PS05 at Imola, Friesacher retired after only eight laps due to a broken clutch shaft. Another retirement came in the following race in Spain, when he spun into a gravel trap on lap 13. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Friesacher had his highest Formula One grid position at 13th place, setting faster times than Albers and both Jordan drivers in qualifying, He was running in front of the other backmarkers on Sunday, but on lap 29 he lost control of the car and crashed at Nouvelle Chicane, effectively ending his race. Friesacher outqualified his teammate again at the European Grand Prix, also starting in front of Jordan's Karthikeyan. His race pace was lacking however, and he finished last, one lap behind Albers and three behind the leaders. He was behind Albers when he retired again in Canada due to a power steering failure. At the infamous United States Grand Prix, Friesacher picked up his only three Formula One Championship points after coming sixth out of the six Bridgestone-equipped drivers who competed. He started the race at the back of the grid and did not pose a threat to his teammate, In France, a 18th place start came to nothing as a puncture took him out of the race. The British Grand Prix turned out to be his final career Formula One race. He finished last, one lap behind his teammate and four laps behind the race winner Montoya. Due to a lack of payment from his sponsors, Friesacher was replaced in the lineup by Robert Doornbos, who completed the rest of the season for Minardi. According to his then agent Thomas Frank, Friesacher declined an offer from Coloni to race in the 2005 GP2 season. Sponsorship controversy Friesacher's Minardi seat was primarily backed by unnamed sponsors, mediated by Carinthia governor Jörg Haider, who agreed to pay US$2 million to Minardi. In return, the state's tourism board also featured its logos on the car. Days before the start of the season, however, the sponsorship money was not raised, putting Frisacher's seat in jeopardy. An unsecured loan of US$500,000 by the state-owned Hypo Alpe Adria helped secure his seat for the Australian Grand Prix. On 19 July 2005, it was announced that Friesacher had been dropped from the Minardi team due to the failure of his personal sponsors to pay Minardi the amounts agreed at the start of the season. In 2013,