Minardi Drivers Rue Lack of Running

Minardi drivers Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner lamented the lack of running at today's practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

"It was not a very good day, as I didn't have the possibility to drive enough," said Bruni after completing just 11 laps. "I did just one proper run, but the balance in the wet was quite good, as my lap times show. Now we can only see what tomorrow holds."

Today was the first time that Bruni, who posted the 19th quickest time, drove at the Suzuka circuit. His Hungarian teammate Baumgartner also had a difficult day and could only complete eight laps in the second session before spinning off the track.

"The weather situation today was a bit unfortunate in terms of having an opportunity to learn the track," said Baumgartner. "Generally, the car balance was good, but we were struggling with the huge amount of water on the track.

"In fact, when I spun during the second session, it had started to rain even harder and the conditions were pretty much impossible."