Following comments made by Minardi boss Paul Stoddart to Autosport magazine, pitpass contacted the Italian outfit to get the low-down on what happened at Indianapolis.

Autosport quotes Stoddart as saying: "The difference between out two drivers is that Zsolt finishes races. If you never bring the car home you're never going to score.

"Zsolt listens to what the cars says, continued the Australian, "and he is a worker. Gimmi was unlucky today, but the car did not need to be switched off, it was fully capable of continuing. If he had carried on he would have been fighting for that point, so the biggest loser is Gimmi."

Contacted by pitpass, Stoddart admitted that he hadn't seen Autosport, but when told of the quotes said that he stood by them.

Apparently Bruni's car was not terminally damaged in the first corner accident, and suffered nothing worse than a bent track rod. The Australian is fully confident that had Bruni driven the car back to the pits - which was entirely possible - repairs could have been made, and in view of the safety car period Bruni could have finished in the points.

"The team was disappointed," admitted the Australian.

That said, reports that the Faenza based outfit is on the verge of dropping Bruni, are wide of the mark, and media reports that other drivers, including former Minardi driver Nicholas Kiesa, are being lined up, are incorrect. A team spokesman admitted that whenever there appears to be friction between a driver and his team, other interested drivers quickly fire their PR machines into action.

Nonetheless, Baumgartner has proved to be a real fighter this year, out-qualifying Bruni five times, and bringing the car home six times in contrast to the Italian's four finishes.

However, Bruni is sure to be his own biggest critic. Following his 'retirement' from the US GP, he showered and changed into 'civvies' then watched the race from the back of the Minardi garage. It's understood that he looked totally crestfallen when Baumgartner scored the team's first point since Melbourne 2002.

Incidentally, we hear that Bernie Ecclestone - didn't he buy into the team? - visited the Minardi garage, and shared a paper cup full of Champagne with the boys.