Minardi fail at Monaco.
27th May, 2001

The Grand Prix of Monaco was over for the Minardi team after two thirds of the race had elapsed. Both drivers had to park their cars at the side of the track for different reasons, only two laps apart. Running as high as ninth position at one stage Fernando Alonso had to retire because of a gearbox failure on lap 57. "The car felt pretty good, but after the first 20 laps I could not select first gear anymore, so I was forced to use second gear instead. Clearly, from that moment on, my race became increasingly difficult. Under such conditions, all I could do was keep going and hope for the best, but in the end, the gearbox failed. Clearly, we must work on our reliability in order to improve our finishing record."

Tarso Marques was running as high as 11th place, when his race finished because the driveshaft of his PS01 failed. "I think we made a good start, as I gained two positions on the first lap, but after awhile, some intermittent problems began to arise. At first, they seemed to be electronics-related, but then gear selection began to be affected, and then the traction control. Finally, in the closing stages of the race, a driveshaft may have broken, because I lost drive almost completely."

Team Principal Paul Stoddard commented "The bottom line is that it has been a very disappointing day for European Minardi F1 with both cars failing to finish. Fernando drove a strong race, rising as high as ninth, but sadly, a gearbox problem put paid to his chances of a top-10 finish. Tarso also went well, but failed to reach the finish when a drivetrain problem forced him to retire."