Rogue Profile of Minardi

“This is the toughest decision a team owner has ever to make and we are withdrawing our cars from the race. We were confident about what we had done with yesterday’s incidents, as in the front wing failures. The front wing incident with Alex is not related to that of Mark. Alex’s case was an accident. The incident today on Mark’s car has left the team feeling that we have no other option other than to withdraw from this afternoon’s race. Although we are confident we could have run the cars safely this afternoon, given the circumstances it would be irresponsible to do so until we had time to take these parts back to the factory and to totally, totally analyse every aspect of this failure and prepare fully for the Austrian race in two weeks,” Stoddart said. “Technically we can race our cars, but it would be totally irresponsible of me to put those cars in the race. Had it happened yesterday, we would have been able to do something about it, the only thing we don’t have at the moment is time. The part that failed was a brand new part, freshly manufactured. It has gone through all the stress tests and we had used that element last year in all 17 races and never had any failure. What happened was that the actual failure was along the stress line of that element, so we just have to investigate and analyse exactly what has happened. We have tested the piece, we have raced it: it has been stress tested and we have never had a failure before. I feel very sad for Mark and Alex, but I believe this is the right thing to do.”

“I made a mistake on my first two runs, and on the third, the time was not great, but then I felt I could have improved a lot on the fourth,” Alex explained. “Unfortunately, the gearbox broke at the beginning of the last run, and that ended any chance of setting a better time. Nevertheless, we are on the harder compound tyre for tomorrow, and I think we can have a good race.”

“We had a pretty good day, working through our normal technical program, and also went through a tyre assessment for Michelin,” Mark said. “The guys did a great job sorting a problem with the rear of the car early in the second session, although we did lose a bit of track time as a result. We’re looking forward to making further progress tomorrow.”

“It was an interesting race, from my point of view. I had a false start when I misread the starting gantry lights in the bright sunlight and was assessed a drive-through penalty,” Alex explained. “Then there was a problem with the refuelling rig when I made my scheduled pit stop, and finally, I was forced to retire the car with a few laps of the race to go when we suffered a broken hydraulic pump. I’m obviously disappointed not to have finished, but despite the problems, I’m pleased with my performance today. The lap times were good, the car felt consistent, and I think we could have had a strong finish if all had gone according to plan.”

“All in all, it has been a frustrating day. I didn’t get any timed laps in the first practice session this morning because of a small hydraulic problem. We recovered well in the second session, though, and collected some useful data. We then put everything on the car ready for qualifying,” Mark explained. “The first run of the afternoon worked well and we were happy in the knowledge that we had a good ‘banker’ in our back pocket. Unfortunately, on the ‘in’ lap from that run, a fuel pressure problem cropped up. I then did one run in the spare car, although it was to a different specification compared with the race car. That proved to be my last run, but we’ll be back tomorrow!”

After the team took the decision to draft in Anthony Davidson to replace Alex
Yoong for two races, Davidson had to race in a set of mechanic’s overalls. The
team claimed this was due to time restrictions but it was just as likely that
the lack of a bespoke suit for Davidson was a result of financial pressures on
the team. Davidson was undeterred, jokingly drawing comparisons to the baggy Jacques
Villeneuve, who is infamous for his outsized clothing.

“If I look a bit like Jacques Villeneuve this weekend don’t be surprised,”
Davidson joked.

Spectator’s looked as if they had been slapped with wet fish when they were presented
with the site of both Minardis pulling in at the end of their timed laps in Saturday’s
qualifying session without setting lap-times.

"We elected not to complete our run on purpose this afternoon,"
Jos explained. "It was a strategic call, and I think a very good one.
By not finishing, we start from the back of the grid, but it also means we can
continue to work on the cars tonight. We will therefore have the benefit of adjusting
the cars to whatever the conditions may be tomorrow."

It was revealed that senior team personnel took the decision, having studied
the sporting regulations and carefully considered possible strategies for the
race. The cars would have to start form the back of the gird but they would have
done anyway so but using this tactic they would not be held with the other eighteen
competitors in parc fermé. This would allow the team to work overnight
on the cars that, excluding for a shakedown each had never run before the previous
day.

The Melbourne weather is changeable and the decision would allow the team to
make car set-up adjustments that no other teams would have time for before the
race. The move was tactical thinking at it’s sharpest but it conflicted with the
spirit of the new rules. However, when a team is fighting to survive, it must
get some dirt under its nails.

After Minardi sparked controversy with their decision to not qualify both of their
cars on Saturday afternoon, (for tactical reasons) they were left smiling before
the start of the start of the race. Rain had fallen and Minardi used the time
to change their car set-ups to suit what they though would have been a wet race.

