Italian GP Saturday Arrows notes

The morning sessions were relatively uneventful for OrangeArrows as both Pedro and Jos refined their cars for qualifying, finishing in an unrepresentative 17th and 18th positions respectively. Neither driver improved his time in the second part of the session and Jos commented on some excessive understeer in the circuit's middle section, whilst Pedro was fastest through the speed trap on the long pit straight at 342kph.

As track temperatures rose and in front of a packed Monza crowd, the OrangeArrows played a strong competitive role in a very close qualifying session that saw the top dozen cars separated by just 1.2 seconds.

Jos' challenge for a top 10 position faltered early on with a hydraulic problem in the engine, forcing him into the spare car. A superb recovery by both Team and driver comeback saw the flying Dutchman, now back in his race car, take 11th position, just 6/1000ths behind his team mate.

Pedro was consistently in the top 10 throughout the session with a strong final lap just failing to take 8th position by 3/100ths of a second, finishing in 10th.

Pedro de la Rosa:
'I am very happy with the last lap which kept me in the top 10. We made some changes from free practice which worked and it is good to be back in the top 10, its where we deserve to be.'

Jos Verstappen:
'Qualifying was difficult today as I had to come in after one lap and get into the T car. My first flying lap (in the T car) felt good. The mechanics fixed my race car and although they suspected a further leak, we had to go for it as time was running out. The end result was good, the boys have done a good job and I am happy.'

Tom Walkinshaw:
'It was a good session from both drivers, Jos in particular. Both Supertec and Arrows mechanics did a super job to fix Jos' car. We are back where we should be and we expect to be competitive tomorrow.'