Doornbos Delighted with Performance

The Minardi driver, in only his third Grand Prix, came home in 13th position three laps down, but had reason to celebrate after beating both the Jordans of Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro.

"What a race," said Doornbos. "I really had a lot of fun and I finished it quite easily.

"I'm also happy with my physical shape at the end of what was a tough Grand Prix.  The car actually got better as the race progressed and I think we could have continued, as the tyres were still in good shape. 

"I had a great start for the first time, and dived inside Villeneuve, which was fun.  After that, I was able to keep up a strong pace, and to have raced the Jordans and finished in front of them, what can I say?  I'm a happy chappy."

Doornbos' teammate Christijan Albers was not so lucky and endured a day full of problems, ranging from a fuel rig failure to gear selection difficulties. The Dutchman finished 10 laps down after spending a lot of time in the pits.

"I think we had a reasonable qualifying, especially as we had a lot of fuel in the car and chose the hard tyre," said Albers. "It was shame, though, that we had problems in the race, and also encountered difficulties with the refuelling rigs. 

"It's really disappointing to have these problems when the car is obviously becoming more competitive, but I think it was the right decision to stay out for as long as we could in the race in order to achieve the best possible qualifying slot for the next Grand Prix."