Italian GP: Williams race notes

After a strong qualifying performance the BMW WilliamsF1 Team had a disappointing race day at the 2002 Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Both Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya had a share of third place but had to retire whilst in this position.

Juan Pablo Montoya

"I didn't have a good start at all as the engine nearly stalled and Ralf went past me under braking and he just went straight. It's a shame that I had a problem with my chassis, which forced me to retire because I still could have finished third, as I was quicker than Kimi. Anyway, this is racing and you can't do anything about it. It is clear that at the moment we are still underperfoming compared to Ferrari. Over a race distance they are still well ahead of us."

Ralf Schumacher

"It was a very odd start Juan had some problems to get away so I took advantage at the first chicane. The team was called by the FIA to swap places with Juan. Sam told me to do so and I slowed down. Right after that I had an engine failure. It's a shame because we usually have reliable engines and my car was going very fast, for the fuel load I had."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"Obviously a disappointing end to the day from the reliability point of view. After a bad start we had a problem with the chassis on Juan's car, which ultimately caused his withdrawal from the race. The reason for this is under investigation. After the lap to the grid Ralf had to switch to the T-car due to a fuel pressure problem he then had a pneumatic pressure loss with his engine during the race after only a few laps."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"This was a disappointing race after a strong qualifying. Ralf started with the T-Car because a problem was identified with the fuel pressure on his race car. Unfortunately during the race we had an engine failure on Ralf's car due to a loss of pressure in the engine's pneumatic valve system. We still don't know the cause. The failure happened extremely early in the race. Juan Pablo was running strongly in third position when he had to retire. The engine was running well on his car. We obviously came to Monza with high hopes, but that's racing."

Juan Pablo Montoya: DNF
Chassis: FW24 05
Fastest Lap: 1:25,094 on lap 25 (4th overall)

Ralf Schumacher: DNF
Chassis: FW24 02 (T-car)
Fastest Lap: 1:25,717 on lap 3 (11th overall)

-williams-