14/09/2003

Italian Grand Prix - Race Report

Panasonic Toyota Racing suffered a disappointing double retirement in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza which turned out to be the fastest Grand Prix in history.

The early indications for the team were good with Olivier Panis making a strong start from ninth on the grid and running ahead of BMW-Williams reserve driver Marc Gene in sixth place.

Suddenly however all the attention switched to team mate Cristiano da Matta as his TF103 race car suddenly snapped out of control on the full-speed approach to Monza's Parabolica on lap four. Television coverage showed a deflated rear tyre which post-race analysis revealed was probably caused by carbon fibre debris following an incident on the start line at the back of the grid.

The Brazilian fought hard for control and thankfully managed to come to rest in the gravel trap without suffering an impact.

"That was a bit of a scary moment Da Matta said, I suddenly felt a big vibration at the back and the car go out of control. You do what you can but you are a bit of a passenger in situations like that. Thankfully I did not hit anything solid but that was the end of my race."

Panis continued to run strongly taking on a lot of fuel at his first pit stop but was ultimately forced to retire after 35 laps with a dislodged bearing in the brake balance bar.

"It's a pity because we could definitely have finished sixth he said. I had a great start and although Gene got past I was still running well in the points. Just after my second pit stop the brake pedal went to the floor and I had to come back slowly to the garage to retire."

The race saw a flat-out battle throughout the first two stints between championship contenders Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya which was decided in favour of the German five-time champion who took his 50th Grand Prix win for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Montoya kept the pressure on him with second place and the BMW Williams driver is still just three points behind in the championship with two races to go.

Rubens Barrichello finished third with the second Ferrari ahead of Kimi Raikkonen Marc Gene and Jacques Villeneuve. Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso claimed the final points in seventh and eighth places respectively.

In the constructors' championship Panasonic Toyota Racing still claims seventh place four points behind BAR-Honda and three points adrift of Jaguar Racing with two races to go at Indianapolis and Suzuka.

Team principal Ove Andersson said of the Monza race: "We come away empty-handed which is frustrating because Olivier showed that we had the pace today to score at least two points and beat our close competitors. It is good to have that speed but we will be looking for reliability to go with it in the season-closing races."

Despite completing just three laps Cristiano da Matta's pace through the speed trap was the sixth fastest of the afternoon and at 363.5kph was even a gain over the Panasonic Toyota Racing team's top speed in 2002 which was 361.5kph.