In a thrilling Italian Grand Prix qualifying session this afternoon in Monza, Bridgestone shod Michael Schumacher narrowly missed out on pole position by two thousandths of a second. Pole position was snatched by Kimi Raikkonen while Schumacher's Ferrari team mate, Felipe Massa, was fourth fastest in the top ten shoot-out. He was unlucky not to get a final clear run to improve upon his time but will line up on the second row of the grid which will still give him ample opportunity in tomorrow's 53-lap race. Panasonic Toyota Racing's Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were 11th and 13th fastest respectively while WilliamsF1's Nico Rosberg was 12th fastest. WilliamsF1's Mark Webber and the MF1 Racing and Super Aguri F1 team drivers were knocked out after the first part of the qualifying session.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager - Bridgestone Motorsport, said: "A little disappointed to have been so close to having a Bridgestone shod car on pole. Nevertheless, Michael Schumacher starts from the front row and Felipe Massa from the second row which still gives them a good chance of achieving a podium result. Unfortunately the other Bridgestone runners didn't make it into the last phase of qualifying but Jarno [Trulli], Nico [Rosberg] and Ralf [Schumacher] will start mid-field and have every opportunity to make up places during the race.

Regarding Yamamoto's left rear tyre, which we have examined carefully, there is clear evidence that there is a cut through the shoulder of the tyre, possibly caused by debris on the track. Despite a lessening of grip from last night's rain, the track soon rubbered in again this morning. In general we are happy with our tyre performance and we expect the Bridgestone runners to be strong in the race tomorrow."

Bridgestone Team News
Ross Brawn, Technical Director - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, said: "We've been very pleased with the car here this weekend and last week during the test and we hope our strategy is the right one for tomorrow's race. I'm very happy with Michael's qualifying result but a bit disappointed for Felipe as he got blocked on his run, which was a great shame as he could certainly have improved on where he is. Nevertheless the car is working well and the Bridgestone tyres are
performing consistently so we've got plenty to look forward to tomorrow."

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis - Panasonic Toyota Racing: "So far the race weekend has gone without surprises simply because we carried out a lot of work last week with tyres and tyre choice. We don't expect any major issues with our Bridgestone tyres."