Monaco GP: Minardi Sunday qualifying notes

The momentum continued for the Minardi F1 Team in the final official qualifying session for this afternoon's Monaco Grand Prix. Drivers Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers again put in excellent performances to consolidate their provisional grid positions, and will start today's event from 13th and 14th positions.

Aside from the performance of Friesacher and Albers, team personnel are also very pleased to see that former Minardi drivers will occupy four of the top five starting positions on the grid for Formula One's most famous race.

Patrick Friesacher:

"That was quite a difficult lap for me and I was definitely on the limit in a few places. I think maybe the tyres were not quite warm enough when I was really pushing, and as a result, there wasn't as much grip as there should have been. I'm happy, though, that we have kept our grid positions -- it's a good result for us".

Christijan Albers:

"It feels good and I have a lot of confidence for today's race. We have found what we think is a good set-up for the race. It would be great if we could maybe surprise a few people this afternoon. The team's performance this weekend has been very good and everybody is really motivated, but we also have to keep our feet on the ground, not just for this race, but for the 13 that are still to come".

PATRICK FRIESACHER
Chassis: PS05/02
Q1+Q2: 2 min 40.810 secs
Position: 13th

CHRISTIJAN ALBERS
Chassis: PS05/01
Q1+Q2: 2 min 42.206 secs
Position: 14th

-minardi-