10/07/2004
NEWS STORY
Team Sauber Petronas drivers Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella will start tomorrow's British Grand Prix from 10th and 20th position respectively after this afternoon's qualifying sessions.
Giancarlo Fisichella: "We elected to stay in the pits because of my engine penalty, saving the tyres and the fuel. If I had a choice for tomorrow, I'd like it to rain!"
Felipe Massa: "It's unbelievable! I have told Panis that I cannot understand what he was doing. He must have seen me, and even if he didn't, he had to know at the speed he was going that another car would be coming up behind him soon. The team should have been telling him. Fine, if you are going slowly to save fuel, brake on the straight and keep out of the way. He didn't do that. He was in the way, and he braked on my line. Without that I could have been ninth. I'm very disappointed because the car was very good today, and the balance was not too bad. It's really not fair."
Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "There was no point in sending Giancarlo out this afternoon as he had been given a 10 grid-place penalty because of his engine change yesterday. It made more sense to preserve his tyres and start at the back. Felipe drove a great qualifying lap but unfortunately he lost his ninth place by Olivier Panis's incomprehensible behaviour. That handed the advantage to Mark Webber, who is in front of us.
"However, during the last two days we have confirmed that our new rear bodywork has made a considerable improvement to the performance of the C23."