Yoong says more to come from Minardi

Yoong's team mate Mark Webber finished fifth in his native Australia two weeks ago and the Anglo-Italian team are hoping for more of the same.

Yoong, enjoying a spell in the limelight at Sepang, said: "This is going to be a special race for me. There is a lot of expectation but I'm just going to treat it like any other Grand Prix. I have to take things a step at a time and not get too excited."

Minardi, which was taken over by Australian airline magnate Paul Stoddart at the beginning of last year, have had their best pre-season preparation for several years and the 25-year-old Yoong believes the new PS02 has real potential.

"I really think that the car has a lot of potential," he said. "We haven't had a chance to do any serious set-up work yet, but the car is already a step forward. It is producing much more downforce, but it's hard to use it because we don't have a power steering system. That's going to be on-line in time for Imola and as far as I'm concerned, we can't have it soon enough.

"Last year's chassis was basically good but this year's car is a lot lighter and we're running ballast, which we didn't have last year."

Meanwhile, team boss Stoddart gave himself a fright in the aftermath of the Melbourne glory. Driving the Minardi two-seater with partner Sue in the back, Stoddart lost control and thought he was going to roll, but in the end the car stayed upright.