Lewis Hamilton:
"At the start I wanted to avoid any aggro, and that meant I lost a position to Fernando. After that I had reasonably decent pace, and I was able to stay close to Fernando and Jenson until I encountered a gearbox problem.
"It occurred quite early on - I was having problems with first and second - and it meant I started losing quite a lot of time and Fernando and Jenson were able to pull away from me. The problem meant I stopped being able to make good, clean gearshifts. Then I lost seventh, and then the whole thing just let go.
"Of course, it's not the way I'd like to have ended the season, but it wasn't so bad. I enjoyed my race while it lasted. I was challenging Felipe and I was hoping I'd get him, but then the gearbox failure stopped me.
"It's been a long year, and I want to say a huge thank-you to the team. They've never given up, and they've worked incredibly hard all season. We didn't get the ultimate result we wanted, but we had some great times along the way. I'll be attacking next season; 2012 will be my year."
Jenson Button:
"I couldn't really get the soft tyre working around here - we had massive degradation on each set - and that prompted the decision to run two sets of Primes in my final two stints. My pace on the Prime was great - and using two sets really meant I could find a good balance and work out where the grip was.
"Earlier in the race, it was disappointing to be passed by Fernando [Alonso]. Out of Turn Five, I saw lots of debris on the circuit, and I didn't know what it was. I didn't want to drive over it, and I couldn't pull to the left because Fernando was there, so I had to back out of it and fall behind. It was a pretty easy move for Fernando to make after that.
"But the Prime was working really well and that helped me chase Fernando down in the final stint and pass him out of Turn Three. Ideally, I wanted to get him into Turn One, because it's more fun to pass someone without using DRS, but I set him up and got him out of Turn Three after getting a good run along the straight.
"We gave it everything today - and a podium is a great way to end the year. I've had 12 podiums from this season's 19 Grands Prix - and I didn't finish two of them due to reliability issues. All in all, it's been a good, consistent season for us.
"There are a lot of positives to take away from this year. We'll have a strong winter and come out fighting from the first race. We've just got to start the season a bit more strongly, that's all, and that's what we'll be aiming to do. We want to make it hard for Red Bull in 2012.
"Finally, I want to say a big thank-you to the whole team - we've really grown together this year. I really feel like I'm part of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes family now: there's an awful lot of passion in our organisation, and I'm proud to be part of it."
Fernando Alonso:
Yet another race in which we did everything to perfection, from the start to the strategy and the work of the team. The final result is more down to the performance of the others than our own, because we could not have done more. Once again today, we got a very good start, putting a nice passing move on Button, but then, on the Medium tyres, we no longer had the speed to fend him off. I also had a problem with the DRS which would not activate: I was not fighting closely with other drivers, but it would certainly have helped me gain a few tenths while overtaking. This Grand Prix produced an accurate reflection of the season: we have almost always done our maximum, fighting for a podium finish in a car that was not as good as the top two. In terms of team work we grew a lot in 2011 and we must absolutely make this the starting point for a very different 2012. If I had to score our performance, I can but repeat what President Montezemolo said, giving us something between a five and six, but all the same I am proud of what the team was able to do. We need a car that is about five or six tenths quicker: achieving that won't be a walk in the park, but I have every confidence in our engineers and in a team that dominated the last decade in Formula 1 and holds every possible record in this sport. Let us not forget that I managed to get on the podium ten times and to score more points than last year. Losing out on third in the Drivers' Championship is definitely not a big problem: first place is the only one that really counts...
Felipe Massa:
It was a difficult race, at the end of a weekend that was not the best from a technical point of view. We never managed to find the right balance and then came the sting in the tail of the puncture we discovered yesterday, which robbed me of a set of Softs for the race and thus meant I had to make only two stops. I knew it would be penalising because I would have to do a lot of laps on the Medium, a tyre with which we have a bigger performance gap than on the Softs when compared to our closest competitors. Sure, I would have liked to celebrate my one hundredth Grand Prix with Ferrari with a much different result, but I have to accept the way things went. In fact, the race pretty much summed up the season: reasonably good on the Soft, then struggling on the harder compound. I was very pleased to feel the affection of the crowd, who supported me from the start to the end of the weekend. It's been a difficult year for me and the team and now we can turn the page. We must work on improving the car and I will do all I can never to have such a disappointing season again. I want to say I was pleased that Lewis came round to see me while I was talking to the journalists: it was a very nice gesture on his part. What do I want from Father Christmas? Along with Felipinho, I will be writing and asking for a fantastic car right from start to finish in 2012...
Michael Schumacher:
"It was a bit of a shame today with the incident with Bruno, which was caused perhaps due to some lack of experience, but then those things happen. Otherwise I think we could have had a nice race with some solid points. After the collision, all I could do was try to fight as much as possible, and hope for rain which did not come. In the first stint after the incident, my car was not well-balanced with a lot of oversteer. Unfortunately we could not change this at the pit stop which handicapped the balance in the second stint, whereas in the last stint the balance was good. We very much look forward to next season now. With all the effort that is being put into the development of the car, I am confident we can make another step forward to where Mercedes belongs; fighting at the top."
Nico Rosberg:
"Today wasn't an ideal ending to the season, and although I scored some points, I expected to finish higher than P7. I didn't get a good start, and I had problems with my tyres overheating as the track temperatures were very high. So I had to manage my tyres very carefully during the whole race which impacted on the pace. Now I'm looking ahead and I hope we can do better in 2012. I look forward to an exciting time in the winter as we work hard to develop a better car for next year."
Bruno Senna:
"What can I say - it's been quite a difficult day and the overall feeling is one of disappointment. I started the race in a healthy position on the grid and I was hoping to capitalise on that. There were many difficulties preventing us from having a better race, namely the incident with Michael and the gearbox problems. I would love to have given my home fans something to smile about, but unfortunately it was not to be."
Vitaly Petrov:
"Definitely it is good to finish with a point, which was a good response to yesterday's qualifying position. My race start was good and my speed was not too bad and I was quite happy with the car. We came in quite early and I think we lost out being behind both Toro Rosso as it was very difficult to overtake them. I lost quite a lot of time like this, otherwise I think I could have been ahead of Kamui Kobayashi and it would have been better to finish in P9 instead of P10. The pit stops were better, with one very good one - my crew were working well right up to the end of the season. I wanted more points this year. It was not a fantastic season but I want to say thank you to all the team who have supported me and believed in me. Next year is another season and I hope we can work even better together and achieve much better results."
Rubens Barrichello:
We thought it was going to rain today so we were running a long first gear. I started at the bottom of the hill, and as it was a dry start, I slipped back. It was a fun race but we don't have a car that can finish in the points just yet. I want to thank the team for all their hard work this year. We have had a tough season but we've pushed together. There's been a lot of talk over the weekend, but I believe I will be back again next season.
Pastor Maldonado:
I had a good start until I lost position fighting for space on track. Our overall pace during the race was fine, but the rear wing setting slightly held us back on the long straight. My retirement came after I passed Senna on lap 26. The car had too much oversteer and I just lost control of it.
Adrian Sutil:
"I'm really happy about the result today. It completes a great weekend where everything went to plan. I had a good feeling in all the sessions and the team did a brilliant job to give me such a good car today. We also made the right calls with the strategy because we knew there was a chance to beat Mercedes, and that's exactly what we did. So I'm very happy with my sixth place - it's the best way to end the year and it also means that I move up to ninth place in the drivers' championship, which was my aim."
Paul di Resta:
"My eighth place today is a great result after quite a tough race for me. There was a concern with the gearbox around half way through the race so the team told me to just try and bring the car home. In the final stint it was just a case of managing the gap to Kobayashi behind me and we had enough to do that quite easily in the end. So that's the end of my first season of Formula 1 and it's been a great year, especially now we have finished sixth in the championship. It's well deserved for the entire team and I want to thank everyone for their help and support during this amazing year."
