AT&T Williams F1

More points at Monza

To finish sixth in the Italian Grand Prix was a great result for me and everyone at ATT Williams. We maximised the performance of the FW29, despite the pre-race test at Monza being disrupted by rain, which stopped us completing our test programme.

The team worked really hard between the test and the race weekend to perfect the set-up of the car and we were quick from the outset. I was fifth quickest in both practice sessions on Friday and I managed to qualify eighth, which was my eighth top 10 grid position of the year.

In the race I had a good scrap with Jenson Button during the early laps. It was a clean fight because we didn’t touch once and I overtook him on lap 21. I then drove every lap flat-out for the remainder of the race and managed to pass Heikki Kovalainen when he pitted on lap 41, so it was a good day. The FW29 also proved that it could be competitive on every kind of circuit.

As for the rest of my Monza weekend, I had a good time. I love racing in Italy because the Tifosi are very passionate about Formula 1, which creates a special atmosphere. Of course they love Ferrari more than any other team, but there was still quite a lot of support for me in the grandstands.

A lot of my friends are Italian. I love their attitude to life: they are laid back and like to have fun, which makes them good to be around. If I could have dinner with anyone from history, two Italians would be on my list. I’d love to meet two legends from racing, Tazio Nuvolari and Giacomo Agostini.

There is one aspect of Italian life that I could have done without at Monza - the partying. My motorhome was situated on the outside of the Curva Grande, right next door to a disco. It continued until the early hours every night, which made it hard to sleep even with earplugs!

Away from F1, there was a lot of other sport taking place over the weekend. I kept in touch with events at the US Open, where Roger Federer took his 12th Grand Slam title and I ended up watching the Rugby World Cup with Vincent Crovisier, the guy who looks after my motorhome. I never played rugby at school, so I didn’t know the rules, but I quickly realised that France's match against Argentina wasn't going the way of Les Bleus… I’ve never known Vincent shout so much!

We have less than a week before the next race, which is great because racing is what this sport is all about. It will be pretty spectacular to race a Formula 1 car at Spa-Francorchamps for the first time too. We weren’t that competitive at the Spa test in July, but the FW29 has improved a lot since then so I don’t want to make any predictions. It would be great to score more points for both championships.

Until next time,

Nico