Da Matta 4th after Italian Friday Qualifying
Panis 10th ....
By Toyota F1 Media
September 12 2003
The Toyota F1 team would have an encouraging start to the Italian GP weekend with Christiano da Matta 4th in Friday qualifying. Olivier panis was down in tenth. Da Matta was especially pleased with the performance of his car.
| Italian GP Friday Qualifying - Team Comments |
| A flying start to this weekend's Italian Grand Prix resulted in both Panasonic Toyota Racing TF103s in the top ten for first qualifying in Monza today. Cristiano da Matta drove a spectacular lap to take 4th place, whilst Olivier Panis rounded off the top ten in 10th spot, despite using the T-car for his run after experiencing some set-up problems on his race car in this morning's practice session. |
Cristiano da Matta Car
Number 21 Session Classification: 4th Lap Time: 1m21.829s, +1.173s from pole Running Order: 12th Chassis: TF103/04 "I am very happy with my qualifying time. Since the first few laps this morning we have been more confident than we were at the test last week. I want to thank the engineers, who have all done a good job over the weekend to study the data from last week and to make the car stronger. It makes a difference to have driven the three days last week, because I have not had to spend time learning the track this morning and I have been able to get a good feeling with the car. Fourth place is certainly a good way to start the weekend." |
Olivier Panis Car
Number 20 Session Classification: 10th Lap Time: 1m22.372s, +1.716s from pole Running Order: 14th "It has been a difficult day for me today, but I am generally quite happy with tenth place. I wasn't really comfortable with the car in this morning's session and we had a few small mechanical problems, so I decided to take the T-car for qualifying. In the end, there wasn't much difference, but we'll work hard on things tonight to improve the car for tomorrow. On a more positive note, I am pleased for Cristiano - he drove very well today." |
Luca Marmorini - General Manager Engine Department "I
think 4th and 10th position in today's qualifying session is an
encouraging start to the weekend. However, there is over a second between
us and the frontrunners, so we have to keep our feet on the ground.
Cristiano did a very commendable job and set the fastest first sector of
the session. It was a shame Olivier could not do a similar time, but he
nevertheless drove a respectable lap and had a very good second sector
time. We are at over 70% full throttle at Monza - the most of the season -
so it is tough on the engine. Things have run smoothly today, so I think
we should be optimistic."
|
| Weather: Hot
and sunny. T-car: TF103/08 set up for Olivier Panis. Spare Chassis: TF103/02 Weekend at a Glance Friday practice (dry track) Da Matta P6, 1m21.881s, 24 laps Panis P12, 1m22.584s, 20 laps |
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