Italian GP Saturday Ferrari notes

Monza, 11th September

Mika Salo: sixth, 1.23.657, 12 laps, F399 chassis 196 Eddie Irvine: eighth, 1.23.765, 12 laps, F399 chassis 191

Jean Todt "Obviously I am disappointed with our grid positions. We have one car on the third row and the other on the fourth, while on the other hand, our main competitors are very well placed. I expected qualifying to be difficult, but I had hoped we could get one car on the second row and the other on the third. Other teams have made significant progress, as we saw already in Hockenheim, which is the second fastest circuit of the Championship."

Mika Salo "My last lap was a good one, but I had a bit of traffic. When I braked in the second chicane I lost a little bit of downforce behind another car and I went sideways. I might have gained one positions on the grid. We still cannot get rid of the understeer. Otherwise the car is good and I think, thanks to the work we did at the test here, I will have a very good race car for tomorrow. We are in better shape today than yesterday and now we must try and make another step forward overnight. At the moment our car is just too slow everywhere, so we must try and come up with a solution before the race."

Eddie Irvine "The car is a little bit better than yesterday. It is more consistent, but not much quicker. On my last run I was slowed by a yellow flag but it would not have affected my time very much. Basically, we have not made enough progress with the car over the last three or four races. We have some improvements coming for the next race, but we cannot fix the problem overnight. We need to improve the aerodynamics which are so important here. At least the new version of the engine is a good step in the right direction. My best chance in the race is to make a great start. I am aiming to get as many points as possible. In the race, Frentzen could help us by mixing it with our main rivals. The Championship is not yet over for us."

Temperatures: air 26 C, track 32-40 C