Albers on fire, Minardi drivers under fire.

Minardi drivers Robert Doornbos and Christijan Albers were both left to rue miscues on their pit-stops in the Japanese Grand Prix, although the latter got a little hotter under the collar than he had anticipated.

The two Dutchmen had climbed to twelfth and 14th places by the time they made their first stops, and picked up the pace during the following stints, but problems struck during the second round of stops, ultimately changing the complexion of the race for the Faenza squad.

First, Doornbos overshot his pit box, with the result that the front jack man sustained a bruised leg,

"I have to say sorry to the pit crew, as I lost a bit of concentration, missed my braking point for the second pit-stop, and clipped one of my mechanics, Roberto Venturi," the driver confessed. "I now know that he is okay, if bruised, but I'm relieved for that."

The following lap, Albers also missed the stop marks as he came into the pits, with more dramatic results. The misplaced Minardi led to a problem locating the refuelling nozzle and, with a small amount of fuel spilling onto the hot bodywork, there was a brief burst of flame. Although the fire was quickly extinguished, and fortunately with no serious injuries, Albers lost two laps while the situation was sorted out and he was re-installed in the cockpit.

"It was a bit of a chaotic situation, but you're not that often on fire," the driver said of his rapid evacuation of the cockpit, "It's unfortunate that we had these problems in the pit-lane because the race went very well. My lap times were consistent and fast enough to finish ahead of the Jordan drivers."

While Albers' race was scuppered by the incident, Doornbos was able to make amends for his earlier mistake by overtaking Narain Karthikeyan's Jordan at the chicane on lap 43, claiming 15th place at the chequered flag, two spots ahead of his delayed team-mate.

"We brought it to the chequered flag, so I'm happy about that," Doornbos commented, "My rhythm when the safety car first came out, though, was not as good as it could have been, and I still have to learn more about how the tyres react in such situations.

"The result was that I wasn't able to push as hard as I would have liked once the race restarted but, after the first pit-stop, I started to push hard, and my second and third stints were very fast. I was able to pass Karthikeyan's Jordan in the last chicane too, which was good motivation."