Verstappen brings out red flags in qualifying.

Hard charging Dutchman Jos Verstappen has been the centre of attention for various reasons in his long F1 career; now he has the accolade of being the first driver to bring out the red flags in the 2003-spec qualifying shootout.

Verstappen, who has hit the headlines in the past for a fireball of a Benetton, a sensational Malaysian Grand Prix in the wet and writing off Juan Pablo Montoya's maiden victory hopes in the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix, took the dubious accolade after overcooking his qualifying lap effort in Imola today.

Verstappen was second to take to the track in for qualifying part two for the San Marino Grand Prix. Only Verstappen's rookie team-mate Justin Wilson had been out on track and the Englishman reckoned that conditions were slippery. Slippery is usually something that the Dutchman tackles with aplomb, unfortunately this time he deal with it with a crash.

The Dutchman had looked to be wringing the best out of the car, and to be comfortably ahead of Wilson's times on the splits, until too much kerb and a dose of oversteer struck.

"Obviously, I'm not very happy with today's qualifying performance," Jos said afterwards. "The situation wasn't helped by the fact we had to do an engine change after the end of practice, and in this afternoon's pre-qualifying warm-up the new engine felt different.

"I wasn't absolutely sure how it would be in qualifying, but as it turned out, it was fine and the car was performing well up until the point when I had the accident," Jos continued. "I just hit the kerb too hard, picked up oversteer, slid off the track and hit the wall. I'm fine, but the car was a bit damaged and I apologise to the guys for the extra work that will be required to make the repairs."

Team-mate Justin Wilson meanwhile lines up in eighteenth place for tomorrow's race. "That was not an easy run - the track was very slippery with the spots of rain that fell just before qualifying started," he explained. "A couple of times I had big slides, but managed to keep the car on the track. The lap could have been better in a couple of places, but that is always the case. Generally, I was quite happy with the way it went, and we'll now see what the race brings us tomorrow."

Jos Verstappen however has been a driver in the past who can pull something special out when the conditions are variable. By having to repair his car, Verstappen's mechanics have the option of changing settings to suit the conditions. This could prove to be rather advantageous for the flying Dutchman.

"Tomorrow could be another unpredictable race depending on the weather," he said, "so once again it is going to be important for us to finish in order to capitalise on the misfortunes of others."