Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa are feeling optimistic after today’s qualifying session as the duo lines up in 12th and 15th starting positions ahead of tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix.

Being the third driver out on track, Felipe was handicapped with a ‘less than optimum track condition’ and it showed in his laptime. Never the pessimist, Massa pointed that that since the overall balance is good coupled with a possible heavy fuel load for a single stop, he may just spring a surprise in tomorrow’s race.

He said, “Starting in the first three in qualifying is definitely not great! When my turn came the track was still quite slippery. But looking at our strategy the lap was actually pretty good and we know that our car is going to be better in race trim, so the situation is a lot better than it appears to be.”

Teammate Jacques meanwhile, had a much better chance to improve after finishing 11th in the last race and the Canadian duly took charge with a commendable lap in Monza. He said, “We are only two positions off our ideal position, which would have been 10th, so it was not too bad for me today. The lap was quite good.”

Technical Director Willy Rampf added, “Overall today was good. We improved the balance of the cars after this morning. And taking into consideration the fact that Felipe had to start the session so early when track conditions were not optimal, and the race strategy that we have chosen for each car, we have achieved a reasonable qualifying result.”