09/09/2011
NEWS STORY
Daniel Ricciardo and Vitantonio Liuzzi finished in 21st and 22nd place respectively after today's first free practice sessions for the 2011 Italian Grand Prix held in Monza. In the second session, Liuzzi drove 34 laps and managed a best lap time of 1'29.162 to rank 21st while team-mate Daniel Ricciardo only managed 7 laps and finished 24th. The Australian driver endured a tough afternoon session after being stranded in the garage for some time with an alternator change.
Vitantonio Liuzzi: "It was a pretty good first day in Monza, just how I wanted to get my home grand prix underway. This track suits our car better than others because there aren't any high speed corners where a lack of downforce tends to cost us. So we've closed the gap quite a bit with our main rivals".
"We did some set-up work in the morning and worked on understanding the soft tyres in the afternoon so, overall, we got some valid information. I think we have a good balance on lung runs but need to work on our single lap pace tomorrow morning. Everybody did a good job today and I think we can have a good weekend but we must keep on working hard".
Daniel Ricciardo: "The morning session went as planned and we got through the established programme. I understand the car better and how it behaves on track with every day that goes by. On the first lap in the afternoon session we had an electrical issue and had to spend around an hour in the garage to solve it. The mechanics did a good job under pressure in a short amount of time which allowed me to get back on track at the end of the session to do a few laps. Obviously, I would have preferred to have done 20 or 30 laps but at least I was able to get back out".
"I have a lot to learn from Tonio's experience and, realistically, if you look at his times and compare them to Lotus and Virgin, then we were pretty close. The F111 adapts better to this track than to others, so I think this could be a good weekend, but now what we have to do is work hard for tomorrow".
Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "It is Friday practice but the sessions have not been as productive as the drivers and team were hoping for. We gathered some good data in the morning and worked on the tyres. Liuzzi has had a good run in the afternoon session, but we had to change the alternator on Ricciardo's car and he could not push as hard as he should have. It is a pity we could not have a second full proper sessions and enough running time to test our whole programme".