The
Minardi F1 Team this
afternoon concluded a very positive
weekend at the Hockenheimring, with
Christijan Albers securing
an excellent 13th place in the
German Grand Prix and new team mate,
fellow Dutchman Robert Doornbos,
completing his first Formula One
race for the team in 18th.
The event was not without incident
for the Dutch duo, however, Albers’
car losing one of its bargeboards in
a first-lap skirmish and Doorbos
being forced to make an unscheduled
pit stop on lap four, after his car
was in collision with Jacques
Villeneuve’s Sauber. While
refuelling the car, the Team’s
mechanics detected a puncture, which
necessitated a tyre
change. Unfortunately, it also
resulted in the assessment of a
stop-and-go penalty.
Despite the incidents, however, both
drivers pressed on to the finish,
running strongly and
consistently. This was undoubtedly
the Faenza
squad’s most competitive race
weekend of the season so far, and
will see the Team heading into next
weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix with
hopes for another competitive
performance.
CHRISTIJAN ALBERS (Best lap: 1 min
18.425 secs; Position: 13th)
“I’m pleased
to have finished, although it turned
out to be a tough race, as the car
set-up was not quite what we had
aimed for. Looking at it positively,
however, it’s something we can
improve on for the next race, and
hopefully gain some more
performance. That said, even though
the car may not have been perfect
today, it was raceable, and as a
result, we were able to do a
reasonable job. Certainly, I’m
pleased with the outcome of the
race, but I think it could have been
even a little better.”
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The German Grand Prix was not
without incident for the Minardi drivers as
Cristijan Albers’ car losing one of its bargeboards
in a first-lap skirmish and Robert Doorbos being
forced to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap four,
after his car was in a
collision with Villeneuve’s
Sauber |
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The Minardi F1 Team this afternoon concluded a very
positive weekend at Hockenheim, with
Christijan Albers securing an excellent 13th place in the German Grand Prix |
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ROBERT DOORNBOS (Best lap: 1 min 19.025 secs; Position:
18th)
“I’m happy to have finished my first
Grand Prix, although it was definitely a very eventful
race. I had a problem at the start with the launch control,
and therefore did a manual start. I’m sure it looked
dramatic, with lots of wheelspin, but I lost position
against some of the other cars. Once I got going, the first
lap was chaos. It was very good for me, though, as I gained
a number of positions. Then, on the third lap, as we arrived
at the Arena, my car took a big hit from Villeneuve and I
spun. As a result, I had to make an unscheduled stop to have
the car checked, and that was quite a shame because I think
we had the pace to stay with the Jordans and to stay close
to my team mate. If we were going to have a bit of bad luck,
though, it’s maybe preferable to get it out of the way
today, at the first race, and then next week it will all go
a lot better. I’m feeling fit and now looking forward to
Hungary.”
PAUL STODDART, Team Principal,
Minardi Cosworth
“Today, the Minardi F1 Team achieved
one of its year-long goals, by putting in a solid
performance all weekend to finish ahead of its nearest
rivals. Both drivers, who had to deal with damaged cars as
the result of separate first-lap incidents, put in truly
gutsy performances this afternoon. That, combined with the
continuing hard work by the race team and all the staff back
at the factory, is paying off. Well done to everybody!”
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