To the delight of the horde of loyal fans all over the world, Jos Verstappen is returning to Grand Prix action this season after being forced to sit out 2002. At the wheel of the new Cosworth-powered Minardi, the Dutch star is unlikely to fight for the top positions, but with 'The Boss' the action is always guaranteed. Graham Holliday reviews Verstappen's chances ahead of his comeback

If Jos Verstappen ran his love life like he did his Formula One career, he'd be something akin to a jilted stud. Feted by many, flirted with by more and unceremoniously dumped by others. Jos has been paraded around the paddock like a prize cockerel for a decade by five different suitors thus far. His latest bed partner, Minardi, tempted Jos back under the Formula One sheets with the promise that Ford Cosworth will revitalise the flagging 30-year old Flying Dutchman's career with a Viagra-like boost when the lights go out in Melbourne.

Whether or not a Cosworth CR3 sitting under the hood will deliver enough grunt for 'The Boss' to wrestle the struggling Anglo-Italian team off the back row of the grid in 2003 remains to be seen. Team principal Paul Stoddart hopes that a combination of Verstappen's ten years of Formula One experience distilled through Benetton, Simtek, Tyrrell, Stewart, Honda and Arrows will inject the minnows with enough steroids to acquire a stature approaching some of the larger fish in Bernie's piranha pool.

Jos will be partnering the tall British youngster Justin Wilson in one of the more intriguing combinations of age and experience on the grid. Stoddart thinks the relationship will enable the team to flourish, "The two of them will provide just the right blend of youth and experience, and combined with an effective chassis and Cosworth Racing's powerful CR3 engine, we will definitely have a much stronger package than in 2002," he said.

The 'package' is still something of an unknown quantity. Pre-season testing has proved difficult with an ongoing dispute with tyre suppliers Bridgestone. Avon stepped in recently to at least give the car a spin as Minardi used their F3000 slick tyres for a ride around Valencia. However, as with last year when Mark Webber wound up in the points, whose to say if Jos and Justin can't battle through what is often a reliability nightmare of a race at Albert Park to take advantage of the new points scoring system.

Minardi have also opted for the FIA's new Friday pre-race practice format, along with Renault, Jordan and most recently Jaguar, meaning two hours more track time for setting up the car where it counts - at Grand Prix racing circuits on race weekend. These elements combined with 2002's reliable Cosworth power unit mean Stoddart has managed to put in place the foundations needed to give Minardi their best ever shot at respectability and point scoring opportunities.

"All I can say is that I like what I see at Minardi and I am going to do my best for the team in 2003. I'm really looking forward to it," said Jos at the announcement of his signing for Minardi. "I have been around Formula One long enough, however, to know better than to make extravagant claims about a team's competitiveness before a new season begins," he added.

Doing his best in Paul Stoddart's eyes could well mean acting as a mentor to Justin Wilson as well as developing the car around Ford power which is well known to the man from Montfort after his time with Simtek, Tyrrell and Stewart. Wilson is looking forward to learning from the Flying Dutchman, "Jos's experience will be good for me and the team - we're both keen to move Minardi forwards," Wilson said. "I think Minardi have made a wise choice. I don't know if that's the case with, say, Jaguar who have gone for two inexperienced drivers."

Racing wise, Jos has always been respected because he manages to do what so many drivers in Formula One fail to do - overtake. Jos has one other endearing quality which probably goes some way to explaining why his fan club is one of the biggest among Formula One fans worldwide. There's never a dull moment when Jos is around. Whether it be his debut race four car pile up, the horrific pit stop fire at the German Grand Prix in 1994, a kart track rumble that ended up with an out of court settlement and a fractured skull for the plaintiff in 2000, broken contracts, lawsuits, on track spats with Eddie Irvine and Juan Pablo Montoya and gravel hoovering duties at several points between Melbourne and Suzuka. With the absence of Irvine in 2003, 'The Boss' will bring a bit of character back onto the grid along with, undoubtedly, a great deal of action.

"Until we get to the first Grand Prix in Melbourne, it's impossible to know to what degree the other teams will have improved over the winter and how we'll compare with them. Even so, I'd like to think that Minardi could be the 'breakthrough team' of 2003," said Stoddart.

And if the minnows do make that breakthrough, a lot of their success will no doubt be down to the technical feedback Verstappen has become known for since his Stewart days where his lap times lagged behind Barrichello's, but the feedback was greatly sought after. An improving Minardi will do his reputation in the paddock no harm at all.

Verstappen's career has been blighted by the same managerial disease that Giancarlo Fisichella has suffered from in previous seasons. The Italian changed managers having recently dumped Gianpaolo Matteucci and replaced him with Enrico Zanarini. However Jos retains the services of Huub Rothengatter, his long serving manager, who has tossed his career around like a Caesar's salad for the past decade.

All the same, don't be drawn into thinking that the 'comeback kid' will be down and out come the end of 2003. There are few teams who have not courted him in the past and the soon to be 31-year old is still younger than several of his rivals. A solid performance this year bringing out the best in a Minardi could see the perennial team hopper bedding down with a new partner come 2004.