It was so close but so far as Team Lotus finished P13 and 14 in Italy ahead of Virgin. Sauber and HRT failed to finish...
Team Lotus:
Heikki Kovalainen: "I had a great start, passing Jarno and then seeing the HRT coming into T1 in a pretty hardcore style so I avoided that and was then up into a good position early on. I managed to hold that place for a good number of laps and found the tyre degradation pretty easy to manage. The pitstops were really good today - the calls to come in were made at the right times and the whole crew did a great job to get me out so quickly, so thanks to them and the whole team for a good end to the weekend."
Jarno Trulli: "For once I didn't have a great start but I managed to avoid the crash at the first corner and luckily Heikki and I were able to get through that and avoid damaging our cars. While I was racing Heikki, I think Massa got into trouble into the first chicane, so I had to go off track to avoid hitting him. When I rejoined the track he shut the door on me, so I went down the inside, kept flat out and managed to overtake him. Then, going into the first corner I had two faster cars behind me with KERS - they had just pressed the button and while going into the second corner Massa lost the car under braking and hit me which forced me into the car next to me, damaging the front end of the car and the front wing. It was really unlucky as I was basically in a sandwich and I was the only one that was damaged! The team did a great job to bring me in , change the nose and then rethink the strategy, switching me to one stop strategy pretty much straight away. From there my lap times were really good and I enjoyed the whole of the rest of the race. I'm really happy about the performance today and the pace was excellent all afternoon. In fact, throughout the whole weekend I have been very happy with the pace of the car overall and this morning's news about next year's contract has made this a fantastic home race for me - thanks to the whole team for that!"
Virgin:
Timo Glock: "The race today was okay, even though the car was a bit difficult to drive, which is a little disappointing after yesterday's qualifying. Over the weekend we have definitely seen a step forward. The car felt better, but we have to look at why the car wasn't so good in race trim and see how we can develop the package for Singapore."
Jerome D'Ambrosio: "A really disappointing end to the weekend. I was really looking forward to the race and then during the formation lap I realised that I had no second gear. I started the race but the car was undriveable, so I had to come back into the garage and retire. It's a real shame because today's race looked like a close one but we just have to move on and get ready for the next race, as the initial signs from the upgrade have been positive."
Sauber:
Sergio Perez: "Despite our poor grid positions, we were doing well in the race, but then both of us retired, and that is tough. I started 15th and our race strategy was to do a very long stint on the harder tyres - the medium compound - and in the end only a short stint on the soft tyres. From lap 20 I had been in seventh. I had a gap in front and one behind, so it all looked good, but then first of all I could not use third gear and then after that couldn't shift in any gear. We missed a great opportunity to score points today."
Kamui Kobayashi: "This is, of course, disappointing for everybody. I had no power anymore no matter which gear I selected. Until then it had been quite an exciting and difficult race for me. I had a set of the new harder tyres - the medium compound - for the start and, of course, the plan was to stay out with them for a long time. Sergio proved later that this was possible, but after the accident in turn one, which involved a couple of cars, everybody tried to stop so as not to run into the accident. I touched the car which braked in front of me. Not only did my front wing come lose, but I also damaged a tyre and therefore I had to change to a set of used soft tyres. Because of this our strategy was ruined, but I was still very confident about scoring points today. It is a true shame."
Hispania:
Daniel Ricciardo: "The race started as bad as it could, for some reason the car went into anti-stall, jammed in third gear and then the engine switched off. I couldn't get restarted and had to get the car back into the box. The mechanics got it going again and I was back on track but the engine temperature rose and they called me back to check it and it took us a few more minutes until we could rejoin the race. I went straight into a bit of traffic which made it hard to get a bit of rhythm. But at least in the second stint at the end of the race I was able to get in quite a few good laps and we got some data out of that. A little bit is better than nothing but I need to keep pushing for a better result in Singapore."
Tonio Liuzzi: ""I was really looking forward to my home race and, although I knew it was going to be tough, it all ended prematurely. I had a good start getting past both Virgins, Lotuses and Daniel but then I went for another overtaking manoeuvre and got closed out. That put me into the grass and once I was there I tried to slow down but completely lost control of the car and unfortunately hit other cars. I am really sorry for Petrov, Rosberg and the other drivers who were forced to retire because of this. Now it's over but we are fighters and we have to look ahead to the next race."
Related Links
Italian GP: Vettel storms to his eighth win of 2011
