There were one
or two anxious moments for
Minardi F1 Team
personnel in the opening free practice sessions
for this Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, but by the end of
the day, they were able to pronounce themselves
satisfied with the progress made in preparing the
Minardi Cosworth PS05 for the demands of Formula One’s
most famous circuit.
They were also able to derive satisfaction from the fact
that the team had closed the gap still further to its
nearest rivals. During the morning, a software issue
caused the car
of Patrick Friesacher
to stop twice during the first session. Fortunately,
however, the car could be returned to the Minardi garage
on both occasions, and the team’s technicians were able
to resolve the problem.
Team mate, Christijan
Albers, worked on chassis balance throughout
the day, and although, like Friesacher, was able to
generate a consistent improvement in his lap times, was
not completely satisfied with the handling of his
car. His second session came to a premature end when the
Minardi made contact with the barriers at Turn
3. Fortunately, the damage was not heavy, and the team
looks forward to another productive day when the Formula
One cars take to the streets of Monte Carlo again on
Saturday.
PATRICK FRIESACHER
“For me, it has
been a good day. We had two solid sessions, worked on
different set-ups, and improved the car. It is also good
that we are ahead of two Jordans, and I want to thank
all the guys for their hard work, which has helped us to
get to this point. If everything goes well on Saturday,
I think we can be even quicker.”
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Minardi
were able to derive satisfaction
from the fact that the team had closed the gap still
further to its nearest rivals |
|
|
 |
|
There were one or two anxious moments for
Minardi F1 Team personnel in the
opening free practice sessions for this Sunday’s
Monaco Grand Prix, but by the end of the day, they
were able to pronounce themselves satisfied with the
progress made in preparing the Minardi Cosworth PS05
for the demands of Formula One's
most famous race circuit |
|
|
CHRISTIJAN ALBERS
“We had a few
problems today, and therefore didn’t have the best of starts
to the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. I just couldn’t seem to
get the car balanced the way I would like to get the most of
the available performance. As a result, I’m not so happy at
the moment, but we’ll see how it goes on Saturday, when I
hope to make a significant improvement.”
PAUL STODDART
“Today saw
Patrick demonstrate the improvement and potential in this
year’s Minardi Cosworth PS05, finishing ahead of both the
Jordan race drivers, and within a few hundredths of a second
of the Jordan test driver, who, of course, had two extra
sets of tyres available. It is also worth noting that
Patrick’s fastest lap was less than two seconds off the time
set by Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari. Christijan, on the
other hand, struggled to find a balance in his car today,
but I’m sure will produce an improved performance on
Saturday. Overall, Minardi has closed the gap to Jordan, its
main rival this season, and we look forward to an exciting
weekend here in Monaco.”
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