Team SAUBER PETRONAS found themselves out of luck in Monza today when Felipe Massa finished just outside the points in ninth while teammate Jacques Villeneuve ended 11th in a thrilling and frenetic Italian Grand Prix.

In a day of exceptional reliability when no cars retired, both the Sauber drivers found themselves within points contentions after a blistering start from both both drivers. Villeneuve managed to pass Kimi Raikkonen within the first corner and brilliantly held him up until his first round of pit stop. Felipe also gained a few precious positions within the first lap but fell through as he struggled with poor handling from the car.

Felipe Massa said, “I made a great start and was able to avoid the incident in the first corner. After that the pace was reasonable but the car was difficult to drive. It felt pretty nervous. But to start 15th and finish ninth is the best you can hope for on a day when nobody retired, though it is frustrating to miss out on the last point. At least I have a good qualifying start position for Spa, my favourite circuit.”

After the second round of pit stops, Villeneuve again found himself in front of Kimi but instead of being allowed to fight for positions, he was blue flagged by the marshals and the Canadian had to let the championship contender through.

Jacques Villeneuve recalled, “The start went very well, and I was able to keep Kimi behind me quite easily in the early stages. When we were fighting again later on I was blue flagged even though we were battling for position, so I had to let him by. I guess the marshals were getting a bit over-excited. Overall it wasn’t bad. We had an aggressive strategy but we really needed a few positions higher in qualifying to make that work. The car was oversteering, but I don’t mind that.”

Despite their poor run of luck, Team Principal Peter Sauber is still satisfied with the sheer determination showed by his two drivers. He said, “I can’t remember another race where all 20 cars that started made it to the finish. Today it was therefore impossible to benefit from anyone else’s unreliability. It was satisfying to go from 12th and 15th on the grid to 11th and ninth in the race, but unfortunately that did not enable us to score any points.

“It was an exciting Grand Prix, however, which had some dramatic repercussions in the fight for the World Championship,” he added.

Talking about a bad run of luck, Kimi Raikkonen seems to have had it even worse in today’s Italian Grand Prix. After being demoted 10-grid positions when his engine gave in just before yesterday’s qualifying, the Finn, who is hell bent on catching Fernando in the Drivers' Championship, was thrown with all sorts of problems in his bid to finish on the top of the podium today. Not withstanding Jacques Villeneuve in the earlier part of the race, Kimi was also held up by Ralf and a few other drivers before he could land himself within the top 5.

Once there however, he who was on a one-stopper had to make an unscheduled pit stop after his left rear tyre showed signs of desintegrating. A quick tire change cost him a few positions and despite clocking a few fast laps, he couldn't catch up and had to be contended with a fourth place finish at the end of the 53-lap race. McLaren teammate Juan Pablo Montoya crossed the finish line first but Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella kept their team’s points advantage intact after finishing second and third respectively. Next stop: the superb but daunting Spa-Francorchamps.