This afternoon’s first qualifying
session for the Spanish Grand Prix resulted in the 17th
and 18th fastest times respectively
for Minardi F1
Team drivers,
Christijan Albers and
Patrick Friesacher.
Indicating that the team is making progress with the
development of the new Minardi Cosworth PS05, Albers’
time was only half-a-second off the pace of his nearest
rival and less than four seconds behind that of leading
Bridgestone team, Ferrari. Unfortunately, Friesacher
struggled with
a chassis imbalance during his qualifying run and was
therefore not able to replicate his Saturday morning
performance.
The team used the third and fourth free practice
sessions to continue to fine-tune the handling of the
PS05 around the 4.627-km Circuit de Catalunya and to
prepare for the afternoon’s first qualifying
session. Despite Albers losing his last run of the
opening session after his car spun into a gravel trap,
the drivers continued to make progress. This was
reflected in their on-track performances, both men
recording useful improvements when compared with their
Friday times.
CHRISTIJAN ALBERS
“It was a
reasonable qualifying lap, even though we had some
understeer. It is also a satisfying result, as we had
some bad luck yesterday and this morning. Everyone is
working really hard, and we are definitely going in the
right direction – I think we will have a good car for
the race.”
PATRICK FRIESACHER
“I’m not so
happy with qualifying, as I was more than a second
quicker in free practice this morning.
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Indicating that the team is making progress with the
development of the new Minardi Cosworth PS05, Albers’
time was only half-a-second off the pace of his
nearest rival |
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This afternoon’s first qualifying session
at Barcelona resulted in the 17th and 18th
fastest times respectively
for Minardi F1
drivers,
Christijan Albers and
Patrick Friesacher |
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"I had more understeer for this afternoon’s run and there just
wasn’t enough grip, so I couldn’t really push the car
hard in the way I would have liked. We’ll have to see if
we can improve tomorrow.”
PAUL STODDART, Team
Principal
“Christijan and Patrick may have qualified P17 and P18
in this afternoon’s session, but the team takes
encouragement from a number of factors. As usual, both
drivers have been pushing hard, and Christijan’s
performance this afternoon saw him just four-tenths of a
second off the time set by Monteiro’s Jordan.
"We also
continue to be highly impressed by the new car’s
straight-line speed in practice and qualifying, which is
thanks to the excellent performance of the Cosworth
TJ2005 engine. In fairness, this also indicates we are
in the early stages of the PS05’s aero development.
"There is no doubt, however, that the team’s engineers
and technicians are getting to grips with the new car.
In addition, we have been able to try some new
components this weekend, with promising initial results,
and that process will continue during upcoming
races. All told, we are satisfied with the progress made
so far, and will aim to keep the momentum going tomorrow
for final qualifying and the race."
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