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2006 Japan GP
Team Quotes - Sunday 8 October
The Renault F1 Team took its second double podium finish in seven days during this afternoon's Japanese Grand Prix, the last to be held at the magnificent Suzuka circuit in the immediate future. In the space of that week, fortune's wheel has turned full circle: Fernando Alonso's victory today, and Giancarlo Fisichella's strong drive to third place from sixth on the grid, put the Renault F1 Team back atop both world championships – Fernando Alonso now has a ten point lead in the drivers' chase, while Renault leads Ferrari by nine points in the Constructors' title.
As predicted, the world championship battle will go down to a thrilling deciding race in Brazil. In the intervening fortnight, the team will continue to work flat out to ensure it can race strongly and aggressively at Interlagos. As the past week has shown, Formula 1 always has the potential to surprise – and nobody can take anything for granted…
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: I want to say thank you to our team for this result. We have had some difficult weeks, losing races we should have won, but we stayed together, stayed close and stayed focused. This is a success for everybody to enjoy. Fernando did an incredible job, Fisico was perfect and made his strategy
work for him, and the pit-stops were faultless. We will enjoy our victory this evening, but we haven't finished the job yet. That will be our sole focus for Brazil.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: This 2006 world championship is building up to be even more exciting than anybody had imagined! I am sure that last week in China, on Saturday evening, Ferrari were wondering how ever they could win. A similar thing was true of our team yesterday. But this season is throwing up surprises week after week, and we now go to Brazil with a statistically improved situation and, more importantly, the full belief we can win again. Fernando and Giancarlo managed their races perfectly today, and the Michelin tyres came good at the right time. We said yesterday that qualifying was only a means to an end and, when it counted in this afternoon's race, the tyres were perfect. This is not just a win for 80 people here at the track, but 800 in Enstone and Viry – and for Michelin's employees as well in Clermont-Ferrand. Everybody has worked incredibly hard over the past months, and it only makes this win all the sweeter.
Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth in today's 53-lap Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Pedro de la Rosa crossed the line in 11th place. Both drivers were on a two-stop strategy, with Kimi pitting on laps 22 (8.7 seconds) and 41 (5.7 seconds) and Pedro on laps 20 (7.5 seconds) and 40 (6.6 seconds). Kimi is fifth in the Drivers' Championship with 61 points and Pedro is 11th with 18 points. Team McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors' standings with 105 points. The team will take to the test track in Jerez this week before the final race of the season in Brazil in two weeks time.
Ron Dennis: "A tremendous race by Kimi, fifth place was the best he could do under the circumstances. Our race pace was not so bad and would have been even better with the right tyre choice. With that in mind we are looking forward to Brazil where we expect to be more competitive. Pedro drove a solid race. However coming from this low grid position it was difficult for him to improve further through the field."
Norbert Haug: "The race speed was better than qualifying had indicated. This was shown by Kimi's fourth fastest lap of the race. However more than fifth place was not really possible, taking into account that he came from 11th on the grid and we probably didn't take the optimum tyre choice. We now focus all our work on being more competitive in the final race at Brazil."
Jean Todt: A feeling of huge disappointment today. We had within our grasp the possibility of turning up in Brazil with everything lined up to win both championships, having had Michael leading and Felipe third for around half the race. However, the situation was completely turned on its head and compromised our position. We are well aware that the basis of all success in Formula 1 is reliability and today we were lacking in that respect and hence we have paid a very high price. The drivers and the team did a very good job, as did Bridgestone. We must congratulate our closest rivals who have now staked a claim on both Championships. There is one race to go which will carry a special symbolism as it will be Michael's last one. As we have done for years now, we will put all our heart and soul into getting the best possible result. Today, however, we have a really bitter taste in our mouths.
Ross Brawn: We are disappointed, very disappointed. It was a very hard race, but Michael was controlling the situation until his engine problem from which there was no escape. A puncture in the first part of the race compromised Felipe's chances of staying ahead of Alonso, as we had to bring him in early as a precaution, thus altering his strategy. The weekend had got off in the most promising way but finished in bitter disappointment for us. It's true that our chances of final victory are very slim, but there is still one race to go and we will do our utmost to end this year in the best way possible.
