NewsOnF1 - 14 September News

14-Sep: Kimi Raikkonen was stripped of his fastest time in qualifying as a result of his accident with Takuma Sato during qualifying. As a result he will now start from 6th on the grid and Eddie Irvine moves up into 5th.
A statement by the stewards read "The Stewards of the Meeting received a report from the Race Director, stating that the Driver of car number 4 (Kimi Raikkonen) caused a collision with the driver of car number 10 (Takuma Sato) during the qualifying session," said the statement from the stewards. "Both drivers and their representatives were summoned.

"Having heard the explanations of both drivers and viewed video evidence, the Stewards of the Meeting decide to impose a penalty in accordance with Article 119 of 2002 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations to delete the fastest qualifying time of the Driver of car number 4 (Raikkonen) for causing a collision contrary to Article 53 of the aforementioned regulations."

14-Sep: At the post Qualifying press conference for the Italian GP, Juan Pablo Montoya was pleased to have broken the fastest average lap record but indicated that it will probably be broken again next year and said "I think it's good but, you know, so long as we keep coming back to Monza and the track doesn't change much. Probably next year it is going to be beaten again. It is pretty amazing how quick we went, about two seconds a lap quicker than last year, so it is pretty impressive I would say."
As for why the car is good on this type of track, he said "Aerodynamically-wise the car here works really well. It is very efficient. I think when we need to put on full downforce we are a bit down on Ferrari, but I think everything worked very well, the tyres were very consistent and I think it helps us a lot balancing the car and everything. It is good to be back on pole."
Montoya expects a strong race tomorrow and said "I think I have got to say, when I have been on pole it hasn't gone that well, there are one or two races where I was unlucky, but hopefully...Last year was a good race here, I think the tyres have been really consistent, we are quite close to the Ferraris this morning on old tyres and that was quite promising so I am really looking forward to tomorrow.
I think the chances, compared with the other races, are pretty good. We looked very competitive this morning. We have to wait and see what happens but the car is working really well here and things can play into our hands a little bit."

Michael Schumacher explained the reason behind going for longer runs in qualifying and said "It seemed like we couldn't make it on the first lap time so we had to deal with the way our tyres were in a different way, with a different strategy to our competitors which for us I wouldn't say was a downside honestly. It is just we were not fast enough in qualifying condition. We hope, naturally, that we can be fast enough tomorrow."
When asked why Bridgestone opted to bring a new tyre rather than the one they tested with at Monza, Michael said "If the tyres would have been that good we would have kept them. So we thought we had to improve something and we chose the improved version so for us that is the better solution."

Ralf Schumacher was disappointed by his mistake in the 3rd run and by the red flag towards the end and said "It was a bit dirty (following the red flag) plus the tyre was not new anymore. They cool down, you try to get the temperature back in but you can't. No-one really improved, which you wouldn't expect in a situation like that.
It was very tight today it is just my third run I made a mistake and that made it impossible to try it again."
Ralf though looks forward to the race and said "We have a very consistent tyre here as well. As usual, Michelin has a very good qualifying tyre at the same time, but I am looking forward to it tomorrow. I think it is a good chance for us this year."

14-Sep: What the teams and drivers said following Qualifying at Monza ... Report

14-Sep: The Quali-flyer looks at the 'Real Race' in Italy and hands the 'Also Ran' award to ?? ... Report

14-Sep: Italian GP – Qualifying: Juan Pablo Montoya grabs his 7th Pole position of the season ahead of Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher. Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen and Eddie Irvine make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

14-Sep: Italian GP – 2nd Saturday Practice Session: Juan Pablo Montoya sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

14-Sep: Italian GP – 1st Saturday Practice Session: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard. Kimi Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher and Eddie Irvine make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix Schedule:

Session	Time (Local / GMT) - Current local time
Friday Practice Session 1 Friday Practice Session 2 Saturday Practice Session 1 Saturday Practice Session 2 Qualifying Session Warm-up Session Race	11 AM Monza Time / 9 AM GMT 1 PM Monza Time / 11 AM GMT 9:00 AM Monza Time / 7:00 AM GMT 10:15 AM Monza Time / 8:15 AM GMT 1:00 PM Monza Time / 11:00 AM GMT 9:30 AM Monza Time / 7:30 AM GMT 2:00 PM Monza Time / 12 PM GMT
Go to the Italian GP Page