Minardi PS03


The Minardi PS03 is a Formula One car used by the Minardi team during the 2003 Formula One season.
The PS03 was the third Minardi car to be created under the influence of Paul Stoddart and he wanted it to be a regular point scorer. Justin Wilson and Jos Verstappen were the drivers, with Nicolas Kiesa as the test driver. The highlight of the season for the team was Verstappen's fastest time on Friday at Magny Cours, however this was only because it rained. Surprisingly, even though the team had many retirements; Wilson only finishing 2 of his first 8 races, the Cosworth engines were reliable, they never caused the driver to retire. What caused Wilson to retire these 6 times was; 3 holed radiators, physical issues and a recurring refuelling glitch. The end result was last in the Constructors' Championship with no points, behind much smaller teams such as Jordan, Toyota and Jaguar.
One of the main problems Minardi always had with the car was the lack of wind-tunnel testing, only managing 12 days in the Fondmetal windtunnel.

Pre-season issues

At first the team appeared to have no sponsors, engines or tyres. Michelin had pulled out of the team leaving Minardi to run some pre-season tests on Avon tyres. Asiatech engines were gone, as was the previous year's sponsorship from Kuala Lumpur due to Alex Yoong's departure to Champ Car. This left Minardi in some serious problems. Eventually Bridgestone agreed to make the tyres, and with the help of new driver Jos Verstappen they managed to get sponsorship from Trust. European Aviation, put up sponsorship as did various other small companies for small sums of money, including Gazprom, who reportedly did not pay. After snubbing a Ferrari engine deal, Minardi also managed to get Cosworth engines, old 72 degree V10's, un-tuned and similar to those being used in the Jordan of that season but these were slightly longer. There was initially no title sponsor until the Dutch company Trust joined the team for the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix and thus competing the Juventus-inspired white and black livery.

Complete Formula One results

YearEntrantEngineTyresDrivers12345678910111213141516PointsWCC
European Minardi CosworthCosworth V10AUSMALBRASMRESPAUTMONCANEURFRAGBRGERHUNITAUSAJPN010th
European Minardi CosworthCosworth V10Justin WilsonRetRetRetRet1113RetRet131416010th
European Minardi CosworthCosworth V10Nicolas Kiesa1213121116010th
European Minardi CosworthCosworth V10Jos Verstappen1113RetRet12RetRet9141615Ret12Ret1015010th