Confirmed For Minardi

[rameire]

Minardi have signed Dutch driver Christian Albers for the upcoming 2005 Season.
and Zolt Baum is looking good for the second seat

[Kicking-back]

It could have been a hell of a lot worse.

For a team of Minardi's situation, that's actually a reasonable line up.

What Zsolt lacks in talent he has in raw enthusiasm, and Albers will do a solid enough job.

Better than the moody and inconsistent Bruni!

[ASCII Man]

I'd rather have Doornbos as he's the bigger talent, Zsolt can wheel in the cash while Robert brings in the results that way, but nooooooooooooo...

[Tweed]

Albers is more prepared for F1 than Doornbos is, give Robert a few years.

[GP Racer]

I think that Zolt deserves another year at Minardi. He performed pretty well, especially next to Bruni.

Now, if he could just do something to get noticed in that car, like Justin Wilson did with those incredible starts, he may just get noticed by some other teams. I miss Justin!

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Albers is about as close as Minardi will get to a top drawer driver. It's also amazing how the Dutch (especially the businesses) seem to get behind their drivers too.

[Kicking-back]

Pantano and Montagny are in the frame for the second seat, as well as Baumgartner.

[cds_uk]

Either of those two would be excellent for the team, Montagny is ready for F1 now and i think he is the best bet of the drivers jostling for the remaining seats on the grid, as for Pantano, if i was a team manager i would be prepared to give him another chance, don`t know why it didn`t work out for him last year, he did arrive late at Jordan and the car was awfull, mind you he did drag himself closer to Nick as the year went on, come on Paul, give the seat to one of those two, you know it makes sense.

[Dutch chap]

Minardi is not in the (financial) position to give a good driver a seat just because he is a talented driver. If there's no money, there's no seat. Sad, but a fact.

[cds_uk]

All to true Dutch Chap but surely Flav would have a say with Montagny let alone the Renault link with a view to engines in 06, as for Pantano i assume he still has a good bit of money behind him to even be linked with the seat.

[Logrence]

[QUOTE=Kicking-back]What Zsolt lacks in talent he has in raw enthusiasm, and Albers will do a solid enough job.[QUOTE]

We all know he wasn't hired for his raw enthusiasm.

But still, they mustn't grumble, at least they aren't the Jordan team at the moment.

[Kicking-back]

A Mark Smith influenced Jordan with Toyota power will be a better proposition than a Minardi.

[Logrence]

You can have the fanciest car with the fanciest engine, but if you haven't got 2 pennies to rub together or a decent driver you're up spit creek without a toothbrush.

And if Jordan don't find a buyer they'll be out of the sport long before Minardi. They're in much worse shape.

[luke]

Baumgartner wasn't the most impressive driver at the start but worked and improved, and gained respect.
He proved to be reliable, and pushed the car home if t was still running, and finishing races is important for a tail end team such as Minardi.

[minirda]

I wouldn't be too surprised if Jordan will not enter or finish this season either. I think it will be end of story. Pity. But we've seen it before.

[Kicking-back]

Jordan will be there, at every race.

[cds_uk]

I`m with you on this one Kicking-back, as much as i love Minardi, and i can honestly say i have followed them since 85, i think Jordan are going to be a much better proposition this year, i wouldn`t be at all surprised if they outscore Red Bull and i have no doubt they will be around this time next year, probably with EJ still bigging up his chances for the new season.

[Knowlesy]

Jordan are gonna be OK and things will improve.