Minardi Drivers Pleased Despite Problems

The Minardi team were happy with their progress in today's practice for the European Grand Prix despite both their drivers suffering mechanical problems.

Australian Mark Webber enjoyed a trouble-free morning session, but a suspension problem in his Asiatech-powered car hampered his progress in the afternoon. Despite the problem, rookie Webber was pleased with his work and looking forward to more progress on Saturday.

"We had a pretty good day, working through our normal technical programme, and also went through a tyre assessment for Michelin," said the Australian, who posted the 20th quickest time.

"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."

Alex Yoong finished at the bottom of the timesheets, the young Malaysian suffering an engine problem some 20 minutes from the end of the second hour-long session. Yoong was another one of the drivers who was not pleased with the track changes.

"Everything was going smoothly until we had a mechanical problem just over halfway through the afternoon session, and therefore were not able to try the new tyres. The Nurburgring was always a bit of a 'go-kart' circuit, but now, in its latest form, it really is just that, the new corners making it even tighter and twistier than before.

"Personally, I don't like it, but we just concentrated on working through our technical programme today and will aim to make more progress tomorrow."