Thank you so much for your continued support. Here is my report from the Italian Grand Prix.

Here in Italy, too much downforce pushing the car down on the track results in increased resistance, and significant loss in top speed. The front wing is designed to provide the smallest level of downforce possible.

Heading into race week with momentum from a positive testing session

Monza is the last race in Europe this season. With its long straights, we'll be seeing very fast top speeds. Being a low drag (requires low air resistance) circuit, we have brought a special aero package for Monza. You can see by taking a look at our rear wing that it's "there," but only as very thin element. We have also installed small flaps on the front.

Last week we conducted three days of testing at Monza. Ralf (Schumacher) wasn't feeling 100%, and he wasn't able to drive the complete session, but the drivers all commented that the balance and stability of the car itself was tremendous, and so we were very much looking forward to the race at Monza. Ricardo (Zonta) helped us out during testing by taking the extra laps that Ralf's health prevented him from driving.

Lately, we have had some reliability worries, even changing Ralf's engine out before qualifying at the last race in Turkey. We did confirm what the problem was later, but I think we made the right decision to change the engine. Going into the Italian GP, our goal was to make it into Q3 (third qualifying session), securing a good position on the starting grid. Monza is a race where a lot of accidents occur in the first corner of the first lap, so qualifying position is important. We put together our qualifying strategy with this point in mind.

Friday: A smooth program heading toward race day

Before coming to Monza, we were hearing that the weather would be rainy or stormy, but the skies cleared fantastically for us. We only ran installation laps during the morning practice session, as per our plan, and during the afternoon session we had both cars out performing tire comparisons. Since we had been testing at Monza the previous week, we compared those results with our conditions during the actual race weekend.

	Looking at the wing from the front of the car shows that the front and back blades (elements) are angled almost horizontally. The elements have been flattened to reduce air resistance.

Working out how far to attack on the aerodynamics front, we went through several different aero setups for both drivers. Both drivers reported back that there were "no problems" with the car balance. However, we experienced some bouncing at the approach into the Ascari chicane at Turn 8, which was a cause for some concern.

Some of the teams were bouncing hard enough to scrape the track with the bottom of their floors. We had our own share of scraping, and there were some worrying symptoms related to brake locking under braking during the residual bouncing, and understeer at the entrance to Parabolica. But all in all, we had a favorable impression of our practice performance.

A frustrating qualifying. A flurry of conflicting emotions heading into the race.

We thought we could qualify solidly in the middle of the top 10, so we were very frustrated with the results from qualifying. During P3 (Saturday morning practice session) we all really felt that we should be able to perform much more strongly. Unfortunately, there were several minor unresolved issues where we experienced instability under braking, several sections where we had understeer, and episodes of oversteer going over the curbs. Not being able to resolve the problems before qualifying was, in my opinion, the factor that kept both of our cars from qualifying in the top 10. We continued to make adjustments between P3 and the start of qualifying, but they didn't work as well as we had hoped.

As the qualifying results indicated, there was only a hair's breadth margin of 0.7 seconds to the top cars, but we never were able to put together best sector times in a single lap. If the first sector was good, then the second sector was bad. If the second was good, then the first was bad. We just couldn't get all of the pieces to fit together. I think that our results were reflective of the fact that we weren't able to put the cars together in the optimum configuration.

Even after the end of Q2, Jarno (Trulli) remained in his car for a while. The truth was that Ralf was caught behind traffic during his attack lap, and we were asking for an official ruling. If Jarno was able to move one position up, he would have been in the top 10, so he was waiting in his car until the positions were officially settled. Unfortunately, the final determination was that Jarno was P11, and not eligible to continue on to Q3.

While the results were disappointing, judging from the performance during P3, our situation led us to expect to be able move up in position during the race, so we quickly got over our disappointment, and made preparations for the race the following day.

Winning points, despite a bitter fight. A vow to make a comeback in the final three races.

While we started from a tough position on the grid, Jarno was able to finish 7th, capturing points for Panasonic Toyota Racing. I think he really did a tremendous job for us. And while we can't allow ourselves to feel complacent, it's better than coming away with zero points. I was quite happy.

The rear wing also features minimally angled elements. Jarno desperately chased Honda's Barrichello, but was unable to pass as the driving conditions deteriorated whenever Jarno came up close behind.

Both of our drivers had a decent start, but Ralf was pushed off his line at the first chicane, escaping to the inside of the second corner. That episode resulted in Ralf losing position on the track. It was really unfortunate, since Ralf was in a position to finish right up with Jarno. Of course, qualifying as low as we did was the real reason behind our finish. We take all of the responsibility in not preparing a proper car.

During the race, Ralf attacked the cars in front of him in the Parabolica curve, and Jarno aggressively passed traffic in front. Unfortunately, as soon as we came up behind a car in front, the air stream on our nose became disturbed, preventing us from being able to overtake. I think that both Jarno and Ralf did an excellent job throughout, racing under very difficult circumstances.

Both drivers drove their hearts out all the way to the end at the high-speed Monza circuit. Considering the results from qualifying, I think it was a good race for us. The Panasonic Toyota Racing cars should be well matched for the next races at Shanghai and Suzuka. We intend to make a strong showing at Shanghai, and then come home to Japan with solid momentum. Please continue to cheer us on!