F1 Japanese GP: Kimi Raikkonen wins from 17th on the Grid

David Coulthard, Red Bull Racing, sixth place: “From the team’s point of view, we’ve got to be satisfied, as there are some strong teams out there. I had a good battle with Jenson (Button) in Turn one and our pace was good at the start. It was only after the fuel stop I began to struggle. We have to put quite a lot of fuel in our car, which can upset the balance. However, as more fuel gets burnt off, it improves. It’s happened quite often this year - we put fuel in the car and lose some performance in the middle stint of the race compared to the others. We were competitive with Williams all weekend, and they finished fourth, so, while we’ll gratefully take the points, I was hoping for more.”

Christian Horner, Sporting Director, Red Bull Racing: “To start sixth and finish sixth is a solid result, but the potential was there to beat BAR and Williams today. David led the race briefly prior to his first stop, but unfortunately the car wasn’t quick enough after it was re-fuelled and he sacrificed some time. We made up ground later on when David completed an excellent sequence of laps and went past Schumacher through his final pit-stop. Unfortunately, Christian lost too much time in the first sector. He picked up the pace in the second half of the race but, by then, he’d given up bit too much ground to the cars ahead and it was another frustrating ninth place finish for him.”

Michael Janes, Cosworth F1 Race Engineering: “All Cosworth TJ engines performed faultlessly throughout the Suzuka GP weekend, the second event for both race engines. We are obviously very pleased to have assisted David in his hard-earned points finish and look forward to repeating the same next weekend in Shanghai.”

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, seventh place: “The best thing to come out of today is that we have secured third place in this year’s Constructors’ championship. Considering the performance of our package this season and the tough time we have had, this is not such a bad result. Especially, when you consider that, in the ten years I have been with Ferrari, this will have been our worst season. As for the race, I was disappointed that, unlike in Brazil, I was unable to keep pace with the Renaults. Sure, it is fun to have a good fight on the track, but it would have been better if I had been more competitive. At my second stop, we had to make some adjustments to the car, which cost us time and lost me a place. All in all, going to Shanghai two points ahead of Montoya is nice but unexpected.”

Ross Brawn, Ferrari: “Rubens got caught up in the mess at the beginning, which made his race very difficult from then on. Michael made a great start and I think we had a very good strategy today. But the performance of the package just faded in the middle of the race and became difficult to deal with. This then put us in a defensive position from about lap 20 onwards, which meant we had to try and protect our position. At the second pit stop, we had to make some adjustments to the car which meant we lost a place to Coulthard. We were not as fast as the front runners, but nevertheless we did a good job today, within the limits of our performance at the moment.”

Jean Todt, Ferrari: “This result lived up to our admittedly un-ambitious expectations. Michael had to dig deep into his reserves of talent to get the Ferrari-Bridgestone package home in seventh place. Rubens’ chance of finishing in the points was compromised by the accident at the first corner. The subsequent Safety Car period offered the possibility of regaining some ground, but nothing much came out of it. Today’s result confirms us in third place in the Constructors’ championship behind the two teams which, running on the rival tyre to Bridgestone, have dominated the season. Objectively, this was the best we could do. Two points is not much, but all the same, we dedicate them to one of our team, Ivan Petterlini, who tragically died last Sunday. These last few days, all of us have been thinking of him. In a few days, we will be back on track in Shanghai for the final race of the year. The only pleasure we can derive from that is that this negative season is coming to an end. Then, along with Bridgestone, we will be able to turn our full attention to preparing for 2006.”

Ralf Schumacher, Panasonic Toyota Racing, 8th: "That was a pretty tough end to a weekend that promised so much. I made a great start and was getting away from the rest of the pack when the safety car came out, which was bad news for our three-stop strategy. When it stayed out for so many laps it effectively put an end to our chances. We still raced as hard as we could and fought to grab as much out of the race as possible. Unfortunately in the second half of the race I had quite a heavy vibration and so I had to back off again. Without the safety car our strategy could have put us somewhere between third and fifth place but I guess a point is better than nothing. We'll hope to do better next time." Tsutomu Tomita, Panasonic Toyota Racing, Team Principal: "It's disappointing not to have scored more points after being on pole. Ralf made a fine start and he succeeded in building up a lead with two quick laps before the safety car came out. Unfortunately the safety car stayed out far longer than we expected and that effectively ruined our three-stop strategy. Later on he had a problem with tyre vibration which meant he couldn't get back more places, but without the safety car we could have had a podium. Jarno was always going to have a difficult day starting from the pit lane but he was put out of the race by a hopelessly ambitious move on the part of Takuma Sato. A driver should be aggressive but fair. So it was a disappointing end to a good weekend, but that's racing. I'm sorry for all the fans who have come to support us, but unfortunately things didn't work out for us today. We will now hope for a better race in Shanghai next week."

Christian Klien, Red Bull Racing, ninth position: “I had a good start, although the car felt a bit sluggish off the grid; I’m not sure what caused that. I was fighting hard with Sato in Turn one; he tried to overtake me, but I defended my place, although the first ten laps were difficult. The car felt heavy and my hard tyres made it tricky on the green track, meaning I lost some time. The Renaults and McLarens were in a different league to us and there was just no chance to defend from them. The car improved as the race went on and I began to set faster lap times, but by then it was too late. I’m not so happy, I must say. From fourth on the grid you expect a lot more, not really to finish in ninth position.”

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