Panasonic Toyota Racing has secured a double points finish at today's Japanese Grand Prix after Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher took the flag in 6th and 7th places respectively. Following the unsettled weather from the weekend, it stayed dry again today around Suzuka and the race took place with lots of sunshine and occasional clouds. The team came into the race confident of success after its best qualifying result of the season yesterday. Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli both started the race from the second row, in 3rd and 4th places respectively. Both drivers made good starts and although Jarno lost a position to Alonso into the first corner both cars were able to keep up with the leaders for the duration of their first stints. At the first pit stop, Jarno edged ahead of Ralf with a quick lap on his new tyres. After the second stops the pair dropped slightly down the order but they battled hard to the flag. The eventual haul of five points leaves Toyota just one point short of 5th place in the constructors' championship and it sets up a promising season finale. The team will test at Jerez on Wednesday and Thursday with Ricardo Zonta and Olivier Panis at the wheel in preparation for the last race at Brazil's Interlagos circuit in a fortnight.
Tsutomu Tomita – Team Principal: "That was an exhausting race and we are hugely disappointed because our target was to finish on the podium today. Yesterday's qualifying gave us fantastic grid positions and the dry conditions were perfect. We made good starts and although Jarno lost a place after Alonso's brave move we were able to keep up with the pace of the leaders during the first stint. Our first pit stop came just one or two laps before most of the other cars so our strategy was right again. Jarno was able to get ahead of Ralf on new tyres at the first pit stop but our pace was still strong in the second stint. At that stage a podium was still realistic, particularly given Michael's later problem. Unfortunately after the second pit stop Jarno suffered a problem that we will now have to investigate, which meant that he was slower for the next ten laps. He also held up Ralf, who was quicker at that stage, so that a few cars who should have stayed behind us were able to pass us. That's how we were in 6th and 7th at the finish. Today again shows that our car is still just short of the very top cars, but we were happy to have fought well in clear conditions without the safety car. We had a lot of support today so we would like to express our gratitude to all our fans, sponsors, TMC, distributors, partners and our subsidiary companies. A big thank you to all of them and we're sorry that we did not come away with more today."
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "After the start, we lost a couple of positions with Nico and struggled to make them up. There were no problems with any of the systems on the cars; we just need to go faster. Mark spun out at the last corner, on lap 40, so we will now investigate why that happened. Nico drove a solid race to finish tenth. We'll now return to the factory, analyse the data and head to Brazil for the final race of the season with expectations for a stronger finish."
Simon Corbyn, Head of F1 Race Engineering, Cosworth: "No engine problems in Suzuka in terms of reliability or engine performance. Mark will therefore get a fresh engine for an emotional final race in Brazil. As Mark's engine will then only need to complete one race distance, Cosworth will pull out all the stops for what is potentially our last race in Formula One."
Jenson Button ended the Japanese Grand Prix in a strong 4th position today, securing five points in the Honda Racing F1 Team's home race in front of a sell-out crowd at Suzuka.
By contrast, team-mate Rubens Barrichello's race got off to a frustrating start after he damaged his front wing in the opening lap melee. He was forced to pit for a new nose and the unscheduled stop left him fighting his way through the backmarkers for the early part of the race. During the next two stints Rubens was able to show his pace and he went on to take the chequered flag in 12th place.
This result continues the team's run of consecutive points finishes with Jenson scoring his sixth in succession. Only Michael Schumacher has scored more points than Jenson since Hockenheim.
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "Jenson made a good start and gained one position before the first corner. Subsequently, when we saw some of our competitors stop early, we fuelled Jenson relatively long in the middle stint to beat them on both speed and strategy, which was very satisfying. Jenson drove a customary hard-charging and faultless race and once again extracted the best from the car. Unfortunately, Rubens damaged his front wing in the first corner and was playing catch-up from then on.
