A qualifying lap of total commitment this afternoon saw Minardi F1 Team driver Christijan Albers claim an excellent 15th position on the grid for tomorrow's Canadian Grand Prix. Despite running strongly earlier in the day, team mate, Patrick Friesacher, was not able to muster quite the same sort of pace for his qualifying lap, but will still start the race from 19th place. Prior to the afternoon qualifying session, Friesacher and Albers spent the final two official practice sessions of the weekend continuing to fine-tune the handling of their cars. Although they initially reported the track surface to be dirty and lacking in grip, the situation improved as the morning progressed and they were able to register promising lap times. Local weather forecasts continue to indicate there is a significant likelihood of rain in the Montreal area tomorrow afternoon, in which case, Formula One fans may be in for an unpredictable, and exciting, Canadian Grand Prix.

Christijan Albers: It's a good result and I'm really happy. We were struggling a little bit at the beginning of the weekend, as we were driving on worn tyres and saving the engine, but then this afternoon we got it together over one lap with new tyres and maximum power. It felt good and the team did a great job. It's definitely our best qualifying effort since the beginning of the season.

Patrick Friesacher: I'm disappointed by our qualifying performance, as we were nearly two seconds slower than in free practice this morning. As soon as we went out for the qualifying run, the car felt strange, even on the straights, and there was quite a lot of oversteer in the chassis. We'll have to look at the data now, and aim to improve things for tomorrow.

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth: That was a ‘mega' lap by Christijan. It's always pleasing to see such an effort when it really counts, and P15 in qualifying is slightly better than we had expected. Sadly, Patrick struggled this afternoon to find the pace that he's had over the last two days of practice, but I'm sure he will do better in the race. All in all, it was a good team effort, and we look forward to tomorrow's Canadian Grand Prix.