Minardi Lament Point-Less Race
Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart lamented Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner was unable to score a point for the Anglo-Italian squad.
Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart lamented Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner was unable to score a point for the Anglo-Italian squad.
Baumgartner achieved his best Formula One result by finishing in ninth place in today's Monaco Grand Prix.
The Minardi driver, who was instructed to drive slowly to bring the car home, was just one position away from a points finish, despite crossing the chequered flag six laps behind race winner Jarno Trulli.
"Minardi knew today that if its cars finished this race, there was always going to be a chance of scoring points, and in the end, we were so, so near," said Stoddart. "After the incidents in the opening stages of the race, Zsolt was under instructions to drive a very conservative race and just bring the car home.
"With 37 laps to go and only 10 healthy cars running, we really felt a points finish was possible. Sadly, it was not to be, but Zsolt and the team did all that was asked of them today."
Share Or Save This Story
How Alpine may be F1’s best ‘worst team’ of all time
Alonso showed championship credentials on F1 debut - ex-Minardi boss
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
The not-so-obvious chance Leclerc missed to usurp Verstappen
Cheshire cats de la Roche and Musgrave grin after Silverstone Historic F3 thrillers
Dramatic Mini fight goes to the wire as Ovenden wins title by a point at Brands Hatch
How Ingram made his mark on the 2026 BTCC campaign – before going out with a bang
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments