San Marino GP: Minardi Sunday qualifying notes

After a weekend of ups and downs, Minardi F1 Team personnel again experienced something of a rollercoaster ride in the final qualifying session for the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix. Driving the Faenza squad's new PS05, drivers Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers were the first two drivers on track this morning.

Friesacher put in a solid run to record an aggregate time for the two qualifying sessions of 2 min 57.048 secs. Albers then looked set for a slightly quicker time, but unfortunately, failed to complete the lap when his car spun between turns 11 and 12.

Patrick Friesacher:

"It was really difficult as it was very slippery out there, especially on dry tyres. It was wet in some places and dry in others, and there was just no grip at all on the straights, so you had to be really careful and couldn't push that hard. Anyway, now I'm just focusing on doing a good job in the race, and hopefully, getting a good result for the new car in its first Grand Prix."

Christijan Albers:

"The first part of the lap was okay, until we got to the chicane. I braked going in, and just lost the car. I didn't change my braking point on the lap, so we will now have to check the data and try to understand what happened before the race this afternoon."

PATRICK FRIESACHER
Q1+Q2: 2 min 57.048 secs
Position: 19th

CHRISTIJAN ALBERS
No time in second session
Position: 20th

-minardi-