Minardi PS04B explained

The Minardi PS04B was a Formula One race car used by Minardi Cosworth in the 2004 Formula One season.

Background

In 2003 all of the Arrows A23 chassis and the full Arrows Grand Prix International intellectual property rights were bought by Minardi. The Arrows A23 was renamed the Minardi PS04^[1] and in back-to-back tests it was found superior to the Minardi's PS03. Minardi however decided that they could not run a "pure-Arrows" and hence used the Arrows intellectual property, which included the new designs for a proposed Arrows A24^[2] and the best elements from the PS03 and the Arrows A23/PS04 to develop the Minardi PS04B for the 2004 season.^[3] ^[4]

Period reports even hinted that the PS04B was possibly based more closely on the Arrows A24 than Minardi might have been prepared to publicly admit.^[2] ^[5]

Racing history

The PS04B was driven by rookie Gianmaria Bruni, and Zsolt Baumgartner who had moved from Jordan. The team managed to earn their first point in two years, after Baumgartner finished 8th at the United States Grand Prix.

For 2005, Minardi used a PS04B chassis for the first three races of the season before they made a new PS05 chassis due to assembly problems. The engine name changed from CR-3L to CK2004, but it was basically the same engine.

Sponsorship and livery

The team's black and white livery saw the addition of Superfund's deep green to the engine covers.

During the British Grand Prix, the team ran with no sponsors, replacing them with the words "John Boy" in honor to Sporting Director John Walton, who died from a heart attack.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	WCC
2004	Minardi Cosworth	Cosworth V10		AUS	MAL	BHR	SMR	ESP	MON	EUR	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA		1	10th
			Gianmaria Bruni	NC	14	17	Ret	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	18^†	16	17	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	17
			Zsolt Baumgartner	Ret	16	Ret	15	Ret	9	15	10	8	Ret	Ret	16	15	Ret	15	16	Ret	16
2005	Minardi F1 Team	Cosworth V10		AUS	MAL	BHR	SMR	ESP	MON	EUR	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	BRA	JPN	CHN	7*	10th
			Patrick Friesacher	17	Ret	12
			Christijan Albers	Ret	13	13

* All points scored with the PS05.

External links

Minardi PS04B Technical Specs

Notes and References

Web site: 2020-04-03. Unveiled the Minardi PS04A. 2021-03-01. unracedf1.com. nl.
Web site: Minardi en de Arrows A24. formule1nieuws.nl. 31 October 2018.
Web site: Baumgartner signs for Minardi. motorsport.com. 31 October 2018.
Web site: Minardi will not use the Arrows A23. www.auto123.com. 31 October 2018.
Web site: Minardi PS03, A23 of A24?. frontpage.fok.nl. 12 November 2003 . 31 October 2018.