Minardi Cosworth
| Season: | 2005 | | | | Address: | Minardi Team SpA,
via Spallanzani, 21 z.i
48018 Faenza,
Italy
Tel: +39 0546 696111
Fax: +39 0546 620998 | | | | Country: | Italy | | | | Sponsors: | Ozjet, LB Icon, MAN, JVC, Muermans, UPEX, ID&T, Karten, Garcia, Allegrini, Michelin, Magneti Marelli, Admiral, 3D Systems, C.R.P. Technology, LG Electronics, BREVI Group, BETA, Sabelt, Netscalibur, Corpo Nove, Carrera, Rustichella d`Abruzzo, Ursini, Falcone, Farnese Vini, Acqua Fabia, Rekico, Cremonini Group, Sola Mer, LeasePlan. | | | | Teamboss: | Paul Stoddart | | | | Technical director: | Gabriele Tredozi | | | | Sporting director: | Massimo Rivola | | | | Team principal: | Gian Carlo Minardi | | | | Engine development: | Mark Parrish | | | | Chief aerodynamicist: | Andrea Rochetto | | | | Chief mechanic: | Paolo Pincastelli | | | | Engineer: | Greg Wheeler & Alex Varnava | | | | Test driver: | Chanoch Nissany | | | | Constructor: | Minardi | | |
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Minardi Cosworth
Minardi’s season went exactly as they expected it to. Well, not exactly. The seven points proved a welcome surprise.
Surprisingly, neither Minardi started on the back row of the grid for the opening round in Melbourne. They even beat Michael Schumacher, although this was largely down to Schumacher failing to set a lap due to bad weather. The race went more predictably. Albers became the first retirement of the season with transmission failure while Patrick Friesacher took seventeenth and last.
Malaysia and Bahrain were traditional Minardi races, with both drivers starting last and ending last, although Friesacher didn’t finish either race. In San Marino both cars were out by lap twenty, a disappointing statistic, while in Spain both cars were out by lap nineteen.
Then came Monaco, where the two drivers qualified thirteenth and fourteenth on the grid! With the BARs banned and Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya failing to set times, you may think Minardi were lucky to be off the back row. However Minardi outqualified Jordan on raw pace alone. It was a rare victory for the team, whose previous luck had been just that, luck. This time Jordan were firmly beaten by their Italian rivals and the minnows were delighted. The race wouldn’t be quite as good, with Friesacher crashing out on lap twenty nine. Albers finished last, behind the Jordan of Monteiro. The one-lap pace may have been there, but the overall race pace wasn’t.
The same could be set of the next race, the European Grand Prix. Albers was rooted to last on the grid, however his Austrian team-mate outqualified the Jordan of Karthikeyan. Sadly in the race the drivers slipped back, with Friesacher finishing last and Albers just a place up the road.
Once again Canada proved to be a case of good qualifying, bad race. But this time even more so, as Albers outqualified the Red Bull of Cristian Klien to take fifteenth on the grid. Despite this he was the last of the finishers in eleventh place.
The USA Grand Prix was a bittersweet one for the team. The team should have been happy that they picked up seven points through fifth and sixth positions, however they really didn’t want to race. Paul Stoddart, one of the most outspoken men in the pitlane, sided with the Michelin teams over the inclusion of a chicane so that the Michelin teams could race. Indeed Jordan also agreed to this principal, and it looked like only Ferrari would race. However when Jordan decided to go against their previous plans Stoddart had no choice but to join them, citing that Minardi had a chance of beating Jordan in the championship, and couldn’t let them gain such an advantage.
Minardi weren’t on the pace of their rivals at Indy, but still took fifth through Albers and sixth through Friesacher. Both were now ahead of the illustrious BAR drivers in the championship.
The team came back down to earth in France, although Friesacher did outqualify Monteiro for eighteenth on the grid. Both drivers suffered tyre problems in the race, with Albers’ forcing him into a heavy crash rounding Estoril. Both drivers finished at Silverstone, although this would be Friesacher’s last race for the team. His sponsorship soon dried up and he was replaced by another Dutchman, Robert Doornbos. In truth, Friesacher had been outperformed by Albers all season.
Doornbos finished last on his debut, although Albers flew to thirteenth, not only beating both Jordans but also Villeneuve and Trulli. In Hungary Doornbos retired with hydraulic problems. Albers finished eleven laps down after coming into the pits to fix a mechanical problem. Doornbos took his first finish in Turkey, and even beat the Jordans to take thirteenth. Albers retired.
Minardi went to their home race in Milan with little expectation of good results. Albers blew his qualifying lap by running wide, but team-mate Doornbos outqualified the Jordan of Karthikeyan. Both drivers were involved in the first corner incidents, with Albers forced to make an early stop, and the drivers finished eighteenth and nineteenth, ahead of the Jordan of Karthikeyan.
In Spa it was announced that Red Bull had bought Minardi for the 2006 season. Minardi would act as a B team for Red Bull to give experience to their young wealth of talent. With the long-term future of the team finally secured, Minardi started to look forward to the race weekend. It started well for them, with Albers and Doornbos outqualifying the Jordan’s by almost two seconds. However secretly the drivers weren’t happy, and the reason became apparent very quickly on Sunday. Albers stopped on lap four, with Doornbos stopping three laps later. Disappointed with the team’s stop strategy, Minardi were left to rue their decision as Albers and Doornbos finished twelfth and thirteenth, while arch-rivals Jordan scored a point.
Brazil was another unrewarding race for the team. Despite Doornbos’ engine failure, Albers at least managed to finish ahead of Jordan’s Narain Karthikeyan, finishing fourteenth, two laps down. Once again, the team rarely featured in the news in Japan. Doornbos finished fourteenth, with Albers sixteenth, two laps behind his nearest rival, Karthikeyan. The team bowed out in China after twenty eventful years, with identical results as in Japan. Once again Doornbos and Albers finished fourteenth and sixteenth respectively, this time sandwiching the Toyota of Jarno Trulli.
Statistics
| Statistic | # | Percentage | First | Last |
| Number of Grand Prix | 29 | 100% |  2005 |  2005 |
| Number of starts | 29 | 100.00% | 2005 | 2005 |
| Number of finishes | 20 | 68.97% | 2005 | 2005 |
| Number of finishes in points | 2 | 6.90% |  2005 | 2005 |
| Number of retirements | 10 | 34.48% | 2005 |  2005 |
