Minardi banking on old car

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart is content his team are set to make great strides forward next season – thanks to a year-old car.

Stoddart recently bought several 2002 Arrows machines after Tom Walkinshaw’s team went bust and after repainting them and re-badging them as Minardi PS04s, drivers Nicolas Kiesa and Jos Verstappen have tested them this week.

The Arrows chassis clocked similar times around Mugello to Minardi’s current challenger, but Stoddart is confident the PS04 will take his team forward.

He said: “Ultimately, there was nothing in the lap times between the two cars, but it is clear there is substantial development potential in the PS04.

“We will now return to the factory and analyse the data we’ve gathered, which will help us decide the direction we are going to take with our 2004 car.”