Formula One news

Minardi sign Friesacher

The Minardi F1 Team today announced that Patrick Friesacher has signed with the Faenza team as race driver for 2005. The 24-year-old, from Wolfsberg/Carinthia, is well-regarded by Minardi personnel, having tested for the Formula One team and participated in Minardi F1 two-seater events on several occasions.

"For me, it is the realisation of a long-held dream to be in Formula One," Friesacher said. "I am also extremely happy that I will be making my debut in the World Championship with Minardi. I know many of the people in the team, and it really is just like a big family. There is a great atmosphere, and when you consider how many top F1 drivers have started their careers at Minardi, I can't think of a better place to start mine."

"In fact, I feel honoured to be part of the team, and will do my very best for them this season. I'm training really hard at the moment to ensure my fitness is good, but I can't wait for the season to get under way in Australia. This is a great opportunity, and I intend to make the most of it," the new team mate of Christijan Albers said.

Minardi Team Principal, Paul Stoddart, comments, "We are very pleased to have signed Patrick. He impressed team personnel enormously when he tested for us at Misano in November, and he was undoubtedly one of the stars of the show at the memorable South African F1x2 Grand Prix at Kyalami last year."

"He's a quick, and equally importantly, consistent driver, who is also capable of providing good technical feedback to the engineers. I firmly believe the combination of Patrick and team mate, Christijan Albers, will provide Minardi with an extremely strong young driver line-up this season."

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