14.08.2004 "I’m very happy with the performance today in front of my home crowd and I hope tomorrow we will have a reliable car so that I can finish the race": Minardi F1 qualifying report from Hungary

The grid positions achieved by Minardi Cosworth drivers Zsolt Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix – P18 and P19 respectively – did not do justice to the fully committed performances turned in by both men on the challenging Hungaroring circuit this afternoon.

They marked the culmination of what turned out to be a very positive day for the Faenza team, Baumgartner and Bruni continuing to make good progress with chassis set-up during the final two official practice sessions on Saturday morning.

In fact, both Minardi drivers recorded notably competitive laps in the course of the morning, Bruni’s impressive effort allowing him to “split” the times set by the Jordan entries in the first session.

The team will be aiming for a strong showing in tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix, and with the weather looking decidedly threatening at times today, there remains the possibility of an unexpected outcome to the race.

ZSOLT BAUMGARTNER  Best lap: 1 min 24.329 secs  Position: 18th

“I’m very happy with the performance today in front of my home crowd and I hope tomorrow we will have a reliable car so that I can finish the race. That is the main goal for me this weekend, as I wasn’t able to finish here last year.

"Once again, the team did a great job today because we worked a lot on the car balance and made good progress. I was really happy about that, and I hope we can now have a successful race.”

GIANMARIA BRUNI  Best lap: 1 min 24.679 secs  Position: 19th

“I’m happy. Everything went well considering the sort of race strategy we have settled on for tomorrow. I was expecting a slower lap time in qualifying than I actually achieved, so now I’m hoping for a good race.” 

PAUL STODDART, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth

“Despite lining up P18 and P19 for tomorrow’s race, the Minardi team can be pleased with its efforts today, as we have been, on average, 3.5 seconds a lap quicker than we were here last year.

"As always, we will be aiming for reliability in tomorrow’s race where, weather conditions permitting, there may be a chance to score a point.

"The Hungarian fans have really adopted Minardi as their own this weekend, and it was truly touching to hear the loudest cheers today when Zsolt crossed the line in qualifying. A point tomorrow would be truly memorable.”

Chassis allocation: Bruni (No 20)  PS04B/02, Baumgartner (No 21)  PS04B/01, Spare car  (Baumgartner)  PS04B/03