Formula V8 3.5

Fittipaldi suffers more start line anguish at Monza

1 Mins read
Pietro Fittipaldi struggled at the start of both races at Monza - Credit: Diederik van der Laan / Dutch Photo Agency

Pietro Fittipaldi took two pole positions at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza but two more slow getaways ruined his weekend, with the Brazilian only able to take a tenth and a fourth place in the two races.

The Lotus driver dropped down the order at the start of race one on Saturday and found himself hit twice, with the second hit causing a puncture that saw him forced to drive slowly around the track to the pit lane, losing a lap in the process.

“We started from pole position, but I’m not sure about what really happened,” said Fittipaldi on charouz-racing.com. “I had a lot of wheelspin and I lost a lot of positions, then when I was at the chicane I was hit from Alfonso [Celis Jr] and I got sideways.

“I was very slow in second gear, the antistall kicked in and someone touched my rear tyre. I suffered a big puncture and I had to come back to the pits to change tyres.

“After that I was very fast and also set the best lap of the race, but at that point it was basically over”

It was also a far from perfect start on Sunday, with Fittipaldi dropping to fourth, but he was soon back up to second only to lose time behind the safety car and the yellow flags for Celis Jr’s spin, which ultimately saw him finish fourth.

“This time the start was a lot a better, even if we lost some positions again,” said Fittipaldi on Sunday. “Then I was able to recover up to second place and I was catching the leader quite easily, but unfortunately the safety-car came out and René pitted.

“I was behind Nissany when Celis went off at Ascari and the yellow flag forced us to slow. The time I lost helped Kanamaru to stay in front of me after the pit-stop, and without any DRS left it was impossible to pass him.

“It’s a shame but now we need to focus on next race.”

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