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Formula 1 News - April 2005
Minardi

24 April: San Marino Grand Prix - Race Report - Minardi

No Miracles Today

Minardi F1 Team drivers Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher may have retired from today�s San Marino Grand Prix, but the Faenza squad was able to take heart from the fact it had debuted its new Minardi Cosworth PS05 and taken away a great deal of useful data from the weekend. Both cars were forced into retirement as the result of gearbox-related problems, Friesacher coasting down the pit lane on lap nine with what turned out to be a broken clutch shaft, and Albers running well until lap 20, when a serious fluid leak was discovered during the first scheduled pit stop and the team had no choice but to retire the car in order to avoid damage to the new gearbox The outcome of today�s race was scant reward for the monumental effort put in by team personnel over recent weeks to ensure a pair of Minardi Cosworth PS05s were able to compete in this weekend�s race, but all concerned could take heart from the progress that has been made in a very short time and the potential that clearly exists for the future.

Christijan Albers
Best lap: 1 min 27.420 secs Position: DNF

�The first thing is that we did some race laps today and learned a lot about the new car. During the first stint, I had strong oversteer, which we were going to deal with at the pit stop, but unfortunately, there was quite a bad leak from the gearbox and I was not able to continue. I wish we could have delivered a better result to the guys for all the work they have put in, but it was not possible this weekend. We�ll see what we can do in Barcelona.�

Patrick Friesacher
Best lap: 1 min 28.334 secs Position: DNF

�The start was not too bad, and I was quite happy with the opening laps, as I was ahead of Christijan and able to stay with Monteiro, but then suddenly, as I was accelerating out of the last corner, it seemed like something broke. Generally, the car felt good today, but we need to find some more downforce. We�ll be working on this area when we test at Mugello on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.�

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth

�Despite a valiant effort by the drivers and the whole team, it wasn�t really a surprise that reliability stopped both Minardis in today�s race, as one has to consider that this is the first serious outing for the PS05. Both failures were gearbox-related, and hopefully, this week�s Mugello test will give the team the opportunity to perfect certain aspects of the car. On a positive note, though, we believe the overall potential of the new package, especially of the Cosworth TJ2005 engine, bodes very well for the future.�

2005 San Marino Grand Prix - Main Page
2005 San Marino Grand Prix - Team and Driver Race Reports Page

Sunday Qualifying

Slip Sliding Away

After a weekend of ups and downs, Minardi F1 Team personnel again experienced something of a rollercoaster ride in the final qualifying session for the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix. Driving the Faenza squad�s new PS05, drivers Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers were the first two drivers on track this morning. Friesacher put in a solid run to record an aggregate time for the two qualifying sessions of 2 min 57.048 secs. Albers then looked set for a slightly quicker time, but unfortunately, failed to complete the lap when his car spun between turns 11 and 12.

Patrick Friesacher
Q1+Q2: 2 min 57.048 secs Position: 19th

�It was really difficult as it was very slippery out there, especially on dry tyres. It was wet in some places and dry in others, and there was just no grip at all on the straights, so you had to be really careful and couldn�t push that hard. Anyway, now I�m just focusing on doing a good job in the race, and hopefully, getting a good result for the new car in its first Grand Prix.�

Christijan Albers
No time in second session Position: 20th

�The first part of the lap was okay, until we got to the chicane. I braked going in, and just lost the car. I didn�t change my braking point on the lap, so we will now have to check the data and try to understand what happened before the race this afternoon.�

2005 San Marino Grand Prix - Main Page

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