Tuesday December 17th, 2002

Dutch driver Jos Verstappen could today be named as partner to Briton Justin Wilson at Minardi for 2003 if last-minute talks to conclude a deal at the Heathrow Hilton in London this morning are successful.

A source at Minardi has confirmed former Formula 3000 champion Wilson is the man who will be named as one of the team's drivers for next year but said boss Paul Stoddart could name both drivers at the same time.

"Wilson has got his deal together and we hope to be able to announce both drivers at the same time," said the source. "It just depends on some late discussions."

Verstappen, a former teammate to Michael Schumacher at Benetton, is thought to have travelled from Amsterdam to Heathrow this morning with his manager, Huub Rothengatter, to discuss the deal before an announcement at 11am.

The Dutch driver has considerable backing from sponsors but has been out of Formula One for a year after being dumped by the cash-strapped Arrows team in favour of German Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the start of the season.

Published at 09:35:50 GMT

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