Minardi Not Blaming Tyres for Problems

With events at Indianapolis still fresh in everyone's mind, both drivers were worryingly forced out of the race with left rear tyre failures - with Albers coming off worst as he suffered a grazed hand in a high-speed impact with the barriers at the long Estoril corner.

"Before the tyre problem, I had been pleased with my race pace, as I believe Jordan was also on a three-stopper today, and my lap times were almost the same as Karthikeyan's," said Albers. "All we can do now is focus on Silverstone and aim for a better result there."

Team boss Paul Stoddart said the team would now work in co-operation with Bridgestone to investigate the valve problem and try and find a solution so that it does not happen again.

"It's disappointing that both cars retired today as the result of the valve caps not being refitted to the left rear tyres after the drivers' second pitstops," he said.
 
"In co-operation with our tyre partner, Bridgestone, we will be investigating the issue further, to understand why it happened and to ensure there is no repeat of the problem."