Saturday September 14th, 2002
By David Cameron
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Jordan's Takuma Sato were summoned by the race stewards of the Italian Grand Prix following a heavy accident during today's qualifying.
The hour long-qualifying session was halted two minutes from the end when Raikkonen and Sato collided as the Jordan was trying to overtake the McLaren on a flying lap right ahead of the second chicane of the Monza circuit.
Sato could not avoid a slow Raikkonen and clipped his right rear tyre, causing heavy damage to their cars. Both were called by the stewards after qualifying to ask for their views of the accident, but Sato claimed it was a racing incident.
"I asked him if he saw me and obviously he didn't," said Sato of the incident. "We were called to see the stewards and now we just wait for their opinion. I was on my fast lap and he was on his out lap.
"I saw Kimi was way out of line at the second chicane and I thought he was waiting for me. I was a little off line and obviously he didn't see me and unfortunately it made me lose it next to him. It was a racing incident."
Sato crashed against the tyre barriers but emerged out of the car without assistance and he said he was perfectly fine. The Japanese driver qualified in 18th place, while Raikkonen was fifth fastest.
Published at 13:41:12 GMT