During preparation for the Belgian Grand Prix, the team announced that Malaysian driver Alex Yoong would replace Marques from at the Italian Grand Prix onwards. Marques remained at the team as their test and reserve driver, and assisted in developing Minardi's 2002 car, the PS02. The qualifying session in Belgium was held in wet weather conditions and where which the track steadily dried and saw Alonso and Marques fail to record a lap time within 107% of the pole sitters time; both drivers were allowed to start the race and were sandwiched by Bernoldi. Before the event Alonso used the spare Minardi monocoque after a heavy accident in the event's warm-up session and Marques stalled his engine at the first start; since he started last, the penalty was nullified. Alonso retired from the race after two and a half laps because of gear selection problems whilst Marques finished in fourteenth place despite encountering suspension issues and a punctured tyre. In his first Formula One qualifying session, Yoong qualified in twenty-second position behind Alonso. Yoong drove strongly in the race and ran as high as fifteenth behind Alonso before spinning off eight laps before the finish; Alonso also drove strongly to claim thirteenth position. At the United States Grand Prix Alonso clinched his best qualifying result of the season with seventeenth place and Yoong qualified at the rear of the field in twenty-second. Both drivers retired from the race; Alonso after 36 laps with a broken driveshaft during a pit stop and Yoong pulled over to the side of the circuit two laps later with an gear selection issue. At the final race of the season in Japan Alonso started from eighteenth on the grid with Yoong again taking the twenty-second position. Yoong started from the pit lane after his mechanics worked to rectify an electrical problem on his race car and finished his first Formula One race in sixteenth place and Alonso ran strongly to finish in eleventh.