Wilson Glad to Complete Qualifying Run

Formula One rookie Justin Wilson expressed his delight at completing his first qualifying session after Minardi opted to complete the session at Sepang today.

The ex-Formula 3000 champion will start Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid ahead of Briton Ralph Firman, of Jordan-Ford, after coming through qualifying unscathed in Kuala Lumpur.

Wilson and teammate Jos Verstappen, who qualified 18th, had been denied the chance to take part in qualifying for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago in order for Minardi to work on the PS03 overnight and avoid the parc ferme.

"It feels good because I've never completed a qualifying session before - that was the first one in Formula One," Wilson beamed afterwards. "The team did a good job."

Team boss Paul Stoddart added: "I think everybody knows why we did what we did in Australia. We have qualified here - we had no advantage to gain by not doing so."

Wilson, who exited the Melbourne opener after just 16 laps, admits he faces a baptism of fire in the heat of Malaysia on Sunday.

"It takes a lot of time to recover from the heat here," he said. "In Melbourne I only did 16 laps so this race is going to be very tough."