Panis 9th after final Italian GP qualifying


Panis in ninth ....

By Toyota F1 Media
September 13 2003

For the Toyota F1 team final qualifying for the Italian GP would see Panis finish in ninth while team-mate Da Matta was back in 12th. For Da Mtta this was disapointing considering he was fourth after Friday qualifying.

 
Italian GP Saturday Qualifying - Team Comments
 
After a troublesome free practice session this morning, Olivier Panis's Italian Grand Prix weekend started to come together in Monza today as he claimed 9th place in second qualifying. His Panasonic Toyota Racing team-mate Cristiano da Matta, however, was not satisfied with his lap and will line up three places further back in 12th.
Cristiano da Matta
 Cristiano da MattaCar Number 21, Chassis TF103/04
Session Classification: 12th
Lap Time: 1m22.914s +1.951s from pole
Running Order: 17th

"Not a great qualifying lap for me this afternoon. I made a small mistake at Ascari and probably lost two or three tenths, which was a shame. Even so, the level of our performance today was not as high compared to yesterday's sessions and we need to figure out why. The Italian Grand Prix is a long race and quite tough, particularly in terms of reliability, but I am confident that we can reach the finish and get a good result."

 
Olivier Panis
 Olivier PanisCar Number 20, Chassis TF103/07
Session Classification: 9th
Lap Time: 1m22.488s +1.525s from pole
Running Order: 11th

"This weekend has been pretty difficult for me, so I am pleased with my qualifying lap today. We had some electronics problems in practice this morning, but everyone has worked well to improve the balance of the car for today's session. We are now in a good direction for the race and starting from ninth, I think we will again be in a position to fight for points tomorrow."

 
Keizo Takahashi - General Manager Car Design and Development
 Keizo Takahashi"This qualifying result is satisfying for the Panasonic Toyota Racing team. I am pleased with Olivier setting the ninth fastest time, given that he missed one of this morning's free practice session due to electronic problems. Cristiano's car was not as competitive as yesterday, but I think both cars should be in reasonably good shape to challenge for points in the Grand Prix tomorrow."
 
Weather: Hot and sunny
T-Car: TF103/08 set up for Olivier Panis. Spare Chassis: TF103/02

Weekend at a Glance

Friday practice (dry track)
Da Matta P6, 1m21.881s, 24 laps
Panis P12, 1m22.584s, 20 laps

Friday Qualifying (dry track)
Da Matta P4, 1m21.829s (+1.173s)
Panis P10, 1m22.372s (+1.716s)

Saturday practice 1 (dry track)
Da Matta P11, 1m23.312s, 12 laps
Panis P20, No time set, 4 laps

Saturday practice 2 (dry track)
Panis P7, 1m22.321s, 14 laps
Da Matta P12, 1m23.194s, 20 laps

Warm-Up (dry track)
Panis P10, 1m23.095s, 5 laps
Da Matta P14, 1m23.467s, 6 laps
 
Totally ToyotaF1

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