Christian Horner, Team Principal: "A massive result for the team to achieve a one two in Japan. It was an exciting race that was dictated by the tyre strategy. We split the strategies between a three-stop for Mark and a two-stop for Seb, based on the expected tyre lives on the two cars. Both drivers managed to make it work to navigate their way past Romain Grosjean, in particularly brave moves down into Turn one. A great result for the Team and both Championships and congratulations to Renault for another one-two-three finish on the podium."
Thierry Salvi, Renault: "A perfect result for Renault today, and great to see us up there represented on the podium. We split strategies today for Mark and Seb and got a 1-2, which is of course good news for the Championship. However there are still four races to go so we'll remain focused on the job in hand."
Stefano Domenicali: "The Suzuka weekend began with the sad news of the death of Maria de Villota and our first thoughts are with her. Considering the potential of our car, thanks to the work of the team at the track, we have obtained a result that allows us to stay second in both Championships, in line with our current objectives. With today's fourth place, Fernando tops the list of the all-time highest number of points scored, proof of his extraordinary talent and something which makes us very proud. Up until the penalty, Felipe was fighting for a top five finish and it's a shame that the drivethrough affected his race, so that he was not rewarded for all his efforts. Today's leading trio had a better pace than us, but now it's important that we do not let up at all: over the final four races, we have an obligation to demonstrate that Ferrari never gives up fighting for the top places".
Pat Fry: "The first part of the race was very intense from a strategic point of view, as it was affected by traffic and the decision to bring forward the pit stops, which most of the teams did today. For us, it would have been a pointless risk to stop earlier than planned, because we had based our race on a two stop strategy and it would have therefore been difficult to make it to the end. Our level of degradation was better than last week's and our race pace meant we could make up places. Today's performance was definitely affected by traffic and even if the podium was not within our reach, the pace was enough for us to have finished right behind the top three by a smaller margin. Fernando drove a great race, getting a very good start and showing once again just how strong he is in the race. Certainly, we can't be satisfied with fourth place, but we are pleased about the fact Fernando has taken the lead in the all-time points table. I am very disappointed for Felipe, because he did not deserve to finish down in tenth place at the end of a weekend that had started so well. I think it's true to say that, without the penalty he would have been able to fight for fifth with Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. For the last four races, we will evaluate if it is worth bringing some improvements to motivate the drivers and teams over the closing stages of this championship".
"Jenson made a good start off the line, but through no fault of his own was then embroiled in a first-corner incident, consequently dropping a few places. As a result, he also flat-spotted his tyres, which caused a significant vibration that we elected to curtail by bringing him in for his first tyre stop earlier than we otherwise would have done.
"We were consequently forced to convert his planned two-stop strategy to a three-stopper, which was a pity, but he drove a truly excellent race thereafter, taking advantage of rubber fresher than that of his rivals in his fourth and final stint to pull off some excellent overtaking manoeuvres and bag a hard-won ninth place by the flag.
"Checo made an excellent start, moving from P11 on the grid to P8 at the end of lap one, and was able to keep pace with all but the three front-runners throughout his first stint.
"Unfortunately, his first tyre stop was compromised by the unsafe release of Nico's Mercedes, causing him [ie, Checo] to emerge behind Esteban's [Gutierrez] Sauber, behind which he lost a lot of time throughout his second stint, unable to overtake despite making plenty of brave attempts to do so.
"Then, in his third stint, Checo suffered a left-rear puncture, also ironically in an incident with Nico, which necessitated an extra unscheduled pitstop that put him out of contention for a points-scoring finish. Had that not occurred, he, like Jenson, would have earned some valuable points.
"From here we go to New Delhi, where we hope to consolidate our fifth place in the Constructors' World Championship by enjoying what we hope will be a less eventful and more productive afternoon than we did here at Suzuka today."
Another strong performance for Lotus F1 Team saw Romain Grosjean take a fighting third, whilst team-mate Kimi Raikkonen battled his way to fifth in a tense Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. A superb start from Romain saw him lead in the early stages, before fighting hard with both Red Bulls in the latter stages. Kimi endured a tough start - dropping back to P11 - before battling back in typical fashion to climb back up the order.
Kimi retains third place in the Drivers' Championship on 177 points; sixteen clear of Lewis Hamilton and thirty behind Fernando Alonso. Romain Grosjean remains eighth in the standings on 87 points, just three behind Felipe Massa. The team maintains fourth in the Constructors' Championship on 264 points; now just 23 behind Mercedes and comfortably ahead of McLaren.
Kimi started from P9 with a scrubbed set of medium compound tyres, changing to scrubbed hard tyres on lap 11 and new hard tyres on lap 31. Romain started from P4 on a scrubbed set of medium compound tyres, changing to scrubbed hard tyres on lap 12 and new hard tyres on lap 29.
