Wilson's Tall Story Ends with Minardi Drive

Britain's Justin Wilson, labelled too tall to succeed in Formula One, proved his critics wrong when he was named as the new Minardi driver today.

Wilson, 24, had been set to replace under-performing Malaysian Alex Yoong for two races last season but was unable to fit his 1.90-metre (six foot three inch) frame into the car.

"There have always been people who have said that it is not going to happen (because of his height). We've proved that bit wrong and now I want to prove that I deserve to be here as much as everyone else," Wilson told reporters.

"Now I just need to prove that I'm good enough to stay here. It's a case of not making mistakes, not doing anything wrong."

The Formula One team's boss Paul Stoddart said he was delighted to finally sign up Wilson after the problems in August.

"There is a real feel good factor since everybody had written him off because of his height, as he's now getting a break," he said. "I felt so, so bad to take a guy over to Faenza, to fit him in the car, get him all ready and build up his hopes to be a Formula One driver and then to have it all trashed because he doesn't fit.

"From that moment we were intent on getting him ready for 2003."

Wilson was the first British champion in the Formula 3000 series in 2001. On his way to the title, he won three races and finished on the podium a record 10 times in 12 races.

"Reliability is going to be a key issue in 2003... and Justin has proved in the past that he can bring a car home. He has also proved that he has a brain in his head and knows when to challenge and when not to challenge."

Earlier this month, the team signed a deal to use the Ford Cosworth engine and Stoddart now believes he has a very competitive team to start the Formula One season in Australia on March 9.

"There is no question that this package is the strongest in the 19 years of Minardi's history, this is the strongest technical package the team will ever have had and there are no excuses," he said. "We have got to perform next year."

Minardi have yet to name Wilson's teammate for next season.