By Phil Giles
September 12 2002

The Grand Prix action begins at Monza tomorrow (Friday), however the teams are usually well into their setup routine on Thursday. The drivers are also present at the circuit and a selected few will be asked to attend the FIA's press conference.

Today's attendee's were Rubens Barrichello (RB), Alex Yoong (AY), Jarno Trulli (JT) and our own Giancarlo Fisichella (GF).

Q:"To both Italians, neither of you have very good records here in Formula One. Tell us about whether you like the circuit, whether you have a better record perhaps in other formulae?"

GF: "Yeah. First of all, I won many races in Formula Three here and it was one of my most favourite tracks. It's still one of my favourites, even if the first corner isn't so exciting. It's my home Grand Prix so we have a lot of fans here, Italian fans, they are pushing, yeah, especially Ferrari but also the Italian drivers, so it's a very important race weekend for me. I hope to do well. It's not easy because we are not so competitive but you never know. It's important to be in the top ten in qualifying and then get through to the end of the race and score some points, that would be our target."

Q: But you quite like this circuit, even though Formula One hasn't been kind to you?

GF: "Yes, it's quite a difficult circuit because for the long straights, you need a very low downforce and when you are braking from 350 kph you have to stop the car to 60, it's not easy at all, the grip level is very low. It's not so easy but it's still a good circuit for me. " - Note: Jordan tested brakes last week at the circuit.

Q: Giancarlo, a spectacular exit to the last race at Spa. Tell us about it?

GF: It wasn't exactly an exit, it was a big blow-up. We had lots of problems with the reliability in the last few weeks and especially at Spa. BAR and Jordan teams blew up many engines and even last week, unfortunately, in testing here in Monza we blew up a couple of engines, but they know and they are very optimistic for this weekend. We will have the new step of engine, which is a bit better and so that's good news. The question mark is still the reliability.

Q: You mentioned it was quite scary.

GF: "Yeah, it was quite scary because there was fire but there was a fire for a couple of seconds and then it was just a big fog. "

Q: Now, what about the football, were you playing last night?

GF: "Yeah. There was another football game for charity. We won 1-0. Michael did a good score. It was nice, quite a lot of people. It was the 11th of September but that atmosphere was good. "

Q: Giancarlo, you have tested here but otherwise there is no other circuit in the year with low downforce, is there?

GF:"Well, apart from here, which is very low downforce, there was Canada and Spa a little bit, but not like this circuit, so it is the first time we have used that level of downforce. The car is not so good and at the moment we are not competitive enough. We blew up two engines in one day so I haven't tested a lot so tomorrow we will concentrate a lot in the two free practices to do the maximum we can."

Q: Giancarlo, Honda say they know why you had the failures in Spa. Have they told you they have been able to get the problems fixed for this race?

GF: "Yeah, they are very optimistic. The engine was okay in the last few days. We will see tomorrow on the track."

Q: All of you tested last week. What are your opinions on the new speed bumps at the chicanes?

RB: "I think that it is quite useful. It was very difficult for us to know last year if the cars that went through gained or lost time. It is so easy to say okay, someone is going to overtake me and I go straight and lose time, then I close the door on the next corner and that's it. But right now on the second chicane you have the gravel trap and on the first you have the bumps so you have to be really careful. I think it is really useful. It is going to make the race a lot more interesting because if a guy tries to out-brake himself there is not escape."

GF: I agree with Rubens.

Q: For the two Italian drivers, did you ever come to any race at Monza just as a spectator and when you were young, were you Ferrari fans?

JT: "When I was young I never had the chance to come and see Formula One, and when I was young I was more supporting drivers than cars. I was supporting Ferrari when Gilles Villeneuve was there but basically I was a Niki Lauda supporter - more driver than anything else."

GF: "When I was young I was following just races close to my house in Rome, the circuit was Vallelunga and there was Formula Three, Formula Two and some other categories. I was a Ferrari fan, but especially for me it was much more important the driver like Niki Lauda, Gerhard Berger, Ayrton Senna, even Jean Alesi. I mean, I was not so young but when I was racing with them in 1997, I was very excited. I remember the first time, at the first briefing, for me was like a dream."

Q: I would like to ask the Italian drivers about the new facilities here in Monza, and then to Jarno if you think it's possible to qualify seventh here like in Spa and for both of you, is it tough to come here in front of your fans and you know your car can't give you the possibility to fight for the podium?

JT: "Talking about the facilities, I think they've done a great job here. Every year they keep improving and I'm sure they will keep improving also for the future. They've always done a good job, also in terms of safety, so I must say I'm satisfied about it, even if there's always something to do.

About me regarding seventh position on the grid, I will just say forget it for the moment, because it will be impossible for us, it would be nice to be in the top ten, but it will be very, very tough to do that.

About the last question, I can tell you it's a shame that we come here in Monza and we find such a long straight where most of it is the car so in fact, in front of your fans, you will now show a lot better performance. But that's the way it is and personally I think I just have to work with the team to try to improve the car and come back here next year and have a more reliable and quick car."

GF: "First and second answers very similar to Jarno's answer. They did very well in the past and right now about the safety for the circuit I'm quite pleased about this.

The possibility to be seventh for me is nearly impossible, the target is to be in the top ten. What I hope for Sunday is just to score some points because it's going to be very difficult. Maybe in the case of wet conditions, it could be easier for us, and you never know, we could get on the podium but it's always very difficult. "

Q: To the Italian drivers, is it frustrating that during the season, the Italian media talks more about Ferrari test drivers than the two drivers in the Formula One championship?

GF: "It's obviously not normal and it's not good for us but Ferrari is Ferrari in the world and you can imagine in Italy, so for us it is no good, for the sponsors, for the press but that's life. Maybe the best thing is to have two Italian drivers in the Ferrari cars. I don't know if Rubens would agree. "

RB: I have an Italian passport so it's okay

JT: Well, first of all they are not talking about test drivers, they are basically talking about Ferrari and this is the best thing we have in Italy. But it's a bit frustrating, it's just the way it is, you cannot change it because if Ferrari is winning, we are just here trying to do a good job and we are in Formula One, trying to get a good result, but Ferrari is winning now so you cannot say anything about it.

Q: To the Italian drivers, the only Italian driver who can win here this weekend is Giorgio Pantano. Could you give us an opinion about him?

GF: "Yeah, he is doing very well, he is fighting for the championship. I think Saturday is the last chance to win the championship so I wish to him to do his best and to win the championship and I wish to him to come soon in Formula One."
 

Good luck Giancarlo and Jordan for the Italian Grand Prix.