German GP: Minardi Friday practice notes

The first two free practice sessions in preparation for Sunday's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim saw the Minardi F1 Team drivers focused on developing the chassis set-up of their cars.

Christijan Albers and new team mate, Robert Doornbos, registered solid lap times from the beginning of the first session. Both drivers are familiar with the latest layout of the Hockenheimring, which requires good levels of mechanical grip on the Motodrome section combined with high-speed stability on the following straights.

Doornbos, who is driving the Minardi Cosworth PS05 for the first time this weekend, had the additional task of familiarising himself with the new car. Both chassis were fitted with a new rear wing configuration, which produced good results in the course of Friday's two sessions.

Christijan Albers:

"The morning session was fine, and we made good progress. This afternoon was not so good, since we lost track time as the result of an incident with Fisichella's Renault. We both went off the track and his car hit the right front of mine."

"There's no doubt the mechanics did a great job to repair the car so I could go out again to complete my tyre comparison runs. Unfortunately, though, the chassis balance wasn't quite as good as it had been previously. I had hoped for a little more today, but it's still a good solid start to the weekend."

Robert Doornbos:

"It's been a good first day at the office of Minardi. I've been made to feel very welcome, from the time I arrived at the factory for the seat fitting, and I want to thank all the guys for their support."

"This morning, we tried various things with the set-up. I already had an idea about the direction in which I wanted to go, and between my Race Engineer, Riccardo Adami, and me, we found a good way of working. We made some big changes for the second session, and they worked out very well. Already, I feel very confident in the car, and I ended the session with a long stint. I'm looking forward to the weekend, and it can only get better."

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth:

"The first day of preparation for the German Grand Prix went extremely well. Both the drivers did an excellent job, the only slight hitch being a minor loss of time for Christijan in the second session, when he tangled with Fisichella."

"He was able to go back out, however, and completed his new tyre run with just minutes remaining in the second session. All in all, it was a pretty good first day, and we look forward to further improvement in the course of the weekend."

CHRISTIJAN ALBERS
Chassis: PS05/01
Best lap: 1 min 17.830 secs
Position: 20th

ROBERT DOORNBOS
Chassis: PS05/02
Best lap: 1 min 17.978 secs
Position: 21st

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