Minardi Pair Endure Qualifying Nightmare

The Minardi team endured a nightmare qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix despite Justin Wilson escaping the final row of the grid.

"It's very disappointing," said Wilson, who finished in 18th position, but more than five seconds off the pace and nearly three behind the closest of his rivals. "I seemed to pick up a chassis imbalance, which caused a problem in qualifying.

"The weekend started really well, but we seem to have had difficulties in the afternoon, so perhaps they are track or temperature-related. We'll now just have to concentrate on the race and work out a good strategy for tomorrow."

Wilson's teammate Jos Verstappen will have to start from last position after his car stopped immediately after the first corner of his flying lap.

"That was a real shame not to have completed qualifying, because we made some good progress on aerodynamic work this morning and had a good balance in the chassis by the end of the practice session," said the Dutchman.

"The problem in qualifying first showed itself on my flying lap, as I was braking into Turn One and downshifting, and suddenly had a big, oversteering slide. I then started to shift up through the gears as I exited the corner, but when I got to fifth gear, there was just no drive."