Minardi continued their good showing in Monte Carlo with Mark Webber's eleventh place in the race today. The Australian had been running in a strong eighth until he was forced to make an unscheduled stop for new tyres as the event neared its conclusion.

"This was a really strong race for us," he commented in a press release. "We knew after this morning's warm-up that we were quicker than a number of people in front of us. We therefore decided to run quite heavy (with fuel) at the beginning of the race, but also to stop early.

"Although we were running more weight, we knew we should be able to leapfrog quite a few cars when they made their pit stops. The strategy was working perfectly and we had eighth place easily in the bag until a tyre problem forced me to pit for a new set of tyres.

"The team did a great job all weekend and had quite a bit of damage to contend with - they deserved better than 11th place today. I'm also sorry we couldn't deliver a present for Paul (Stoddart) as today is his birthday, but we definitely tried."

Alex Yoong was forced to retire after a coming together with Monaco's infamous steel barriers. The team had been hopeful of returning him to the track after his unscheduled pit stop, but a damaged rear trackrod and front suspension put paid to any further participation from the Malaysian.

"We didn't do many laps in the warm-up, so the first time I drove the car with heavy fuel was in the race, and we had quite a bit of understeer," Yoong said. "As the fuel load became lighter, the car was getting better.

"But then, after my pit stop, I ran over some debris at Casino and hit the barriers as a result. A rear trackrod was damaged in the impact, and that was the end of my race. The boys have done a terrific job all weekend and I feel really sorry for not finishing the race today."