adapting the PS02 to Wilson’s height (over 1.90 m). It was rumored that Wilson’s seat was largely secured thanks to his father, who, after Eddie Jordan had refused to sign him due to the chassis modifications required for his stature, launched a “fundraising campaign” to personally finance the changes needed on the PS03, thus allowing his son to compete in Formula 1. Other rumors suggested that Verstappen was also asked to provide £2 million to secure his seat, which explained why Briton Anthony Davidson, who had replaced Yoong for two Grands Prix in 2002, chose instead to become BAR’s fourth driver rather than take a main seat at Minardi.
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| MINARDI PS03, Justin Wilson Montecarlo, Monaco GP 2003 |
After striking the last-minute deal with Bridgestone, the new PS03 hit the track at Imola, near Faenza, for a shakedown test at the end of February, the first time with a Cosworth engine and Bridgestone tires. After just a few laps, the Faenza cars were packed and shipped to Australia for the season opener. On Wednesday, March 5, before the race weekend, the new PS03 was officially unveiled to the public, in the presence of third driver and tester Matteo Bobbi (today a Sky Italia commentator). In the weeks before the season start, several secondary sponsorship deals were also signed, including with European computer accessories manufacturer Trust, investment firm Superfund, and Russian energy giant Gazprom. However, after just a few races, Gazprom’s logos were removed from the black-and-white PS03 livery due to unpaid sums, leaving Trust as the sole sponsor of the small Faenza team from the Monaco Grand Prix onward.
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| MINARDI PS03, Jos Verstappen Montréal, Canadian GP 2003 |
With all these problematic circumstances, Minardi’s 2003 season could only be disastrous. The campaign opened in Australia with Wilson retiring and Verstappen finishing 11th. Wilson’s season never really took off, plagued by constant mechanical failures leading to retirements or poor performances, his best result being only an 11th place in Spain. In the final five races, he was replaced by young Danish driver Nicolas Kiesa, also from Formula 3000 and making his Formula 1 debut. Kiesa proved more consistent, finishing every race but never achieving noteworthy results. Verstappen fared only slightly better, generally able to finish races, though his best result, and the team’s best of the year, was a 9th place in Canada. However, the Dutchman did provide a highlight in France, setting the fastest time in the final minutes of Friday’s qualifying session on a drying track, putting Minardi at the top of a timed session for the first time since the 1989 Belgian Grand Prix. It is also worth noting that in the last five races, in addition to Kiesa’s debut, young Italian Gianmaria Bruni was given his first outings in Friday free practice sessions; he would become a full-time race driver in 2004. Thus, Stoddart’s disappointing third season in charge of Minardi ended without a single points finish and with the all-too-familiar last place in the Constructors’ Championship.
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