British GP: Minardi Friday practice notes

Preparations for the 11th round of the Formula One World Championship, which marks the Minardi F1 Team's 332nd Grand Prix, got under way today at the high-speed Silverstone track. There were slightly differing fortunes, though, for Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher during the opening two free practice sessions.

The young Dutch driver carried out his planned technical programme in a series of trouble-free runs, fine-tuning the balance of the Minardi PS05 chassis to cope with the demands of the Northamptonshire circuit. He also successfully tested a new exhaust system for the Cosworth TJ2005 engine.

Unfortunately, Friesacher lost some time in the morning session when a transmission problem saw his car stop at the trackside during his second run. Once the problem was rectified, however, he made up for lost time, and by the conclusion of the second session, had also completed his scheduled Friday programme.

Christijan Albers:

"I think we had a reasonable day today, even if the car is not yet perfect in terms of balance. We will be able to improve, though, as there is still a lot of potential to be exploited in the chassis. Our gearing was a little bit short this afternoon, possibly because the wind seems to have changed direction from this morning, but I'm confident we will address these issues and make further progress tomorrow."

Patrick Friesacher:

"We lost some time this morning because of a transmission problem, which was then sorted out for the second session. The handling was not too bad, even if I was not able to 'feel' the car quite as I would have liked, but we'll continue to work on finding a good balance tomorrow."

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth

"Today saw both Minardi drivers put in solid performances in preparation for Sunday's British Grand Prix. Despite a few minor technical issues, particularly with Patrick's car, it's encouraging once again to see Minardi register a competitive performance against its nearest rivals."

CHRISTIJAN ALBERS
Chassis: PS05/02
Best lap: 1 min 23.390 secs
Position: 21st

PATRICK FRIESACHER
Chassis: PS05/01
Best lap: 1 min 24.594 secs
Position: 24th

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