Team Rundown Saturday Qualifying Italian GP

By Andrew Hooper
September 13 2003
Team Rundown - Saturday Qualifying
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: Michael Schumacher 1st, Rubens Barrichello 3rd.

There was delight for Ferrari fans as the local team returned to competitiveness with Michael Schumacher on pole position and Rubens Barrichello behind him on the grid in third place.

"This is confirmation of all the hard work that we have been doing," said Schumacher. "We are back on top in qualifying and that has been our weakness in the last few races. A lot of detailed work went into achieving this with aerodynamic and engine improvements and Bridgestone gave us good tyres. The lap time shows that we are a match for Montoya."

Barrichello reckoned that he would have gone quicker if he had not had a brake problem at the first chicane.

"The car was good in the warm-up," he explained. "I locked up the fronts in the first chicane and I lost all my time there."

The result was a bit off surprise for Ross Brawn.

"It was an outstanding lap from Michael and a very good one from Rubens," he said. "I thought Montoya would beat us because normally they are quicker than us at the end of a flying lap. He must have made a mistake."


BMW WilliamsF1 Team: Juan Pablo Montoya 2nd, Marc Gene 5th.

Montoya narrowly missed pole position because of a mistake at the entry to the Ascari Chicane.

"I went wide in the first of the three corners," Juan Pablo said, "and I knew that it was over. We were five kph down on the Ferraris on top speed. Some people have chosen top speed and some have chosen downforce. We will see who is right tomorrow."

Marc Gene did a creditable job to qualify fifth

"My best qualifying in F1 up to now is 15th," he said. "I made two mistakes in the first two chicanes so I could have gone quicker. I have done a lot of testing here and I know the car well so missing out on running yesterday was not really a problem for me."


West McLaren Mercedes: Kimi Raikkonen 4th, David Coulthard 8th.

It was a solid performance for the McLaren team with Kimi Raikkonen fourth fastest, half a second down on Michael Schumacher's pole position lap.

"It's fine," said Mario Illien. "We are quite happy with second row on the grid. It shows that we are not miles behind! This is the result of a big effort from the whole team and it is worth remembering that we are usually stronger in the races than we are in qualifying. Kimi did an excellent job and I think we can get a good result in the race. Victory is possible."


Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: Jarno Trulli 6th, Fernando Alonso 20th.

"It was a bitter-sweet qualifying for Renault," said Pat Symonds, "with Fernando the victim of a major electronic problem at the start of his flying lap which deprived him of traction-control. There was no warning and so he spun. Jarno was luckier and he did a very good lap and the result was the best we could have hoped for. The Michelins should be excellent tyres in the race."


Sauber Petronas: Heinz-Harald Frentzen 14th, Nick Heidfeld 16th.

Both Sauber drivers had problems in qualifying.

"I had a small problem with the brakes," said Frentzen, "and that meant that I could not brake as heavily as I wanted to. The car was very good in the first two sectors but I had oversteer in the Parabolica and that cost me a few tenths."

Heidfeld also had brake trouble.

"I had some serious problems with brake fade in the warm-up and so I was a little cautious on my qualifying lap. It is frustrating because it turned out that they were working fine after all."


Jordan Ford: Giancarlo Fisichella 13th, Zsolt Baumgartner 18th.

It was a better than expected qualifying for Giancarlo Fisichella.

"I am pretty pleased with that," he said. "It was a good lap and certainly the car felt a lot better than yesterday. Obviously being my home Grand Prix I want to finish because I have not managed that in the last few races. I have to say it is going to be difficult to score points."

Baumgartner did a solid job.

"The lap was OK," he said. "It is difficult to say much more than that. I want to get more experience from the race and try to get to the finish and be as a quick and consistent as I can be.


Jaguar Racing: Mark Webber 11th, Justin Wilson 15th.

"I did not think we would do as well as this at Monza," said team boss Tony Purnell. "And I am not sure that things will be so bad in the race. Monza is famous for cars not finishing and so there is a strong element of chance in this race. We're in there as a little bit of a predator for points."


Lucky Strike BAR Honda: Jenson Button 7th, Jacques Villeneuve 10th.

It was a good day for BAR.

"I am pretty pleased with that," said Button. "I actually thought that eighth would be about right so seventh is a bonus. It was nice to get a good lap for once in qualifying and I am pleased because that is as fast as the car will go."

Jacques Villeneuve was not far behind.

"Both drivers were happy during the warm-up," said Geoff Willis. "We didn't change a thing. Jenson did a nice clean lap but Jacques lost a bit of time at the first chicane and somewhere in the second sector. Overall we're in a good position to start the race."


European Minardi Cosworth: Jos Verstappen 17th, Nicolas Kiesa 19th.

It was not a bad afternoon for Minardi although Kiesa lost time with a big moment at the Ascari Chicane.

"Jos did a good job and Nicholas was certainly the most spoectacular," said Paul Stoddart. "I think if Nicolas had not had that moment he would have beaten Baumgartner."

Technical director Gabriele Tredozzi said that the cars have fuel for two stops and that the cars are both on the softer rubber.


Panasonic Toyota Racing: Olivier Panis 9th, Cristiano da Matta 12th.

It was not a bad performance for Toyota.

"Overall we made a big improvement," said Olivier Panis. "considering all the problems this morning I am very happy with my lap. Ninth position is one from which one can score points."

Cristiano da Matta was disappointed.

"My car was not as good as yesterday," he said. "It is difficult to pinpoint why. I also made a small mistake in Ascari which cost me some time."


Bridgestone: Hisao Suganuma: "I am happy to have a car on pole and four in the top 10. This confirmed that our development was in the right direction."


Michelin: Pascal Vasselon: "We are satisfied with our performance here even if we missed out on pole position. Our tyres are competitive and will be competitive tomorrow. We have six drivers in the top 10 but it would have been seven if Alonso had not had his incident."
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