Enge Hopes to be on the Grid in Australia

Prost driver Tomas Enge hopes to be on the grid of the 2002 Australian Grand Prix after his brief Formula One career with the French team this year.

Enge, the first Czech driver to compete in Formula One, replaced Luciano Burti in the final three races of 2001 after the Brazilian's horror crash at the Belgian Grand Prix earlier this season.

Enge was unable to finish the Japanese Grand Prix today after being hit by mechanical problems, but now the 25-year old is hoping to find a seat for 2002.

"Unfortunately everything went wrong for me in this race," he said. "I made a mistake when I looked at Minardi's pitboard and thought the team was calling me in. They were obviously not ready when I went into the pits and I came back again the following lap. This cost us a lot of time of course, but anyway, soon after I experienced a brake problem.

"It would not have been safe to continue. This is not an ideal end to the season but I want to thank the team warmly for giving me the opportunity to drive in the three last races. This was the hardest and most exciting school of my life. Now I hope I can build up on this to be on the starting grid next season."