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Formula 1 News - May 2005
Minardi

08 May: Spanish Grand Prix - Race Report - Minardi

Double Disappointment

Despite promising signs of progress on Friday and Saturday, the Minardi F1 Team had what could only be described as a disastrous 2005 Spanish Grand Prix. Starting from 14th and 15th places respectively, drivers Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher were unable to get away from the starting grid as the result of an electronic control problem. After some frantic work by the team, the engines were restarted and both cars joined the race, albeit two laps down on the rest of the field. The drivers then pressed on, determined to retrieve whatever they could from the event. Unfortunately, Friesacher retired on lap 13, when his car ran onto a dirty section of track and spun into a gravel trap, while Albers pressed on for a further eight laps before a suspected gearbox problem ended his race prematurely.

Christijan Albers
Best lap: 1 min 20.124 secs Position: DNF

“It’s really a shame we had some problems in the race today because we had a good qualifying here in Barcelona, and I think we could have been competitive against the Jordans. Now we will have to wait until Monaco to see what we can do. It’s also a shame for the whole Minardi team, which has been working really hard. It would have been good to finish the race in order to get more data on the new car, but even so, we can take some satisfaction from our performance in this weekend’s qualifying sessions. Now it’s maximum attack for the next race.”

Patrick Friesacher
Best lap: 1 min 20.865 secs Position: DNF

“I don’t know exactly what happened at the start – I just let out the clutch and suddenly the engine shut down. After that, we couldn’t get the car into neutral so we lost some time while the problem was sorted out, but we were able to join the race and start putting in some reasonable laps. Then at corner three, I turned in normally, but picked up some understeer. As a result, the car got onto a dirty part of the track, and that was it – I ended up in the gravel. It’s disappointing, and especially for the guys, who have again been working so hard this weekend.”

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth

“Motor racing is often about highs and lows, and today was definitely a low. All in all, it has not been a good weekend for the Minardi team in Spain, so let’s hope Monaco, in two weeks, will be better.”

2005 Spanish Grand Prix - Main Page
2005 Spanish Grand Prix - Team and Driver Race Reports Page

Sunday Qualifying

Moving On Up

Minardi F1 Team drivers Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher recorded the 17th and 18th fastest laps respectively in today’s final qualifying session for the Spanish Grand Prix, and on aggregate times, would therefore normally start from those positions on the grid. With Tiago Monteiro, Nick Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello all having to drop positions as the penalty for unscheduled engine changes to their cars, however, the Minardi drivers will each move up three spots on the starting grid.

Christijan Albers
Q1+Q2: 2 min 41.141 secs Position: 17th

“This morning’s run wasn’t too bad from my perspective, and I’m quite happy with how things have gone, but the most important thing now is the race this afternoon. We are definitely going in the right direction with the car, although there remains development to do on it. The Bridgestone tyres are working well here, and every time we run the car we are finding out more about it and making steady progress. I’m feeling positive.”

Patrick Friesacher
Q1+Q2: 2 min 42.759 secs Position: 18th

“The car was not handling so well on that run, and therefore I couldn’t really push to the maximum. I’m finding the front end just a bit too aggressive on turn-in, so we have to work on that. There is no doubt the PS05 has a lot of potential; we just need to spend some more time testing and in the wind tunnel to unlock that potential.”

2005 Spanish Grand Prix - Main Page

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