Still hope for Wilson at Jordan

Eddie Jordan says FIA Formula 3000 champion Justin Wilson could still play a role at the team despite his decision to sign Japanese racer Takuma Sato for 2002 instead

Wilson and Sato were fighting for the same place alongside Giancarlo Fisichella at the Honda-powered team next year, but Jordan announced on Wednesday that this year's British F3 champion would get the seat.

However, Jordan said Wilson may have missed out on a Formula 1 drive because there wasn't enough time to evaluate him. And even though that place has gone, the Irishman hasn't ruled Wilson out of his team's plans, with all the leading F1 outfits running two test teams at the start of next season.

"He was very impressive all in all," said Jordan. "What's encouraging is that there is a group of absolutely new young drivers outside Formula 1 very capable of being top Grand Prix drivers. There is no doubt about that."

Asked if Wilson had a future at the team, Jordan added: "He may have. We had to get this deal [Sato] out of the way first. We had to make a final decision about the driver line-up and it wasn't fair to Jean to continue like that.

"It was a difficult decision for me," he added. "But having anticipated and studied everything maybe Justin didn't have the same lead-in time as Taku. We have been involved in guiding Taku's career as far back as two years ago."