Good race for Monteiro

Tiago Monteiro drove an excellent race in the Japanese Grand Prix to finish 16th for the Spyker MF1 team. He spent much of it fighting with the Red Bull and Toro Rosso cars and Rubens Barrichello (Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team).

Tiago Monteiro.

Photo by xpb.cc.

"Overall it was a tough weekend in Suzuka with a very wet first day and a difficult qualifying with a major mechanical problem for me, but I am happy because I finished 16th and had a good time during the race. I had a good start and passed Takuma Sato and then gained another position when Tonio Liuzzi spun."

"I had a heavy fuel load and our original strategy was to refuel only once. But we adapted it during the race to two. My tires were doing fine and I was cruising in 1m 38.116 and already in 19th position with Rubens Barrichello closing slowly on me, but I was able to follow the pack of cars ahead and it was good because I knew that they were lighter than me."

"I was 15th when I refueled on lap 25. The stop went smoothly and I rejoined behind Rubens Barrichello who until then had not managed to overtake me. But then after two laps my new tires were graining and I lost a lot of time and it was difficult to catch up."

"In the final 15 laps I was up to 15th again but with 11 laps to go we had to pit for new tires. Unfortunately it was too late to regain time and places although the pace of the car was excellent during the race."

"I am looking forward to the Brazilian Grand Prix. A good number of my Portuguese sponsors will accompany me to the last race of the season and it will be good to enjoy their support there."

-credit: dca