GP Italy preview with Tonio
The Italian Grand Prix this weekend is Tonio’s home race and the final race of the European season before the F1 World Championship embarks on a quintet of flyaway races in Asia and South America. Tonio heads to this historic event looking to consolidate the form he showed at the previous race in Spa-Francorchamps, where he secured his fifth points finish of the 2010 season.
“I was really pleased to get that final point in Belgium: I had to work harder for that one point than almost any other I can remember in my F1 career. It was a really crazy race with the rain and then the battles with the other drivers but I really enjoyed the extra challenge of fighting back through the field. It was very satisfying after a tough weekend.”
“We had some issues during practice, but as a team we worked together and found a solution just before qualifying. The team did such a good job to work night and day to give me the best possible car they could. Ultimately I believe we could have finished even higher as I got hit by another car early on that damaged my wing and then Vettel ran into me in the last part of the race. Overall though I enjoyed the challenge and the extra pressure mentally, especially when the difference between getting it right and wrong was so small.”
“Next up I’ve got my home race in Italy, which is the same race I made my Force India race debut last year. It holds such great memories for me. Going into the race we had just had a fantastic result in Spa so the whole team was on a high, and we knew we had a great car going into Monza.”
“I got the call and of course I was pretty nervous but I tried to build into the weekend and gradually improve. Then in qualifying I got into P7, which was such a fantastic feeling. Unfortunately in the race I had a mechanical problem when I was running in the top six but I really felt that I had done the maximum I could do.”
“Now this year as always we want to perform, especially after last year. But it’s also not just that or because it’s my home crowd that I want to do well, I also want to get the result we deserve this season. We have narrowly missed out on really good results for a number of reasons this year, so I want to pull it all together. And if it’s at Monza, it’s true that it will be even more satisfying. The signs so far are good – the aero test we did showed a big improvement, the car is already strong and we’ve got a good programme for the race weekend in place.”
8 Sep 2010 | 
