A difficult day for Ferrari in front of home crowd
The Scuderia Ferrari wasn't able to put down a great show in front of the Tifosi during today's qualifying session. Felipe Massa will start the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from 3rd position while team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who crashed heavily in the third free practice session, will start from 5th position.
Jean Todt: "After what we learnt at last week's test here and in yesterday's free practice, we expected a tough qualifying and so it was. On a single lap our rivals are very strong but we are aware that we have a very competitive race pace. The crucial factors for tomorrow's race will be the same as always: reliability, strategy, the work of the team and the drivers and consistency of performance. Clearly, we are keen to do well here at Monza in our home race in front of our fans and our employees who will pack out their own special grandstand."
Felipe Massa: "I think third place was the best I could do this afternoon. We lacked a bit of speed to fight the McLarens for the front row but we know we are competitive in race trim, so we can be confident about tomorrow's race. The car is not bad in terms of balance, although it is a bit difficult under braking. I hope I get a good start and then play a good hand in a race that will be very tough. I will do all I can to bring home a good result in front of our fans."
Kimi Raikkonen: "The accident this morning certainly didn't help for qualifying, also considering the time lost in yesterday afternoon's free practice. I locked the wheels under braking and the car went right rather than left. At that moment there was not much I could do but accept that I would end up in the barrier. The McLarens were strong in the test and in free practice, so I don't think there was much I could have done about getting pole position. All the same I think we can get a good result given our pace over a longer distance. It definitely won't be the first time that we have had the odd difficulty in qualifying and then been very competitive in the race. I will do all I can to give our fans something to cheer about."
Luca Baldisserri: "This was definitely a very difficult day. This morning we had Kimi going off the track, after he lost control of the car when braking on a bump going into Ascari. We found no signs of a mechanical failure and so we carried on working with Felipe. We fitted the T-car chassis with the engine from the damaged car but of course, the set-up was not perfect and also given the time lost in the last two sessions of free practice, Kimi's chances in qualifying were definitely compromised. We knew our closest rivals would have the edge over the single lap and Felipe, while giving it his all, could not get higher up the order than third. But we have a strong race pace and so we can be cautiously optimistic about the race tomorrow, where we will try to do our best, for us, for our fans and for our colleagues who are here supporting us."
