The Minardi PS04B was a Formula One race car used by Minardi Cosworth in the 2004 Formula One season.
 Bas Leinders driving the Minardi PS04B during free practice for the 2004 United States Grand Prix. | |||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Minardi | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | Gabriele Tredozi (Technical Director) Sandro Parini (Chief Designer) Loïc Bigois (Chief Aerodynamicist) | ||||||||
| Predecessor | PS03 | ||||||||
| Successor | PS05 | ||||||||
| Technical specifications[1][2] | |||||||||
| Chassis | Carbon-fibre and aluminium honeycomb composite monocoque | ||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Upper/lower carbon-wrapped steel wishbones, pushrod-activated torsion springs/rockers front/rear, mechanical anti-roll bars + Sachs dampers (to Minardi specification) | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | As front | ||||||||
| Length | 4,548 mm (179 in) | ||||||||
| Width | 1,800 mm (71 in) | ||||||||
| Height | 950 mm (37 in) | ||||||||
| Axle track | Front: 1,480 mm (58 in) Rear: 1,410 mm (56 in) | ||||||||
| Wheelbase | 3,097 mm (122 in) | ||||||||
| Engine | Cosworth CR-3L (updated 2002 specifications) 2,998 cc (183 cu in) 72° V10 naturally-aspirated rear mid-engine, longitudinally-mounted, steel crankshafts, aluminum engine block and heads and aluminum alloy pistons | ||||||||
| Transmission | Minardi with Jaguar internals 6-speed + 1 reverse longitudinally-mounted semi-automatic gearbox with titanium casing, hydraulic activation (Magneti Marelli ECU, Minardi software) with Minardi hydraulic/programmable differential units | ||||||||
| Power | 800 hp @ 18,000 rpm[3] | ||||||||
| Weight | 600 kg (1,323 lb) including driver and camera | ||||||||
| Fuel | Elf | ||||||||
| Lubricants | Elf/CPC | ||||||||
| Tyres | Bridgestone Potenza 4-line grooved dry slicks, treaded intermediate and full-wets O.Z. Racing forged magnesium (13.0 in × 12.0 in (330 mm × 305 mm) on front and 13.0 in × 13.7 in (330 mm × 348 mm) on rear) | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants | Wilux Minardi Cosworth Minardi Cosworth | ||||||||
| Notable drivers | 20.  Gianmaria Bruni20.  Patrick Friesacher21.  Zsolt Baumgartner21.  Christijan Albers | ||||||||
| Debut | 2004 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
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[4] 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[5] and the best elements from the PS03 and the Arrows A23/PS04 to develop the Minardi PS04B for the 2004 season.[6][7]
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.[5][8]
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 | Tyres | 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 | B | 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 | B | 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.