This weekend in Monza with its reputation, tifosi, history, and super-fast track was the last race of the GP2 2008 season and the biggest challenge for Dubai-resident Andreas Zuber racing under UAE licence with Piquet Sports.

"I arrived at Monza motivated to make up for last week’s wet race in Spa and hoping for better weather than in Belgium. The teams were stuck in the paddock for half an hour as severe flooding caused mayhem for everyone, and when we finally made it to the pit lane there was a similar delay while track inspections were held to see if it was possible to run on the track. As a result the first free practice session was delayed by one hour to wait for the monsoon type rains to stop. It was still very wet when we finally took to the track. I had a good pace but because the conditions were always changing and I ended up eleventh.

The weather then changed for the better with a very sunny in the afternoon for qualifying. I was one of the first drivers out on the track. With Pastor Maldonado and Lucas di Grassi, I initially fought over the top spot until Pantano took over, just six minutes into the session. Then we worked on the set up of the car again taking to the track again with 20 minutes left in the session. After my stop, I was back in eighth and improved my time to a seventh position with a lap of 1.31.663. But there was nothing I could do in terms of engine power. We were losing too much on the straight. So again, I was not in a position to clock up a pole. We had the car, but not the engine.

After the very wet qualifying sessions that brought Vettel his first pole, we started behind the pace car and completed three laps before it came in. There was a lot of spray. The visibility was really bad. There was aquaplaning everywhere. In the first corner, and at the Lesmo corner, I was not expecting to be involved in the same accident as Villa and Petrov. My race stopped there at Lesmo as Villa ran into my car from the back at high speed. There was nothing I could do as he just took me clean out of the race. It was a real waste. My car was totally destroyed as Villa hit me with a great deal of force. At least I was not hurt, but it meant a difficult final race ahead of me.

I was starting from 24th on the grid. I had a great start and was already in 11th position on lap 5. The track was drivable without too much water even though it was still a bit wet at some places. But, overall, the conditions were not too bad. I am satisfied to have finished in tenth, given my grid position. It has been an exciting season with a number of uncontrollable disappointments such as a disqualification. However,  I am happy with all the podiums I've achieved. Next week I will test with different other GP2 teams for next season.