Eric Boullier, Team Principal: "It's great to see such a good fight in the race and both our cars show so strongly. Once again, both drivers, our strategists and the pit crew performed brilliantly and we did the very best we could on track. We don't have the pace to beat Red Bull, but today we showed them that we are nevertheless quite formidable whilst also underlining to Mercedes and Ferrari that we are a strong contender for the final four races of the season. We must say a big thanks to everyone at Enstone for the fantastic car we have in the E21. To see Romain leading the race was very satisfying and we hope to see that again very soon."
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "It was a great race for us and superb to see Romain leading for so much of it. We were the only team to take the fight to Red Bull; ultimately they were too quick for us but we took a strong and well deserved third place with Romain and a fighting fifth with Kimi. Romain made a fantastic start and we had enough in hand in the first stint to be able to pit a lap later than Mark, but they started to catch us on the medium tyres and Sebastian was able to catch and pass reasonably easily with their superior pace. It's a great feeling to show so strongly at Suzuka."
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader: "Suzuka plays to the strengths of our chassis-engine package, with the straights taking advantage of the good top end power whilst our driveability and good tyre wear favour the slower, more flowing sections. A great race for Romain today; he had a fantastic start and was in contention for the win throughout the entire race. Kimi also had a strong race and was very close to giving Renault a perfect 1-2-3-4 result!"
Ross Brawn: A tough afternoon for us which was made more frustrating by the fact that we had a good car today and unfortunately did not get the opportunity to demonstrate that. Our lap times were pretty competitive and the tyre durability was good but for various reasons, we weren't able to race well. We suffered a puncture with Lewis off the line and, whilst he managed to recover to the pits, the damage subsequently proved too great to continue. With Nico, we had the issue with the pit stop which led to the drive through penalty. We're normally a pretty reliable team in the pits and I don't fully understand what happened yet but we will investigate and take any necessary actions. The team has worked extremely hard over the past two weeks and I still believe we have the potential to finish the season in second place in the Constructors' Championship but we have to use the potential of the car to the full in the four remaining races to achieve that aim.
Toto Wolff: That was a character-building afternoon for our team. Lewis suffered an unfortunate racing incident on the run down to turn one and had to complete an entire lap with a punctured right-rear tyre. That seriously damaged the underfloor of the car and it became clear soon after he went back out that the rear brake temperatures were climbing and the car pulling to the right. So the only sensible precaution was to retire the car after seven laps. As for Nico, he drove a strong race but his finishing position was dictated by the drive-through penalty that he received for an unsafe release at his first pit stop. After that, he recovered well to finish in eighth position and salvage four points.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "This is a fantastic result for us, especially on Peter's birthday. We hope he is happy with this. Both drivers, once again, put up a fantastic fight. It is further proof we are going in the right direction and gives us a lot of confidence for the remaining races, as there is a lot we can still fight for. Hats off to both drivers and to the team that did a great job both at home and here. On behalf of the whole team I would like to wish Peter Sauber a happy 70th birthday. Over the past 43 years motorsport has shaped his life. He established the Sauber F1 Team in Formula One as well as the Sauber brand in motorsport. Sauber is now the fourth oldest name in Formula One. Peter was able to achieve all of that from Switzerland, which four decades ago no one believed was possible. He founded a motorsport team, brought it to the highest level of motorsport and was able to compete continuously in Formula One for over 20 years. Sauber Motorsport today is a technology centre of the highest standard. Peter Sauber always focused on the interests of the team. For that he deserves the utmost gratitude and respect."
Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: "This is our first double points score of the year and a fantastic result for the team. Some good strategy work saw us punching a little bit above our weight for most of the race. Esteban made a great start and had a fantastic first lap and it is really good for him to score his first points today. This has been coming for a while, we never doubted he would make it, and this is a well deserved seventh place. For Nico it was also a good race and he worked hard for his sixth. I hope the boss enjoyed this on his 70th birthday today."
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "We made no secret of the fact that Suzuka was going to be the most difficult track for us in the second part of the season. So it was no surprise that points were hard to come by today. Paul came close in P11, but his race strategy was hampered in the second stint when he was running behind Bottas. He finally cleared the Williams by pitting early for his second stop, but we were missing the pace to fend off the recovering Button and that cost us the final point. With Adrian it was a similar story as he ran behind Maldonado for much of the race and struggled with tyre performance. So it's been an uphill struggle for us, but we remain upbeat as we head to India for the team's home race. The upcoming tracks should play more to our strengths and give us the opportunity to get back to scoring regular points."
Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race Engineer: It was a good clean start and first lap from both drivers. We were racing the Toro Rosso's and the Force India's and aiming for a two-stop strategy. We stuck to strategy but needed to be more aggressive in the second stint to keep them behind so in the end we weren't able to hold them off. Ultimately our pace wasn't good enough. This circuit is hard on tyres and our tyre life was on the limit so we couldn't pit any earlier than we did otherwise we risked not making it to the end of the race. Valtteri and Pastor therefore ended up racing each other, and after Valtteri had been ahead for the majority of the race, Pastor found a way through in the final chicane of the last lap.
Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader: We made some progress this weekend and had a good result in qualifying so P16 and P17 is disappointing for all our efforts. Suzuka is always a hard race and unfortunately it was a very tough one for us today. We hope for more in India and for the remainder of the season.
Franz Tost: "First of all, the mechanics need to be commended for doing a good job in rebuilding Jev's car after the fire yesterday. We were reasonably flexible regarding our strategy for today, looking at a three stop for Jean-Eric, as he had plenty of new tyres, so it seemed like a sensible choice, while with Daniel we were looking at a two stopper. As often happens at Suzuka, Jev got stuck in traffic after the start, so we brought him in early, but a long stop put him back in the same place. After that he drove very well in the middle of the race, overtaking other cars. Daniel had a clearer start, moving up two places right away and kept out of traffic. Then, well after he passed Sutil, he ran wide onto the gravel, losing time. However, the Stewards decided he had gained an advantage. He therefore had to come in for the drive-through penalty, that cost him a top ten finish."
Max Chilton began today's Japanese Grand Prix as the Marussia F1 Team's lead charge and ended up as their lone ranger, after Jules Bianchi's race was over at the first corner following a coming-together with Giedo van der Garde.
Max started the race from P18, ahead of all three of his closest competitors, but the bigger challenge would be to remain ahead of the Caterhams in the race, confirming the Marussia's fresh turn of pace. That task was made a little easier when he was left with only Charles Pic to contend with, but nonetheless Max led that particular battle from the front for most of today's 53 lap race. Struggling rather more on the prime Hard tyre he took on for the final stint, with just six laps of the race remaining he ventured onto the marbles which pitched him off track, allowing Pic to take advantage and gain position. Following Lewis Hamilton's retirement, Max is now the only driver to have finished each of the 15 rounds so far this season.
One of the Grands Prix which Jules had been most looking forward to in his debut season turned into a weekend to forget, almost from the start. Despite a valiant attempt throughout the weekend to improve his fortunes, success at Suzuka was ultimately a little too far out of reach it seemed.
John Booth, Team Principal: "A disappointing end to a weekend where we've seen some very positive signs with car performance. Jules' start was again fantastic this week and this enabled him to jump Giedo van der Garde. Had his race continued, then with the turn of pace that we saw on his long runs on Saturday morning, we feel sure he would have had a strong showing. Max was enjoying a good race and we were managing his pace well in order to ensure we made the two stop strategy work. Unfortunately he struggled a little more on his last set of prime tyres and he ended up running wide, which let Charles Pic through. Overall we have good reason to feel encouraged by many aspects of this weekend and we are looking forward to introducing some smaller developments for India, which we hope will continue to improve the pace of the car."
All the drivers started on the P Zero White medium tyre, nominated with the P Zero Orange hard tyre for Suzuka, apart from Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo and Caterham's Charles Pic. Grosjean took the lead from third on the grid when the lights went out: the start of an intense tactical battle between him and the two Red Bulls that would last throughout the race.
Webber was the first of the leading three to stop from second place on lap 11 for hard tyres, hoping to use strategy to get past Grosjean. The Lotus driver pitted on the following lap for hard tyres from the lead, leaving Vettel in front.
Vettel's first stop was on lap 14 for hard tyres, rejoining in third with Grosjean and Webber in front. The final driver to make his first stop was Ricciardo, who pitted for another set of hard tyres from on lap 21, having climbed up to fourth in the early stages.
Webber's second stop took place on lap 25 for hard tyres again, aiming to 'undercut' Grosjean for the lead once more with the timing of his pit stop. This time the strategy worked: Grosjean's second stop was on lap 29 for more hards and he rejoined in third behind Vettel and Webber.
Vettel made his second and final stop for the hard compound on lap 37, with 16 laps to go. He slotted back into third, but with Webber pitting once more and Grosjean running a 24-lap final stint, the German's strategy was the winning choice.
With 11 laps to go, Webber put on the faster medium tyres at his third stop and set off to chase Vettel and Grosjean, taking second place with just laps to go. The top three finished within 10 seconds, despite adopting very different tactics.
Paul Hembery: "This was always going to be a very close race, with little difference in lap times between the two nominated compounds. As a result we saw varied approaches to strategy, with both the medium and the hard tyre being used at different points for the second and third stints. The majority of drivers stopped twice as we expected: wear is quite low at Suzuka due to the flowing nature of the circuit - which means that traction demands are low - but the high lateral energy loads mean that the limiting factor is degradation. This of course is exacerbated when you have a close race with the cars following behind each other, as aerodynamic efficiency is compromised and the cars slide more. Vettel was able to use a two-stop strategy to make the difference here, but it was extremely close with Webber and Grosjean. Once more we received a great welcome in Japan: one of the most difficult circuits in the world for drivers, cars and tyres, with an absolutely amazing atmosphere thanks to some fantastic fans."
