Italian GP: Williams qualifying report

A well balanced Monza-specific aero package enabled the AT&T Williams team to make a positive start to the Italian GP this weekend, momentum that Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello managed to carry through into qualifying this afternoon, putting both cars into the top ten for the fifth time this season. In the event, Nico was just piped to 7th place by a hundredth of a second, while Rubens closed out the top ten in tight session.

Nico Hulkenberg:
It was a very, very positive qualifying and I really enjoyed driving here today - the car feels good, I really enjoy the track, so you might call it harmony! This gave me a lot of confidence and meant I was able to put in a mega lap in Q3, even though I could have been quicker in sector 1. Overall I am really pleased and I must thank the factory who developed a great aero package that works well on the straights for top speed, but is also perfectly balanced under cornering. This afternoon's performance means I am now really looking forward to the prospect of the race tomorrow.

Rubens Barrichello:
It's been quite difficult for me to find an ideal set-up here despite the fact that at I am at home on this track as I won here last year. I think we hoped for better, around P7, which should have been possible, but we have not quite optimised our potential so far. However, the race still provides plenty of opportunity tomorrow and I am sure we have the possibility of a good result.

Sam Michael, Technical Director:
Nico has done an excellent job throughout all the practice and qualifying sessions this weekend. He's starting the race in a good position to score points tomorrow. Rubens couldn't get the same lap together as Nico this afternoon, so we're looking through that now, but we expect both to be solid in the race tomorrow. We had no mechanical problems today.

-source: williams