"We leave Suzuka happy to be in the points once again but also sad that we will not be returning next season to a track that has brought so much joy and many exciting moments over the years. Sadly, we have just one more stop before the end of the season. We have enjoyed the challenge so much this year that I wish we could just keep going."
Christian Horner: Starting from where we did on the grid it was always going to be a tough race today, but both drivers showed reasonable pace. The strategy we adopted moved them forward, although shortening the strategy to benefit from new tyres bought them out in a bit of traffic, which wasn't ideal. The pace of our cars looked more respectable today than it did yesterday and, although it was disappointing to suffer a gearbox failure on David's car, Robert drove a sensible race.
Nick Heidfeld scored another championship point in the Japanese Grand Prix. He finished eighth in Suzuka, just fractions of a second ahead of his team mate, Robert Kubica. Now the BMW Sauber F1 Team goes to the season’s finale in Brazil in two weeks time fifth in the constructors’ world championship. The advantage over Toyota is just one point.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Today's race result was not a surprise after yesterday's qualifying. In view of our grid positions we only could expect to just make it into the points. Nick managed this and scored an important point, which has allowed us to defend fifth position in the constructors' championship. Today we have not been as quick as in the recent races, but it was another weekend without technical problems.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): After yesterday's qualifying and, considering the performance all weekend of the Bridgestone teams, we couldn’t expect a better result. At least we scored a point, but have not been as strong as in the last races. The positive thing is we approach the season's finale in Brazil fifth in the championship after a trouble free weekend here.
The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix brought to an end what had been a promising weekend for the Spyker MF1 Team. After a great qualifying session and early speed in the race Christijan Albers succumbed to an unfortunate mechanical failure on lap 20.
Tiago Monteiro and his engineers selected a strong race strategy by running long in the first stint but tyre and balance issues meant that he was not able to continue showing the competitive potential of the car until the end. Tiago brought the car home in 16th to seal the team's weekend at Suzuka.
The team now looks towards Brazil and the final chapter of the 2006 Formula 1 World Championship. With recent strong competitive performances the team looks forward to finishing the season on a high.
Dominic Harlow, (Head of race and test engineering): "It was a very tight race but a disappointing result for us. It was very competitive and until Christijan went out with a mechanical failure we were pushing our rivals, as we had done all weekend. We will investigate what took place and make adjustments to avoid this happening again. Tiago was on a good race strategy with a long first stint but he struggled with car balance in the middle of the race. This meant he lost a lot of time and prevented him making much of an impact towards the end."
Colin Kolles, (Team Principal): "We had high hopes for this race as once again we looked competitive with our rivals throughout the weekend. Christijan was unlucky to suffer his mechanical failure as he looked as though he had out-run his rivals approaching the first stop. Tiago drove well to finish the race as I know he had balance and tyre issues. We now head for home before looking forward to finishing our season on a high in Brazil."
Gerhard Berger: Unfortunately both our drivers had a spin each! I was expecting a bit more as, after qualifying, there was hope we could do something good. But as is often the case, things turned out differently in the race.
Over one hundred and twenty thousand fans at the Suzuka Circuit today were able to cheer the Super Aguri drivers' home as both Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto took the chequered flag at the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix. It is a fantastic result for the young, small team who worked so hard to make the dream of a new F1 team become a reality at the end of 2005. The combination of exceptional team work, at the races and back home at the SAF1 Team factory in Leafield, and close relationships with both engine supplier Honda and Bridgestone tyres, has ensured that the team is now truly competing with nearest rivals Spyker MF1 and Scuderia Toro Rosso.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: I would like to say ‘thank you' to everybody – my team, the fans, everybody who has been supporting us. It is a great result for us to have a two-car finish here and both drivers have done a great job today. At the moment, however, it is a perfect result for us whilst we are still a small and new team. So I am very happy that we have achieved this result here at Suzuka today, especially as it may be the circuit's last grand prix.
