Monteiro optimistic despite problem

Monteiro optimistic for Japanese Grand Prix

Tiago Monteiro start the penultimate Grand Prix of the season from the last row of the grid after a truncated qualifying session. His Spyker MF1 Racing machine ran faultlessly for 32 laps during the three hour-long practice sessions leading up to this afternoon's qualifying, but unfortunately a loose screw in the suspension brought him to a halt then after only three laps.

Tiago Monteiro.

Photo by xpb.cc.

During the practice session this morning Tiago covered 19 laps with a best lap of 1m 33.824s. "I certainly prefer to run on a dry track. Yesterday we used the dry tyres on a track that was still wet in places after heavy rain the previous day and that morning. It was a bit like being an acrobat, and I had to play a lot with the balance."

"We progressed well with our work over the weekend and did not push too hard to save our engines. I can cope easily with any changing weather conditions. My bet is for a dry race tomorrow. I like the track. It is a bit old-fashion and unforgiving, but that is the fun of it and part of its quality."

In qualifying this afternoon Tiago managed three laps for a time of 1m 33.709s before the loose wheel interrupted him. "We were really not lucky today. It's my second time racing at this track and I was hoping that the qualifying format would be beneficial to us. But we couldn't make it into the second knockout session despite our good progress leading up to qualifying."

"The minute I left the pits I felt something was loose in the car. I was right. The feeling got worse but I made it back to the pits. One of the bolts in the front suspension wishbone was not fully tightened, hence the odd feeling."

"At least I was lucky not to lose the wheel, and to get back to the pits. Unfortunately the car was damaged a little so there was no time left to try and improve my lap. What a shame, because looking at my time from the first sector, we could certainly have qualified ahead of the Red Bull cars."

"I'll be starting from the back row and it will be tough because overtaking is difficult on this track. But I certainly hope to have make a strong start and have a good race."

-credit: dca