Minardi Submit Entry for the 2005 Season

Formula One can count on Minardi's continuing presence next year, after the struggling team said tonight they had submitted their entry to the 2005 Championship.

"I've entered as Minardi European," team boss Paul Stoddart told Reuters after a meeting of team bosses in London.

The deadline for entries is next Monday and the season starts in Australia in March.

The future of Minardi, as well as that of Jordan and Jaguar, has been in some doubt after Ford announced in September they were pulling out of a sport that has cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. Ford own Jaguar and their Cosworth subsidiary provided engines for Minardi and Jordan.

Jaguar are up for sale, with a buyer still to be announced, while Jordan have yet to confirm their engine supplier.

Minardi had already agreed a deal with Cosworth for 2005 before Ford announced the company's sale, but Stoddart also has a supply of ageing engines that he has said he could use as an emergency fallback.

The team scored one point this season, an achievement in itself for cars as much as six seconds a lap slower than dominant Ferrari, and finished 10th.