Paul Stoddart sold his airline to keep the Minardi afloat, so it could be said
that he had "friends in high places." A nearby helicopter had told him
of approaching cloud but it did not materialise and Stoddart was left red faced
in his hometown.

Seemingly, all of the extra set-up time was wasted on Verstappen as his racecar
developed an oil leak before he lined up on the pre-grid. "The Boss"
leaped into the spare car as fast as a "ferret up a drain pipe" but
worries about the spare car’s reliability cast a shadow over the Dutchman. The
car had been set up for Wilson and Verstappen had to start the race form the pit-lane
on dry tyres and set-up.

At it transpired, Stoddart’s information had been wrong and it looked like
he did well to get out of the aviation industry when he did but with the advantage
of having slicks fitted on what was turning into a rapidly drying track Jos flew.
Ironically was Jos Minardi driver who ran reliably.

Both Minardi drivers were running well in the early stages of the race with rookie,
Justin Wilson running as high as ninth. Unfortunately, the lanky Englishman’s
debut came to a premature conclusion when a stone punctured one of his car’s water
radiators. The team tried to replace the damaged cooling device inorder to send
him out to clock up some testing miles but their efforts were fruitless.

Wilson had launched himself as a PLC and his shares vale must have plummeted
given that he was not "allowed" to qualify for his first race and then
was eliminated through no fault of his own. At least his tall frame would have
afford him more space for personal sponsors on his overalls.

"I think the most important thing for the whole team is to get the
car to the finish, and that’s what we did today. I had to jump into the T-car
because of an oil leak in my racecar. That was a bit difficult, as the spare car
was set up for Justin, but it was still reasonably all right," explained
Jos. "The balance felt pretty good, especially on the first set of tyres,
but after the first pit stop, the balance was gone. After that, it was just a
tough race to the chequered flag for me."

The race at Sepang is famed as the hottest of the year and as a result driver
fatigue during the race. Of all the drivers Minardi’s Justin Wilson was the only
one not to have power steering. Obviously, his work was going to be cut out for
him so it was not surprising to see him pull in at the end of his forty-first
lap to retire from the race.

The reason for Wilson’s retirement was more sinister that first appeared. During
the race his HANS system had worked it’s way form under the Minardi’s seat belts.
The loose device and the lanky English man into an awkward position in the cockpit,
one that resulted in a crippling trapped nerve.

By the time he called it a day the Heroic English man was in agonising pain
and was taken to hospital after the race to have his injuries assessed.

Minardi received a warning form the FIA that if they repeated the non-qualification
shenanigans that they displayed two weeks earlier at Melbourne in the second qualifying
session would result in a penalty so Saturday’s free practice session were going
to be more important.

As the team were using their race engines they kept laps to a minimum but Wilson
was not going to be troubled by engine wear as his efforts took a slight knock
at the beginning of the second session. Coming into turn one the left rear wheel
of his Minardi escaped as a result of a fouled locking device. The then three-wheeled
car was recovered quickly by track workers and, with no damage done, the British
driver was able to return to the track for the last ten minutes of the session.

"We improved the car as the day progressed, and although the time this
afternoon isn’t quite what we had hoped for, I’m not too disappointed, all things
considered," Justin added. "It’s also nice personally to have
completed my first Formula One qualifying session. Now we’ll just have to wait
and see what happens in the race tomorrow."

Justin Wilson dived into the pits at the end of lap twenty-two to make his second
pit stop of the race. He had pitted at the end of the parade lap to switch to
a two-stop strategy and he was reaping the dividends.

Wilson pulled in to the pit-box and the mechanics began to scramble over the
car. Not all was well, the mechanics were unable to fuel the car and Wilson had
to make another tour of the track while them mechanics investigated the problem.

Wilson dived back into the pits at the end of his out-lap but a solution had
not been forthcoming and he was forced to retire form his team’s home race.

"We elected to take on fuel at the end of the formation lap and start
from the pit lane, slotting in behind Ralph Firman and Jos," Justin said.
"After four or five laps, the car started to slide around quite a bit,
so I decided to maintain the best pace I could and just hang on to the pit stop.
When I did come in for tyres and fuel, the stop seemed to last longer than normal.
I didn’t realise there was a problem until they called me back to the pits on
the next lap and told me that the fuel hadn’t been delivered. Up until that point,
the car had been running fine. It’s fair to say that it’s been a disappointing
day."

Verstappen’s race ended on lap forty when an electrical short circuit in his car
forced him to pull off the track after it’s engine cut out.

"It has been another disappointing race," said Verstappen.
"The first I knew there was a problem was when the cockpit started to
fill with smoke and then the engine just stopped. Until then, the car had felt
fine, and I had no problem staying ahead of Firman. The chassis balance, though,
was definitely better on the first set of tyres than the second."