A qualifying lap
of total commitment yesterday
afternoon saw Minardi F1 Team driver
Christijan Albers claim an excellent
15th position on the grid for
today’s Canadian Grand Prix. Despite
running strongly earlier in the day,
team mate, Patrick Friesacher, was
not able to muster quite the same
sort of pace for his qualifying lap,
but will still start the race from
19th place.
Prior to the afternoon qualifying
session, Friesacher and Albers spent
the final two official practice
sessions of the weekend continuing
to fine-tune the handling of their
cars. Although they initially
reported the track surface to be
dirty and lacking in grip, the
situation improved as the morning
progressed and they were able to
register promising lap times. Local
weather forecasts continue to
indicate there is a significant
likelihood of rain in the Montreal
area this afternoon, in which case,
Formula One fans may be in for an
unpredictable, and exciting,
Canadian Grand Prix.
CHRISTIJAN ALBERS
“It’s a good
result and I’m really happy. We were
struggling a little bit at the
beginning of the weekend, as we were
driving on worn tyres and saving the
engine, but then this afternoon we
got it together over one lap with
new tyres and maximum power.
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Local weather forecasts continue
to indicate there is a significant likelihood of
rain in the Montreal area tomorrow afternoon, in
which case, Formula One fans may be in for an
unpredictable, and very exciting, 2005 Canadian F1
Grand Prix |
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A qualifying lap of total commitment yesterday saw
Minardi F1 Team driver Christijan Albers claim an
excellent 15th position on the grid for this
afternoon’s Canadian Grand Prix |
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"It felt good and the team did a great job. It’s definitely
our best qualifying effort since the beginning of the
season.”
PATRICK FRIESACHER
“I’m disappointed
by our qualifying performance, as we were nearly two seconds
slower than in free practice this morning. As soon as we
went out for the qualifying run, the car felt strange, even
on the straights, and there was quite a lot of oversteer in
the chassis. We’ll have to look at the data now, and aim to
improve things for tomorrow.”
PAUL STODDART, Team Principal
“That was a ‘mega’ lap by Christijan.
It’s always pleasing to see such an effort when it really
counts, and P15 in qualifying is slightly better than we had
expected. Sadly, Patrick struggled this afternoon to find
the pace that he’s had over the last two days of practice,
but I’m sure he will do better in the race. All in all, it
was a good team effort, and we look forward to tomorrow’s
Canadian Grand Prix.”
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