EUROPEAN Minardi Cosworth driver Justin Wilson had another strong run in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, adding to his growing reputation as the most impressive Formula One 'rookie' of 2003.

The Englishman eventually finished 13th, but had climbed as high as ninth just before the second of his three pit stops. The Faenza squad's pleasure at Wilson's performance, however, was tempered by the disappointment of seeing his team mate, Jos Verstappen, retire from the race on the first lap.

Justin Wilson said: "I made a launch-control start, which worked well, and then pushed hard every lap. We were scheduled to make two stops for fuel and tyres, but when the opportunity presented itself to make a very early pit stop, we took it, as that gave us the possibility to reduce the number of laps between the other two stops. It got a bit slippery when it started to rain, but it wasn't a problem to stay out on dry tyres.

"It was definitely a good feeling to see the chequered flag for the second Grand Prix in a row."

Despite the bittersweet nature of the race for European Minardi, though, the team departed the picturesque A-1 Ring feeling that it had made definite technical progress with the PS03 chassis this weekend.

Paul Stoddart, team principal for European Minardi Cosworth said: "It was another solid run from Justin, but a problem at the start sadly saw Jos Verstappen out of the race before the first corner.

"It's not quite the performance we would have wanted in Austria, but full credit to Justin for a gutsy drive and a well-deserved finish."