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2001 Italian Grand Prix Race Report

© Max J. Davies

Taking fifth for Jaguar, Pedro de la Rosa's impressive drive was the lift both the team and the Spaniard himself had been striving for, and proved once again, that he is more than capable of beating team mate Eddie Irvine in a straight fight. "That's the boost we've been waiting for," he said. "The past few races haven't been very good and I am just delighted for everybody in the team. Everything went like clockwork today. We'll aim to carry this momentum into the next two races and let's see where it gets us." Unhappy with the pre-race notion of not overtaking during the opening seconds of the grand prix, Jacques Villeneuve finished a fine 6th for BAR and earning a single championship point in the process. "A happier end to a difficult weekend," announced the French Canadian. "As predicted we were a lot better in the race than we were in qualifying. The team worked very hard yesterday and this morning and, somehow, the car was a lot quicker in race trim. I couldn't really race De La Rosa due to a few problems, however, sixth place gives us a valuable point at this stage in the season."

Saturday's qualifying hour was run in typical autumnal sunshine and claiming his second consecutive pole, Montoya was the man to beat - his 1:22.216s lap seeing him three tenths to the good over Barrichello's Ferrari in 2nd. The Colombian unstrapped himself, stepped from his car punching the air. Was it a perfect qualifying session? "No it wasn't but the car was really good today," he declared. "We worked a lot this morning to try to make it better and better. As the temperature rose, we became stronger and stronger. I think there is a bit more time, there is always, but I was very pleased with that lap." Barrichello's lap of 1:22.528 meant that for the first time this season, he out qualified Ferrari team mate Schumacher, yet the Brazilian surprisingly downplayed his achievement. "Well, altogether, I don't think it means a lot because there is a long race ahead," he said. "I think I had really strong car today. I think Monza is very special with all the tifosi and I'm happy to be having a good time in qualifying and hopefully in the race."

Unable to transfer his strong pace in the free practice sessions into the qualifying hour, Michael Schumacher took 3rd with 1:22.624s. Screwing up a couple of sector times, the German was satisfied with his performance. Did he find it difficult to string together the perfect lap? "In the important run, certainly, there was a mistake in the first sector; that was the third last run and that killed the overall lap time, but that's the way it is sometimes in qualifying." Michael announced. "You can't always do things very well. Obviously I was trying to go for the pole position so the only way to get that time was to push very hard and maybe overdo it... "