Thirteenth victory of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the first for Rubens Barrichello. It is Ferrari's sixteenth win in the Italian Grand Prix, the third in a row and win number 180 from 701 Grands Prix starts. It was Rubens' eighth career win, his second at Monza. This result is the team's eighth one-two of the season, the sixty ninth in total and the twenty third for Michael and Rubens. The points scored today create a new record for the most number of points scored in a season under the current points system:234.
Jean Todt: It was an amazing race! After going off in almost opposite directions, Rubens and Michael found themselves crossing the line one behind the other, but most importantly ahead of the rest. Rubens had started on rain tyres, while Michael opted for dry ones. The opening laps were very difficult for us: Michael had a spin and dropped to the back of the pack. Rubens pulled out a slight lead before having to come into the pits to fit dry weather tyres on lap 5, as the track was drying very quickly. We knew we had a faster package than the others in terms of car, engine and Bridgestone tyres, but overtaking still proved difficult. Therefore we decided to go for broke, getting Rubens to do an extra pit stop. Both drivers strung together some exceptional series of lap times. The key moment came when Rubens went back out on track after his final stop as the Brazilian managed to hang onto the lead, while Michael pulled a brilliant passing move on Button at the end of the main straight. This is a rewarding one-two and is the fruit not only of all the good work of the team, but also the extraordinary support of our partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell who play a fundamental role in our success. I am proud of our team, our drivers and our entire company. Today, I am particularly pleased for Rubens as this win is the icing on the cake: a stupendous win in a great season. Winning this way in front of our fans and our staff is really a very emotional moment.
Rubens Barrichello: I have had a few wins, but this is the first time I win twice at the same race and it is just as magic as the last time at Monza. Some people say F1 is boring but there was nothing boring about today's race. It is an unbelievable feeling. This has been the best season ever and all that was missing for me was a win. It came because we have a fantastic team and I say a very big thank you to all of them and all our tifosi. Thanks to them, I loved every moment of this weekend. When it is your day, it is your day! It was a difficult decision regarding tyres at the start, but I was worried I might be caught up in an accident with people spinning so I felt it was better to fit the rain tyres and push as hard as possible and try and escape the pack. I had actually chosen a set-up that slightly favoured the wet. Maybe if I had come in to change to slicks one lap earlier, my middle stint would have been easier. Then when Michael and Pizzonia passed me I thought all was lost. But when my fuel load came down I was just pushing all the time and it was a good call from the team to change the strategy. I said to myself, ‘just push the throttle and go.” Then I saw I was P4 and I could see the other three cars ahead so I knew I had a chance. I could not believe it when the team told me I was P1 and said something rude in Portuguese!
Michael Schumacher: It was an interesting race with interesting battles. I never thought I could go from almost last to second. At the first chicane I could not stop the car in time and then at the second chicane, I got into a nice four wheel slide but Jenson was outside me, we touched and it spun me round. It was very frustrating waiting for the cars to go past before I could start again. But the car worked fantastically well. As for my tyre choice at the start, I knew that really there was no right choice, so when I saw that Rubens had gone for rain I decided to go the other way, so that at least one Ferrari got it right. But with this result, it seems that both decisions were good. Rubens deserves this win as he drove a great race after a fantastic qualifying.
Ross Brawn: We knew that if we have an Achilles Heel, it is our performance on a damp track. With hindsight, it is difficult to say whether Michael or Rubens made the best choice. In any case, after a few laps, things were looking very bad and we thought at that time that the best we could hope for was a points finish or maybe a podium. But when we saw our performance level, first with Michael, as at that point, Rubens had a lot of fuel on board, we decided to change Rubens' strategy as he was in a better position. Rubens drove a fantastic race, as did Michael in fact. Once again, the Bridgestone tyres were exceptional. It is hard to find the words to describe finishing first and second after those opening five laps and with no outside intervention such as an appearance from the safety car. It is really fantastic!
