Planet-F1

Sun: Williams, McLaren, Honda, FIndia

Sunday 12th October 2008

Williams, McLaren and Honda all failed to make it into the top ten at the Fuji Speedway, while Force India couldn't even finish the race.

Williams
Nico Rosberg: Our start was poor due to a technical problem so I just fell to the back of the pack. I was also quite heavy with fuel. I'm satisfied with my performance and it was actually good fun out there today. I was able to overtake in the first part of the race and to drive one qualifying lap after another the whole way through. I gave it 100% and was as quick as Heidfeld, who was on the same strategy. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to score any points, though. I'm flying to Shanghai tomorrow and looking forward to collecting some points there."

Kazuki Nakajima: That was a shame. It was very disappointing to have an accident in the first corner, but I couldn't do anything about it. After the incident, I just tried to do my best for the rest of the race. I don't think our race pace was that great, though, so I couldn't make any progress. We need to go away and work on our performance to see where we can improve for the next time."

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton: Obviously, I'm not happy after a result like today's - but I'm already getting over it and tomorrow will be another day. Disappointingly, I didn't make a great start, but I slipstreamed Kimi and went up the inside. I braked a bit late - but so did everybody. A lot of cars went wide at Turn One - and I just went a bit wider than everyone else. But you can't undo the penalty or change today's result. On lap two, Felipe went wide and I went up the inside, giving him room, but he tapped me quite hard into a spin.

"There are positives to take from today; I've only lost two points to Felipe in the Drivers' Championship, so it's definitely not over. Now I'll forget today ever happened and move forward; we've got two more races to go and my target is still to win both of them."

Heikki Kovalainen: Today started with so much promise and ended so disappointingly. I made a good start and, although I ran wide at the first corner, I still managed to slot in behind Robert and Fernando. I was feeling pretty confident about catching them both because the car was feeling just fantastic and then, all of a sudden, the engine stopped. That was a real pity because our reliability has been fantastic all season. Nevertheless, my pace today was good and I head to China feeling positive that we can once again show the same sort of pace we had this weekend."

Honda
Rubens Barrichello: I had a great start to the race today, passing three or four cars on the way down to the first corner and was able to hold the position well. Unfortunately I was then hit from behind by Fisichella which damaged the rear end of the car and affected the balance for the remainder of the race. From then on, we were really limited by the poor performance and pace of the car this weekend. We did all that we could but were not able to make any headway up the field."

Jenson Button: The race began really well for me and I was running inside the top ten at the first corner after making a great start. Unfortunately going with the option for my first stint didn't work well and I really suffered from this in the early laps. I was passed by a few cars around the first lap and from then on had graining on the front and rear tyres which meant I was slow through the corners and we couldn't compete on straightline speed, particularly with a heavy fuel load. Once we put the prime tyre on for the second stint, the balance was much better, but by then it was impossible to catch up and make progress."

Force India
Adrian Sutil: I had a puncture on my right rear tyre and then suddenly on the straight the tyre blew and I had to stop the car. It was a shame as we were running 10th and it was feeling really good. We had a fantastic start - from 19th to 11th at the end of the first corner as I stayed to the inside and clear of all the problems, and I was in 10th position within a couple of laps. It was going very well and we had a good strategy, it was just so unlucky again."

Giancarlo Fisichella: The start off the grid was fantastic for me and I could overtake a lot of people. In the first corner there were a lot of cars across and off the track and a lot of mess, so they slowed down a lot and I touched Barrichello at the back of his car and I damaged my front nose slightly. I decided to stay out and it was looking good. We were considering a one stop strategy which was much more comfortable and I was doing a good race, but then unfortunately at the end I had a problem with the gearbox and seventh gear. At least we are fighting again."