By Greig Murray
September 15 2002

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Technical Director Ross Brawn is certainly not sorry he made the effort to come to Monza on Saturday, despite the back problems which kept him away on the previous two days.

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Asked how important it was for him to be there, Ross Brawn reckoned it was not for him to say. “What I do know is that for me it was much easier to be here than to stay at home. Today’s win is great, especially as it is in Monza in front of an incredible crowd of fans, including the Gestione Sportiva staff. It was the perfect answer to those who ask if we are fed up with winning,” continued Brawn. “It was a tough race, especially at the start when Ralf cut the chicane, as we did not know what would happen. On top of that, we weren’t sure what strategy our competitors were running, but luckily it all went well.”

“He was in seventh heaven,” replied Brawn when asked what Rubens Barrichello said on the radio as he crossed the line. “He drove fantastically, making a great start and overtaking moves. Winning at Monza is great for him and it also improves his points total in the Drivers’ classification.”

Brawn was asked why the two drivers were on different strategies. “Simply because we did not know what Williams was doing,” he explained. “We just wanted to be ready for every eventuality.”

Michael Schumacher slowed his pace after Barrichello’s second stop and Ross explained why. “After the second stops the race could be considered over. Michael did not have a problem, but seeing that several of our competitors had blown engines, we wanted to be careful,” said Brawn. “Rubens slowed for the same reason, to save the car and bring it home.”

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