Editing Minardi (section)

===European Minardi (2001–2005)===
[[File:Webber 2002.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Mark Webber (racing driver)|Mark Webber]] driving the [[Minardi PS02]] at the [[2002 French Grand Prix]]]]

The team, now near collapse, was purchased by [[Australia]]n businessman [[Paul Stoddart]] in early 2001, merging it with his European Racing [[International Formula 3000|Formula 3000]] team. That season saw [[Fernando Alonso]] make his F1 debut for the team at the age of 19; though he (and the team) failed to score any points that year, his performance was impressive enough that the reborn [[Renault in Formula One|Renault F1]] team signed him for 2002. He was replaced by [[Mark Webber (racing driver)|Mark Webber]], another future race winner, and heavy attrition at [[2002 Australian Grand Prix|his debut race in Melbourne]] saw him finish in the points in 5th, with teammate [[Alex Yoong]] just outside the points in 7th. During the season the team used Asiatech branded engines (formerly Peugeot), the rest of the season did not yield any further points for the team. The team finished above the newly debuted Toyota factory team who arguably had a much more sizable budget for the debut campaign than Minardi's budgets over several seasons combined. Minardi also finished ahead of the Arrows team who went bankrupt halfway through the season due to mounting debts and several mounting court cases against them. 

From 2003 until their final season in 2005, Minardi used Ford Cosworth/Cosworth branded engines due to Asiatech folding at the end of the previous season. The Cosworth engines though not very reliable did help Minardi to some decent points scoring positions now and again. 

Another memorable episode happened during the [[2003 Brazilian Grand Prix]]. The race was stopped just after 75% distance, after treacherous weather and a sequence of accidents, including a spin into the grass for lead Minardi driver [[Jos Verstappen]]. Stoddart later claimed that Verstappen had enough fuel on board to last until just after the time the red flag was eventually waved, due to the large number of safety car laps. Assuming Stoddart was being truthful, Verstappen may well have won this race had he not spun.

[[File:Baumgartner usgp 2004.jpg|thumb|right|[[Zsolt Baumgartner]] driving at the [[2004 United States Grand Prix|2004 United States GP]]]]
[[File:Minardi PS05 British GP 2005.jpg|thumb|right|[[Patrick Friesacher]] driving the [[Minardi PS05]], the last Minardi chassis to be produced, at [[Silverstone Circuit|Silverstone]]]]
During its final years, the Minardi team was almost as famous for its politics as for its racing. Stoddart was described as the Formula One teams' unofficial shop steward. During his time as team principal, Stoddart campaigned for reduced costs in the sport. He appealed to the competing car manufacturers for an agreement where the independent (and, on the whole, financially weaker) teams in Formula One would get cheaper engine deals than at present. In return, the team principals who would benefit from this would support the works teams when it came to opposing new rule changes enforced by the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile|FIA]], such as the proposed ban on traction control. Before the start of the 2004 season, however, Stoddart threatened to withdraw his support against the ban on traction control, but later changed his mind. Midway through the 2004 season, the other teams voted to change the unpopular single lap qualifying system back to the old 1 hour format, but Stoddart voted against because it would also mean the 107% rule being reintroduced; this meant the change never occurred, as a unanimous vote was required to change something so significant in the middle of a season. Before the [[2005 Australian Grand Prix]], Stoddart initially threatened to withdraw his cars if they were made to comply with the revised regulations for 2005, claiming Minardi could not afford to do so. Once again Stoddart ended up withdrawing his threat. Stoddart also repeatedly called for the resignation of the FIA's President, [[Max Mosley]], particularly in the aftermath of the [[2005 United States Grand Prix]] where the majority of teams withdrew from the race due to safety concerns about their [[Michelin]] tyres. While Minardi had run [[Bridgestone]] tyres, Stoddart had offered to compromise with the Michelin teams but Mosley had rejected it.

In 2004, Minardi was represented by two rookies, [[Italy|Italian]] [[Gianmaria Bruni|Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni]] and [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Zsolt Baumgartner]]. During the year, they celebrated their 20th season in F1. Baumgartner scored Minardi's first point in more than 2 years at the [[United States Grand Prix]], finishing 8th. Baumgartner was also the first Hungarian to score a point in a World Championship F1 race.

In 2005, Minardi's drivers were [[Christijan Albers]] and [[Patrick Friesacher]]. They amassed a total of seven points following the debacle of the [[2005 United States Grand Prix]], in which they finished fifth and sixth (of six runners) respectively. After losing financial backing from his sponsors before the [[2005 German Grand Prix]], Friesacher was replaced by Dutch Jordan test driver [[Robert Doornbos]], creating the first all-Dutch driver line-up in Formula One since [[Carel Godin de Beaufort]] and [[Ben Pon]] drove together for the Ecurie Maarsbergen team at the [[1962 Dutch Grand Prix]] at [[Circuit Park Zandvoort|Zandvoort]].