Disappointing race for the Toyota F1 team.


Zonta
By Toyota F1 Media
September 14 2004

The 2004 Italian GP would be a disappointing race for the Toyota F1 team, with Panis retiring on lap one and Zonta finishing in 11th. For Olivier his last European Grand Prix as a full time driver would see him involved in an accident that would see his car retire with a damaged front wing.

 
Italian GP Race Round-Up
 
Grand Prix of Italy - Race Round-Up
Sunday 12 September 2004

PanisOlivier Panis (Car 17, Chassis TF104/09B)
Session Classification: DNF, +53 laps (from race winner) Grid: 13th
"I am extremely disappointed with the outcome of today's race. I think the team made a good strategic decision to start on slick tyres despite the damp track conditions. I gained a place into the first corner, and I was racing closely with Pizzonia at the second chicane with the field very tight. I picked up a bit of understeer and ran into the back of his car, which broke my front wing. I then ended up in the gravel and my race was over. It is a real shame after what has been a difficult weekend for me."

TF104Ricardo Zonta (Car 16, Chassis TF104/10B)
Session Classification: 11th, +1m22.531s (from race winner) Grid: 11th
"The start was good. I just took care not to make contact with anyone because I was not sure how slippery the track would be after all the rain that we had during the morning. It was difficult to increase the temperature of the tyres at the beginning when the track was still damp. Every time I was behind another car, I lost downforce and the tyre did not perform. Throughout the whole race, I suffered from low grip levels and I simply had to try and retain my position. I am not pleased to finish in 11th position after all the effort we have put in this weekend."

Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal
"That was a disappointing race for the team. We had problems on the opening lap when Olivier retired after making contact with Antonio Pizzonia's BMW-Williams. Ricardo made a good start up to tenth place, but seemed to struggle thereafter, complaining of poor grip levels. We made the decision to start on dry tyres, which was the correct choice in the improving track conditions, and it is difficult to understand why we fell back when everyone else was able to set competitive times right from the start. We lost a lot of time in the first stint, but the lap times then improved during the last two stints of the race. We now need to analyse why we were not quick enough from the beginning. We have a test in Silverstone next week, which is a high-speed circuit and one that will be beneficial to prepare our TF104B race car for the three remaining races of the season in China, Japan and Brazil."
 
Driver Classification Chassis Best Lap Gap Laps

Free Practice Session 1
Olivier Panis 15th TF104/09B 1m22.487s +1.961s 8
Ricardo Zonta 16th TF104/10B 1m22.607s +2.081s 10
Ryan Briscoe 17th TF104/07 1m22.815s +2.289s 21

Free Practice Session 2
Ryan Briscoe 12th TF104/07 1m22.197s +1.351s 35
Ricardo Zonta 14th TF104/10B 1m22.298s +1.452s 22
Olivier Panis 18th TF104/09B 1m22.813s +1.967s 15

Free Practice Session 3
Ricardo Zonta 14th TF104/10B 1m22.867s +1.167s 9
Olivier Panis 15th TF104/09B 1m23.103s +1.403s 9

Free Practice Session 4
Olivier Panis 12th TF104/09B 1m21.889s +1.334s 18
Ricardo Zonta 14th TF104/10B 1m22.114s +1.559s 20

Qualifying 1
Ricardo Zonta 14th TF104/10B 1m21.829s +2.304s 3
Olivier Panis 16th TF104/09B 1m22.169s +2.644s 3

Qualifying 2
Ricardo Zonta 11th TF104/10B 1m21.520s +1.431s 3
Olivier Panis 13th TF104/09B 1m21.841s +1.752s 3

Race
Ricardo Zonta 11th TF104/10B +1m22.531 53
Olivier Panis DNF TF104/09B +53 laps 0