Formula One news

Ferrari savours grid advantage

Ferrari savoured its significant advantage over Renault after qualifying in Monza as Michael Schumacher qualified second and Massa fourth while Renault's Alonso and Fisichella were fifth and tenth. 

"Qualifying was as close fought as it was exciting," said team boss Jean Todt. "The top six are all within half a second, which bears witness to how evenly matched it is, although we have to bear in mind the unknowns in terms of the various fuel loads. Michael drove a great lap, losing out on pole by just two thousandths. But what matters is his position relative to his rival in the title fight. A shame for Felipe, who could have been on the front row but for his encounter with traffic on his final run. We are perfectly aware just how important is the outcome of this race in terms of the fight for both titles."

Michael Schumacher commented, "The car worked well, running strongly and consistently and this is a good position to be in. But, it would have been nice to be on pole here at home in front of the tifosi and it was very close losing it by just two thousandths of a second, but tomorrow is the more important date. I am also happy for Nick, as it is nice to see another German on the qualifying "podium." Fernando? Of course it is better than if he was next to me or in front of me! It does not look too bad for the championship and it would be nice if tomorrow's result was like today's or hopefully even a little bit better."

Felipe Massa added, "Fourth place is not so bad, but it's a shame I was unable to exploit the full potential available to me. In fact, on Q3 on my last run, I came up behind Alonso who was also setting out on his quick lap. I lost at least three tenths! It's a shame, because I felt capable of putting it on the front row. But, having said that, I think that our strategy and our package we can expect a good result, which will be vital in the fight for the two titles."

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