Italian Grand Prix – Monza,
Qualifying session
Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1 MS 1st 1.21.711 3 FM 5th 1.22.028 3
Q2 FM 1st 1.21.225 3 MS 4th 1.21.353 3
Q3 MS 2nd 1.21.486 10 FM 4th 1.21.704 10
Chassis: MS 255 FM 252
Temperatures: air 28 °C track 40 °C
Jean Todt: “Qualifying was as close
fought as it was exciting. The top six are all within half
a second, which bears witness to how evenly matched it is,
although we have to bear in mind the unknowns in terms of
the various fuel loads. Michael drove a great lap, losing
out on pole by just two thousandths. But what matters is his
position relative to his rival in the title fight. A shame
for Felipe, who could have been on the front row but for his
encounter with traffic on his final run. We are perfectly
aware just how important is the outcome of this race in terms
of the fight for both titles. For our part, we know we can
count on having a very competitive car and on the support
of our technical partners, first and foremost, Bridgestone
and Shell. The decisive factors tomorrow? The usual ones,
which means reliability, tyre performance, strategy, team
work and the bravura of the drivers. One element that is different
here is that we can count on the support of our home fans
who are here at this track in greater numbers than we have
ever seen in one of our two home Grands Prix. Swelling their
ranks are the members of our staff and their families and
seeing them here cheering us on is very gratifying.”
Michael Schumacher: “The car worked
well, running strongly and consistently and this is a good
position to be in. But, it would have been nice to be on pole
here at home in front of the tifosi and it was very close
losing it by just two thousandths of a second, but tomorrow
is the more important date. I am also happy for Nick, as it
is nice to see another German on the qualifying “podium.”
Fernando? Of course it is better than if he was next to me
or in front of me! It does not look too bad for the championship
and it would be nice if tomorrow’s result was like today’s
or hopefully even a little bit better.”
Felipe Massa: “Fourth place is not
so bad, but it’s a shame I was unable to exploit the
full potential available to me. In fact, on Q3 on my last
run, I came up behind Alonso who was also setting out on his
quick lap. I lost at least three tenths! It’s a shame,
because I felt capable of putting it on the front row. But,
having said that, I think that our strategy and our package
we can expect a good result, which will be vital in the fight
for the two titles.”
Ross Brawn: “We were very pleased
with the car at the test and also so far this weekend. We
have a strong strategy and I think it will evolve well during
the race, so I am very happy with the way qualifying went
for Michael. However, I am bit disappointed for Felipe, because
he got held up by traffic in Q3 on his second run. A shame,
as he could have improved, because he was quicker in T1 and
T2 than on his earlier attempts. But the cars are very good,
the Bridgestone tyre performance is consistent and we can
also count on the support of an exceptional technical partner
in the shape of Shell, so there is a lot to look forward to
tomorrow, especially when you look at where our closest rivals
are.”
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