Sauber drivers Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve finished 11th and 12th respectively after today's first practice sessions for the San Marino Grand Prix.

Jacques Villeneuve: "This weekend has started better for me than others this year, which is good. The car seemed okay on new tyres, and now we need to make sure we can race it like this. It seems to be an improvement, which is encouraging."

Felipe Massa: "I'm very, very happy with the car. All the work the people back at the factory have done on the new aero package has worked out the way we hoped it would, and I think it is as big an improvement as the package we had at Silverstone on the C23 last year.

"The car was really good on my long runs, very fast and consistent. And on new tyres I had traffic so I know I can go quicker. The only problem is that we need to change my engine tonight. It is going to be very tough starting far back here of all places, and even more so because I know we are competitive. But I remain very positive because of the progress we have made."

Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "The aerodynamic package we have brought here has borne out all the promise of improvement that it showed in the wind tunnel back in Hinwil. I believe that we have made an important step forward and we hope to reconfirm this tomorrow. Unfortunately we need to change the engine in Felipe's car because it was running hot during the race in Bahrain and has shown signs of losing its edge. This is greatly disappointing, but on the other hand I am happy that Jacques was able to benefit from the improvements in the car."