Michael Schumacher's title challenge was dealt a cruel blow this afternoon at the Japanese Grand Prix after the seven-time world champion retired with a car problem on lap 37 of the 53-lap race. Schumacher had led the race for 34 laps after overtaking his teammate Felipe Massa on lap three. While Schumacher can still win the drivers' championship, he has to win the final round and hope his rival, Alonso, does not finish in Brazil. Felipe Massa meanwhile, finished in a strong second place, taking an important eight points for his team's constructors' championship challenge. Fellow Bridgestone runners, Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher came away with some much wanted points in front of their home crowd after crossing the finishing line in sixth and seventh places respectively. The Super Aguri F1 team fans were delighted to see local heroes, Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto, finish the race. All attention will now turn to the final round of the championship which will take place at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo [Brazil] in two weeks time.
Shoshi Arakawa, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board – Bridgestone Corporation: While there was no win for a Bridgestone shod car today we are nevertheless extremely proud to have watched all the Bridgestone supported teams and drivers give us a great race. We thank them for their efforts. Only one more race remains of this exciting season and we at Bridgestone will do our best to give the teams the support they need for the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: It was a disappointing race but that is the nature of racing. Until Michael had a problem with his car, the Bridgestone tyres were performing well and he was controlling the race. Massa drove a strong and consistent race, finishing second but he picked up a puncture in his right rear tyre which unfortunately meant he had to pit earlier than planned. Nevertheless, it was good to see him on the podium. It was also good to see both Toyota drivers pick up some points and Nico Rosberg finish tenth. There is now just one more race which makes next week's Jerez test a vital one for choosing the right tyre specifications for the Brazilian Grand Prix. It won't be an easy race but it's not over yet and anything is still possible!
Ross Brawn, Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari: Obviously we are very disappointed with the problem we had on Michael's car today because although it was a tough race, I think we had it under control and the Bridgestone tyres were pretty good. We had a slight balance issue at the beginning but the adjustments we made in the pitstop brought it back again and the car was going well. Felipe had a puncture, compromising his race because we had to anticipate his pitstop earlier than planned. That put him out in traffic and he lost a place to Fernando [Alonso] as a result. So what started as a very promising weekend finished with some disappointment. But, it's still possible and we won't give up on the championships.
Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis – Panasonic Toyota Racing: We are disappointed with our eventual positions after our strong performance yesterday. But Bridgestone has obviously had a very strong weekend even if there is no win for them at the end. We were the only Bridgestone team to finish with both cars in the points and we've been very pleased all weekend with the performance of the tyres, both in terms of single lap pace and consistency.
Fernando Alonso scored a dramatic victory for Renault and Michelin in today's Japanese Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the 2006 world championship campaign. The Spaniard worked his way up from fifth to second and grabbed the lead when arch-rival Michael Schumacher suffered an engine failure on the 37th of 53 laps. That left Alonso with a comfortable lead that he extended as the race drew towards its end. He will take the world title for a second straight season if he finishes in the top eight when the season concludes in Brazil on October 22.
Alonso wasn't the only Michelin success story at Suzuka: his team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella finished third, which helped Renault extend its lead to nine points in the world championship for constructors, while Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld also scored points.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin F1 director: "First of all, this was a very satisfying victory for Renault and Michelin. "Michelin's prime and option tyres were extremely consistent in race conditions and, as Fernando Alonso's fastest lap underlines, they were fast as well as durable. Track temperatures dropped in the early stages of the race, which created a more comfortable operating window for our products, but we accept that we still have to investigate yesterday's puzzling absence of qualifying pace.
"We were always confident, however, that we had a strong race tyre– and the performances of Honda, McLaren and BMW Sauber helped underline the point.
"Today's victory hasn't settled anything but it has given Fernando and Renault a clear advantage as we prepare for the seasonal finale in Brazil. That will be Michelin's F1 swansong, of course, and we are determined to bow out with a flourish. We have worked flat out all season and today's success won't change our approach one iota. We are acutely aware that there is no scope for complacency in F1."
Pat Symonds, executive engineering director, Renault F1 Team: "There were all sorts of talk yesterday about our main rival's tyre advantage but, as I've said before, qualifying is only a means to an end. Our Michelins were absolutely perfect in the race. The company's engineers have worked incredibly hard in recent weeks and this win was thoroughly deserved."
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