Nervous Wilson Ready to Push Hard on Saturday

Nervous Justin Wilson, the 'tall man' in this year's Formula One World Championship, may have wound up slowest and last at the end of the season's opening qualifying session on Friday, but he knew he had passed his first test.

And he was justifiably relieved.

"I'm on a steep learning curve," he said. "It has all come to me a bit quickly. I am working hard just to get used to things."

The 192-cm tall Wilson, 24, whose career seemed to have been ruined before it was started because of his height - until Paul Stoddart came along - clocked a best lap of 1:30.479, a time that left him 4.107 seconds off the pace set by Rubens Barrichello in his Ferrari.

"I wish I was more competitive," he said, reflecting on his maiden competitive run in a Formula One car at his first Grand Prix. "But you can't have everything, can you? I had a little electrical problem on the car just before I went out and there were still one or two traces of it on my flying lap.

"I was honestly quite nervous when I was sitting in the car beforehand. But that is something you just try to put out of your mind. You have to control it. You have to focus on the job in hand and get on with it. I thought to myself 'I've got nothing to lose and I'll really try to push as hard as I can.'

"When I went testing this morning, I learned a lot too and that was a big help. You've got to remember that I'd only had 50 laps in the car before then so I needed that track time. But, I'm still having to guess at things as I go along. Stuff like braking distances and so on. It's not easy.

"In the end, how you do depends on how well you guess at things…So, I know that there is definitely more to come from me, but I guess that is what everyone is saying."

Like a seasoned professional, Wilson was ready to hold court and consider tactics. But, unlike his colleagues at the other end of the pitlane, he was more open than usual.

"I'm inclined to go with a sensible option in terms of fuel for final qualifying," he said. "Not too much, not too little. I don't want to take too many risks. It's something I am going to chat to the engineers about. Right now, I am in last position so I've got nothing to lose.

"I'm going to be going out on Saturday and I'm going to give it everything I've got. And then, if I go off, well, I'll go off."

He added that despite all the pressure and stress, he had enjoyed the experience. "But I'd be enjoying it a lot better if I was a lot more competitive," he said.

Wilson, tall, easy-going and willing to help anyone with a request, will act as the big teams' track cleaner on Saturday when he goes out first in the afternoon session to decide the grid for Sunday's race. It guarantees him three minutes in the spotlight and he aims to make the most of it.