BMW WilliamsF1 Team-Italian GP-First Qualifying

Italian Grand Prix  -  FIRST QUALIFYING                      12th September
2003

Weather: Sunny, dry. Temp: 26°C  Air,  43°C Track

Monza (ITA). It was a mixed start to the Italian Grand Prix weekend for the
BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers, with Juan Pablo Montoya setting the fastest
time today and Ralf Schumacherıs time being annulled for missing the
chicane. Ralf and Juan Pablo will leave the garage tomorrow for the Final
Qualifying towards the beginning and at the end of the session respectively.

Juan Pablo Montoya:    1st
Chassis: FW25 06 
Best time: 1.20.656 min
"I wasnıt very comfortable with the balance of my car this morning but we
made some changes which put it back on the right track and I think we should
be pretty competitive now. Before qualifying I wasnıt too sure about what
the car was going to do but it ran as expected, which means we did a good
job. We were quite quick in last weekıs test here which makes us confident
for the rest of the weekend. We should perform better tomorrow when the
track will be cleaner. Itıs obviously ideal to be ahead of Michael and Kimi,
but what counts is tomorrow, not today, really."

Ralf Schumacher:    No Time
Chassis: FW25 07  (Spare car FW25 04)
"My qualifying today was compromised by a mistake I made just before the
chicane. I simply braked too late and went straight on, which was my fault.
The handling of the car was very good, which is promising for tomorrowıs
qualifying and the race on Sunday. I have tested the modified tyres today
for the first time and must say they are a step forward for us. Ferrari is
very strong here as expected and we need to work hard."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
"Itıs good to see the pace of the car on this circuit. The tyres are working
well and will play a critical part of our race performance. Juan Pablo did a
good lap, unfortunately Ralf made a mistake in the chicane so he will have
to make this up tomorrow."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
"In the first qualifying we have seen the expected close competition between
Ferrari and ourselves. We had no technical problems. Monza is the last true
power circuit of the F1 calendar and as such, it is a big challenge for BMW
as an engine manufacturer. Thatıs why this circuitıs lay-out is our
reference track for the dyno in Munich. The new engine for 2004, the P84,
has completed this dyno test already in July. On September 4th during the
Monza test we have also tested the P84 for the first time in its 2004
specification in the running car. This means we are ahead of schedule and
very pleased with the test results so far."