29/05/2005
NEWS STORY
The Minardi F1 Team recorded the first double finish for its new PS05 chassis at today's Grand Prix of Europe, drivers Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher finishing 17th and 18th respectively in the hard-fought race. Fortunately, they were able to avoid the first-lap incident involving former Minardi driver, Mark Webber, and with the exception of a drive-through penalty assessed against Albers, for not moving over quickly enough for a faster car, the Faenza squad had a relatively uneventful race. Both drivers adopted two-stop refueling strategies, and while having to make some small adjustments to their cars during the race, Albers and Friesacher ran consistently to the chequered flag.
Christijan Albers: I'm happy to have finished the race and pleased with the pace at which I was able to run. I didn't see any blue flags for David Coulthard, and I'm genuinely sorry if I held him up, but after I let him past, we received a drive-through penalty, which was a shame. Despite that, though, I'm pleased with the result, and pleased for the team that both cars took the chequered flag today.
Patrick Friesacher: I'm pleased that I was able to take my first race finish today in the Minardi Cosworth PS05, but a little disappointed that we weren't able to get a better result. We had problems with ovesteer in the car this afternoon, and I also had difficulty selecting second gear on occasion. We'll be hoping to do better in the next couple of races.
Paul stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth: Once again this weekend, I think we've demonstrated that we have made progress with the new car, and it is very satisfying that both Christijan and Patrick ran to the chequered flag today. It is unfortunate that Christijan incurred a blue-flag penalty for failing to move over quickly enough for David Coulthard, and we have apologised to Red Bull Racing over the incident. It is now onward and upward to Montreal and Indianapolis, for the Canadian and US Grands Prix. They are races in which Minardi has shown well in the past, and we will be aiming for a strong performance in both.