Will Minardi survive 2003?

[Yoong Montoya]

It's good to know that they got the Cosworth engine deal. But I fear they may end up going the same way as Arrows next year. Hopefully they won't. We've barely enough teams as it is!

[NiceGuyEddie]

It will be make or break for the Feanza-squad in 2003.

F1 is heading in a direction in which there is simply no room for privateers, or so it seems. Minardi is barely making it financialy and is headed by a guy who is clearly no professional autosport-manager but a wealthy enthusiast with a massive liking for F1. Quite like most of us but with the big bucks actually. He came in in 2001, quickly remarked that he won't be paying private money any longer (which is ok, obviously), then tried to sell it as soon as mid-2002. By now, he starts to get a little paranoid, accusing the big ones to try and hit him were it hurts; the company-wallet and taking it rather personal at that. Not very healthy, claiming that the costs of any legal procedure alone will put Minardi out of business. So theyre financialy barely holding on.

KL Malaysia will, oddly enough, stay on as a titlesponsor allthough Yoong is out. KL Malaysia is not the most of trustworthy sponsor as seen in 2002, but eventually, the money came. We can only guess how commited they are when there is no landsman driving the *******' car.

Same goes for Russian partners, Gazprom. When they came on the car in 2002, the Russian GP was not far away from being confirmed. It didn't happen. Instead, the whole thing is off. How big will their commitment be when a Russian GP is out of the question for the time being?

Then we have the car itself. The 2001-car was designed by Gustav Brunner himself. A neatly, quite effective car, driven by one of the biggest talents to date. A dream-scenario for a team like Minardi. In 2002 they had a car which inhereted some of the Brunner ideas, powered around by another talent by the name of Mark Webber, yet this time underpowered and sporting hopelessly outdated aerodynamics. Testing was a luxury, and they slipped even further back during the course of the season. Points were a mere dream, apart from a lucky -well deserved though- one off at the first GP.

Now 2003 has arrived. Enginewise, Minardi has struck gold. But even then, they will be sporting an engine which will be the oldest on the grid, so effectively it will be the one with a lack of power, a surplus of weight.

The same Cosworth-engine has proved to be quite useless in a badly balanced car. Minardi will need super aerodynamics to make it work. Who is going to design it for them? No Gustav Brunner, I'll tell you.

On the driverfront, there is less hope of a young hopeful as time slides by. Their best proposition to date is Jos Verstappen, a driver who took a mere 17 points in about 8 seasons and didnt get near any racecar in well over a year. Also a driver who got sit out the whole of 2002 pretty quietly without being bothered by teams trying to sign him. And I don't even want to think of who is going to be the paydriver in that pair.

So, if you ask me, Minardi will go down. They will go down fighting though, but at the end of 2003, their name will be part of F1 history. Right next to Arrows, Ligier, Tyrrell, BRM, Brabham... Well, you see how quickly we forget our loved ones. Why will it be any diffrent with Minardi? They're the only really loveable team in F1, but once people are doing this for a living, being loveable alone is simply not enough.

[f1manoz]

I hope Minardi can survive, but unless they score points to get that TV money, then it's all downhill...

[Phil Wilke]

I hope they survive and thrive. There is far too much predictability in the order of finish. More power -- literally and figuaratively -- to midpackers and tailenders.

[Armco Bender]

their name will be part of F1 history. Right next to Arrows, Ligier, Tyrrell, BRM, Brabham...

They all actually won a GP,surely you meant alongside Token,Maki,Prost,Coloni,Trojan,Eiffeland,Mezario,ATS etc and the rest of the rear of the grid DNQ brigade.Sadly hard to see Minardi even finishing 2003,infact they may even struggle to front up at all.

[DNQ]

I agree that it will be very tough. If they go, I am pretty sure that will be it as far as my interest in F1 goes.

[racer69]

They'll survive. Bernie and the FIA now seem to be thinking about the sport, maybe not making the right decisions, but making changes to try and pick it up, trying to get fans opinions and so on it seems.

Ask any fan, would they prefer 3 Ferrari's on the podium at the end of a race, or a field of many different constructors?

[Armco Bender]

Depends who's driving the 3rd Ferrari

[badoer fan]

Luca! Luca! Luca!

[RWC]

"Bernie and the FIA now seem to be thinking about the sport, maybe not making the right decisions, but making changes to try and pick it up, trying to get fans opinions and so on it seems"
ZERO chance of bernie doing it out of the goodness of his heart(er,his what?).He's "helped" teams before-by lending them money-and they gotta pay back.What use is that to paul who is a billionair and has all the cash he needs.He doesn't want to spend his own money,which means that minardi's future really is dim.If the fia DRAMATICALLY cut costs then their future would be certain