Planet-F1

Sun: Renault, BMW, Ferrari

Sunday 12th October 2008

Fernando Alonso scored his second win of the season in Japan on Sunday where he was joined by Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen on the podium.

Renault
Fernando Alonso: It's still difficult to believe what we have done today! Winning in Singapore was unexpected, but we benefited from special conditions. Today we won again on a circuit that was not supposed to suit us. The team has really done a remarkable job to fight back this season and we are now the third strongest team. It's unbelievable and I am extremely happy this evening."

Nelson Piquet Jr: I am very happy with this great result for the team. I had a bit of luck at the start, but after that the car handled really well, I was on the pace, and I just had to remain concentrated and keep pushing. The team is having a really strong end to the season and I hope that is going to continue."

BMW
Robert Kubica: My start was good but the clutch slipped a little, therefore Jarno Trulli was able to pass me on the straight. I then decided to take the inside line and braked very late, too late actually and I locked the front wheels. But then everybody went wide while I was more or less able to keep my line, and after the second corner I was in front. I then tried to pull away, but I couldn't. My tyres were graining and I lost time, particularly in the last sector. I was pushing as hard as I could, but after the pit stop, Fernando Alonso was in front of me and I was not able to match his pace. At the beginning of the final stint the tyres were graining heavily and my lap times were slow, so I came under strong pressure from Kimi Räikkönen and we had a great fight. At one point he was beside me in corner two, but I was on the inside, just didn't back off and was able to keep him behind. After a few laps the graining went away and I was able to run at my normal pace. It's a great result for the whole team at a time when it is not easy. We have been struggling a little bit recently and we were under pressure from some teams, so this second place is a real boost for our morale. Now we have nothing to lose, but everything is possible."

Nick Heidfeld: Compared to the Williams cars in front of me, my start was okay, but the Hondas behind got off the grid even better. There was an awful lot of traffic in the first corner and I was lucky to get through all the hassle. For me the nicest moment of the race was certainly when I managed to overtake two cars at the same time on lap four. I was on a one stop strategy and, as well as that, the second last one-stopper to pit. It was not easy to handle the heavy car. Now I'm looking forward to next weekend's race in Shanghai where we should do better in qualifying."

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen: Even if third place has put an end to a run of poor results, I am a bit disappointed because today we had the means to win. At the start, I got away well but then, at the first corner, the two McLarens arrived too fast at the braking point and prevented me from turning in, taking me off the track. That lost me a lot of ground and I found myself in the middle of the pack. On top of that, the car was not quite right as I was hit by one of the McLarens: the steering was a bit light and there was other damage as well. I tried to do the best I could but I was not as quick as I'd hoped, especially in the second stint.

Before the second stop, I closed on Kubica but I couldn't pass him in the pit stop because on my in lap I found myself behind Rosberg a lap down. Then I tried several times to attack Robert but he defended his position well. At one point, I did find myself slightly ahead of him going into turn 3, but I was on the outside and he did not give up the line so I had to go off the track. After that, I had a bit of graining and so I was not able to catch up again. In any case, I am happy to have brought home important points for the team."

Felipe Massa: A strange race with everything that happened on track. In the end, seventh place is definitely not a disaster given that my closest rival failed to score points. At the start, I got away well and had passed Alonso and Kovalainen. Then Hamilton braked over the limit and I found myself sandwiched between one car on the inside and one on the outside and all I could do was brake and stay behind. I think the duel that followed with Hamilton was hard but fair and the drive-through really penalised my race. In the second part, on the hard tyres, the car was flying, which is very encouraging for the next races.

"As for the incident with Bourdais, I think there's little to say: I had already entered the turn and he hit me from behind, spinning me round. In the duel with Webber I saw a space down the inside and went for it. He moved over on me a little bit towards the wall which might have looked a bit scary but it was not like that from the cockpit. Anyway, it was a very important moment in the race and I had to try. Now we will give it our all in the next two races. We have great potential available to us and we must do all we can to exploit it."