Minardi Duo Relying on Race Strategy

The Minardi team are optimistic their strategy will pay off at Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix after finishing at the bottom of the times in today's decisive qualifying.

Dutchman Jos Verstappen was the quickest of the Minardi drivers, setting the 19th fastest time albeit nearly a whole second behind 18th placed Cristiano da Matta. Despite his unimpressive time, Verstappen was confident he will be able to recover in the race.

"It wasn't a perfect lap â€" the first sector wasn't bad, but we struggled a little in the second, as we have for the last two days," said Verstappen. "At the end of the day, though, we're about where we felt we would be in qualifying.

"The Bridgestone tyres are holding up well, and I think we have a good race strategy, so I'm happy with our prospects for tomorrow's race."

Briton Justin Wilson will start from the bottom of the grid after finishing less than a tenth of a second behind his teammate. The young rookie, like Verstappen, was also relying on their strategy to put on a better performance in tomorrow's race.

"I was quite pleased with this afternoon's qualifying run," admitted Wilson. "There were no problems and I drove a pretty clean lap. The time is certainly acceptable for the fuel load we were carrying.

"All told, we've had a productive day technically, and I'm looking forward to a good race tomorrow."