Italian GP Ferrari race notes

Michael Schumacher:
“I have no vocabulary to express my feelings except that I am happy and exhausted. 41 wins means a lot to me but there are times when I cannot answer all your questions. This was a very emotional win, even more so than in 1998. Here we are in Italy and after some difficult races we are back on the right road, as we proved all weekend. I am still not in front in the championship but this win is a big relief. There are 500 people working with us and all of them are part of this victory. My start was just alright as my revs dropped a little. The Safety Car did not have much effect except that the tyre pressures were low. As the Safety Car was about to pull in, I started accelerating and braking to warm up my brakes. Some drivers at the back might have been caught out by this and I apologise if I caused them a problem. The car was well balanced and worked perfectly all race. At the end, I backed off to be careful with the engine. I am very sad to hear about the death of a track official. Under these circumstances, what happened in the race has only a secondary importance.”

Rubens Barrichello:
“I am very bitter about the fact my race lasted only one lap, so that I could not race here in front of our fans. Frentzen braked too late and hit me, provoking an incident which involved a large number of cars. The best thing about today was Michael’s result, which proved how competitive Ferrari is. My car was good and I was sure I could have had a good race. Now I am already thinking about the next one in two weeks time in the USA.” Jean Todt:
“This result has been saddened by the death of a track official. He was one of a group of people without whom there would be no motor racing. I dedicate this victory to them. I am disappointed for Rubens who was hit, so that once again we lost a car on the first lap. Michael drove a great race, with a perfect car, run by a perfect team with a perfect performance. His emotion and sensibility in the press conference touched me. This was Michael’s sixth win of the season and the seventh for Ferrari this year, a result we have not achieved since 1953. We are now two points down in the Drivers’ Championship so we have staged a good come-back. It was very important to win here at Monza in front of our fans even with the pressure we have been under for the past few weeks. We wanted to win and we did, showing the true worth of the team.”