formula 1 racing

News in the Paddock - Sunday morning
09-26-2004

(GMM - Shanghai) Hot on the heels of F1 drivers' complaints about 'mad' Shanghai traffic, a van of Williams personnel was involved in a sizeable crash on the way to the track on Sunday. Head of marketing Jim Wright and a colleague were taken to hospital, but none of the six passengers were seriously hurt.

Shrouded by the 'front and back' Ferrari qualifiers, McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen will start the Chinese GP from second place. ''I made a little mistake (in final qualifying),'' said the Finn, ''but I don't think I would have claimed pole.''

Felipe Massa is an excellent fourth on the grid for the Shanghai race. The Brazilian called the lap ''almost perfect. The new Bridgestone tyres worked so well straight away.''

On the other end of the scale, tenth placed Juan Pablo Montoya - albeit promoted, like many others, after Takuma Sato's ten-grid penalty - is not happy with the Williams. ''It is too hard to drive and unpredictable,'' said the Colombian. ''Ralf (Schumacher) did a better job.''

You might have missed it, but Zsolt Baumgartner had an engine change - and therefore a quite inconsequential ten-grid penalty - in Shanghai. Minardi team-mate Gianmaria Bruni, like Michael Schumacher, spun in qualifying. ''These things can happen,'' said the Roman.

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