11/09/2004

Grand Prix of Italy - Qualifying Report

Ricardo Zonta achieved his best qualifying position since his elevation to the race team when he placed Panasonic Toyota Racing 11th on the grid for tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix the final round of the European Grand Prix season.

The 28-year-old Brazilian lapped the 5.793km Monza circuit now the fastest on the F1 calendar in 1m21.520s while team mate Olivier Panis recorded 1m21.841s and lines up two places behind Zonta on the grid.

Zonta said: "I am pleased with the performance. I would have liked to break into the top 10 but 11th is a decent place to start the race and from which to achieve a good result. We did a lot of meaningful work in last week's test and yesterday's practice and I am confident that we will have a consistent race set-up."

Panis meanwhile after a problematic Friday practice in which he experienced a rear vibration suffered gearbox trouble on Saturday morning and the team had to carry out a quick transmission change before the pre-qualifying session. It was not a good day for the French veteran who also collected a $1500 fine for breaking the pit lane speed limit.

"The mechanics did a very good job to fix the problem but the car was still a bit slower than I expected us to be here Panis admitted. At Monza the first corner involves a long run into a tight chicane and perhaps I'm not in the best position for that! Let's just hope I get through and can then concentrate on a strong race."

Rubens Barrichello's pole position for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro a 1m20.089s lap was a speed of 260.395kph the fastest pole in F1 history. Earlier however Juan Pablo Montoya did a 262.242kph lap in pre-qualifying which is likely to stand as the fastest F1 lap in an official session for some considerable time given the projected 2005 F1 rule changes.

Behind Barrichello Montoya (1m20.620s) qualified second for the BMW Williams F1 Team splitting the two Ferraris. Michael Schumacher (1m20.637s) lines up third ahead of Fernando Alonso (1m20.645) in the first Mild Seven Renault F1 Team car and the Lucky Strike BAR Hondas of Jenson Button (1m20.786s) and Takuma Sato (1m20.715s).

Technical Director Chassis Mike Gascoyne summed up the day: "I think we are reasonably happy with 11th and 13th on the gird because although we struggle to get the best out of the tyres on the first lap the race pace over long runs looks more encouraging. We will be looking to get both cars into the points in the race."