Sergio Perez:
Start on used soft tyres, after 20 laps change to used soft tyres and after 44 laps change to new medium compound tyres
"The team's main target for today was to make sure we finished the season in seventh, and I am very happy that this was achieved, although I couldn't contribute this time. As a team I think we are all already looking forward to the next season. After all that has happened I am happy with my rookie season. I have learned a lot and with this experience I want to do a good job in 2012. However, my race today wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. The start was fine, but we had opted for wet conditions and the result was that the rear tyres tended to overheat. The car was quite difficult to drive and I'm sorry for the spin at half distance."
Sebastian Buemi:
"Of course, we were hoping to score points today, but we were not competitive enough, finishing 11th and 12th. I got a good start, passing Jaime and Barrichello but after that I soon suffered with tyre degradation partly because we did not have the best set up for these conditions, but in terms of my own performance I feel I did the best I could. I am disappointed we could not get ahead of Sauber, but that's racing. Overall, the season has not been too bad and I had some good races, but I lost points with various mishaps and problems. The team has worked well but we need to improve still further next year if we want to do better than this."
Jaime Alguersuari:
"This was a difficult race right from the start, with low grip in the first stint on the softer tyre, especially in terms of traction and at the exit to slow corners and I was struggling a lot to follow Buemi and Perez. The second stint on the harder tyre was much better, but it's hard to understand in general why we seem to have lost performance in the last two races. Overall, I am happy to finish the season on 26 points whereas last year I had only five, so hopefully I can continue this improvement by doing better next year."
Heikki Kovalainen:
"Thank you to everyone for another excellent weekend for the team where I don't think we could have got anything more from the whole package. All afternoon the car felt great and we managed to make the most of the performance we put in yesterday in qualifying. I had another great start today, they've really been excellent for some time now, and from there I got straight into a good rhythm right throughout the whole race. I had a few issues with the blue flags towards the end, with so many cars coming around it kind of messes with your own race, but that's just something you have to deal with. All year we've kept on progressing and we've finished on a real high with that tenth place so we're set us up perfectly for next year where we can take another step forward in the development of this team."
Jarno Trulli:
"For me it was a pretty standard race. I didn't have a great start but was easily ahead of the cars we needed to beat today and it was really just about getting the car home in one piece so we could seal our place in the championship. I want to thank the whole team for the work they've done this weekend and all year. We keep on progressing and it's great to be part of something that shows real signs of where it can go."
Daniel Ricciardo:
"The race was a bit up and down because the pace was a bit mixed. In the first stint for the first laps it seemed that I was quicker than Tonio and Glock but then a few laps later they were pulling away so it was hard to know if I was quicker or not. In the second stint we went with option tyres again and our pace wasn't bad but I think we abused the tyres a bit too much and I had to pit a bit earlier for the primes because the tyres were finished. It took a few laps for the primes to start working but once they did the times were better than ever. At that stage D'Ambrosio was too far in front but the positive thing for me was that I was able to continue producing good lap times towards the end of the race. It's been a really good six months and I'm happy with how the season has gone, you always want a bit more but realistically it has been really good and I have learned a lot. I want to thank HRT and Red Bull for giving me the opportunity to come and do it."
Tonio Liuzzi:
"At the start my car went into anti-stall so when I dropped the clutch the car stopped and everyone passed me and, therefore, I was last coming into the first corner but then during the first lap I managed to make up for it. Everything went well in qualifying and during the race we had a good pace and competed well with the Virgins so it's a great shame that I suffered an alternator failure towards the end which forced us to retire. It's unfortunate because we wanted to finish the season with a strong result. It's a shame because we could have achieved it. Now we have to work hard for next year and try to recover from this problem and make up for it in the future because we need to be strong and competitive in every race."
Timo Glock:
"A very disappointing way to end the season. It's a real shame to have had to retire after losing the left-rear tyre after my first pit-stop but unfortunately these things happen. So it wasn't the way I would have liked to end the season but, anyway, I want to thank the team for all the effort they have put in during the whole year. It has been great to work together."
Jerome d'Ambrosio:
"I think today was a great race and a great way to finish the season for me. We did a good job in qualifying yesterday and today was one of my best races so far. I'm happy this has happened here in Brazil, as I love this track. I'm also glad to finish ahead of HRT - definitely a very positive way to end the season. I want to thank the team for all their hard work. I have really enjoyed working together with them this year."
