Formula One news

Williams pairing ready for 'passionate' Italy

2001 was the last time Williams took a race winner's trophy home from Monza after Columbian Juan-Pablo Montoya broke his duck to claim his first Grand Prix win. This year, Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima are hoping to register a points finish, something the Grove team was unable to do in 2008.

12th for Nakajima and 14th for Rosberg was the best Williams-Toyota could achieve at the classic Monza track last season although both men are again looking forward to the unique atmosphere of the Autodrome.

"I think, as a nation, they were inspired by Enzo Ferrari," Rosberg said. "Every bar and restaurant has a TV showing the races and, bizarrely, I am better known in Italy than I am at home! It is just an enormous sport in Italy - everyone is very enthusiastic about racing."

Monza may be some 6,000 miles from Nakajima's hometown of Aichi but the Japanese driver is still aiming for his first points of the year. "You can't help but notice the passion, that's what makes it different," commented Kazuki, who, by this point in the championship last season, had already notched up eight points. "It will be a really good weekend, it always is, and I can safely say that I will return home having been well fed!"

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