Patrick Friesacher

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Patrick Friesacher
Friesacher at the 2005 United States Grand Prix
Nationality  Flag of Austria Austrian
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 2005
Teams Minardi
Races 11
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    0
Career points 3
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 2005 Australian Grand Prix
Last race 2005 British Grand Prix

Patrick Friesacher (born September 26, 1980) is an Austrian racing driver who drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.

Contents

[edit] Early career

Born in Wolfsberg, Friesacher began Kart racing at an early age. In 1998, he moved to the French Formula Campus series, finishing third in the season. In 1999, Friesacher advanced to the French Formula 3 'B' class, before moving to the German Formula 3 series in 2000.

In 2001, Friesacher jumped to Formula 3000, where he scored three top-six finishes for the Red Bull Junior team. He stayed with Red Bull throughout 2002, and 2003, winning a race at the Hungaroring. Later that year, he joined the Super Nova squad; in 2004, he won another race (again in Hungary), this time for the Coloni team.

[edit] Formula One

Friesacher at the 2005 British Grand Prix.
Friesacher at the 2005 British Grand Prix.

In November 2004, Friesacher tested for Minardi at the Misano circuit in Italy, impressing team principal Paul Stoddart. On February 14, 2005, he signed a one-year deal to race alongside Christijan Albers, another former Formula 3000 driver and F1 rookie. ITV's Martin Brundle noted during his debut race that he felt Patrick had never looked like a potential F1 driver.

In the 2005 United States Grand Prix he picked up 3 Formula One Championship points despite finishing last; this is because he came 6th out of the 6 drivers who competed as 7 teams pulled out for tyre safety reasons.

On July 19th, 2005 it was announced that Friesacher had been dropped from the Minardi team due to the failure of his personal sponsors to pay Minardi the amounts agreed at the start of the season. (It is common for poorer F1 teams to employ pay-drivers who contribute financially to the team via personal sponsorships.) He was replaced in the lineup by Robert Doornbos, who completed the rest of the season for Minardi.

[edit] Racing record

[edit] Complete Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2001 Red Bull Junior Lola B99/50 Zytek V8 A BRA
Ret		 SMR
5		 ESP
8		 AUT
Ret		 MON
Ret		 EUR
10		 FRA
4		 GBR
19		 GER
11		 HUN
4		 BEL
10		 ITA
Ret		 13th 8
2002 Red Bull Junior Lola B02/50 Zytek-Judd KV A BRA
10		 SMR
5		 ESP
11		 AUT
5		 MON
2		 EUR
4		 GBR
7		 FRA
7		 GER
Ret		 HUN
6		 BEL
16		 ITA
Ret		 10th 14
2003 Red Bull Junior Lola B02/50 Zytek-Judd KV A SMR
2		 ESP
Ret		 AUT
Ret		 MON
Inj		 EUR
Inj		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
5		 GER
3		 HUN
1		 ITA
2		 5th 36
2004 Super Nova Lola B02/50 Zytek-Judd KV A SMR
9		 ESP
4		 MON
5		 EUR
Ret		 5th 33
Coloni FRA
3		 GBR
5		 GER
DNS		 HUN
1		 BEL
5		 ITA
Ret

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key)

Yr Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Points
2005 Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Cosworth V10 AUS
17		 MAL
Ret		 BHR
12		 21st 3
Minardi PS05 SMR
Ret		 ESP
Ret		 MON
Ret		 EUR
18		 CAN
Ret		 USA
6		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
19		 GER
 HUN
 TUR
 ITA
 BEL
 BRA
 JPN
 CHN

[edit] A1 Commitments

In 2006, Friesacher joined the A1 Grand Prix of nations racing for his home country, Austria for the Mexican Grand Prix, clinching 18th in his first A1 qualifying session. He then went on to finish 10th and 9th, scoring a total of 3 points for the team.

[edit] External links

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