Ralf, difficult conditions but you got pole.
Ralf Schumacher: It was a difficult lap for all of us, I think. It was very slippery out there, you it saw with Jarno. He had a bit of bad luck and a lot of the other drivers did as well. He was just on the limit of what we could do and we were lucky with the weather. Especially, it was clear, you saw that with Giancarlo already that he could have gone faster but luckily the rain came in. It was actually down to our predictions, that was perfect, so thanks to the weather guy!

You like Suzuka, you have always said that in the past, and looking at the grid now it is going to be an amazing race tomorrow because you have got a good chance of winning.
RS: It is incredible. I have always loved Suzuka, I have been racing here since 1995. This is the first time for a Japanese team being on pole (here) which is obviously great. The team did a great job and I think we have a good chance tomorrow as well since some of the really strong cars are further back so we could have a really strong race tomorrow.

And you are driving the new T104B Toyota, presumably for preparations next year. Could you talk a bit about the improvements compared to the standard car?
RS: Yeah, thanks really to the pushing in Cologne, they brought the B-car to the last test and we decided it was a better car, more consistent, better front-end: It is basically an evolution to define directions for next year and it worked out.

Jenson, you were out just after Ralf, was the weather maybe a little bit worse then?
Jenson Button: Not at all, it wasn't raining when I was out so I think I was the last of the people in just greasy conditions. We were very lucky, both of us, but it was lucky more for me because I had a very difficult car to drive, a lot of understeer in the car. It's great to be second on the grid and it’s Honda's home Grand Prix, so it should be a very exciting race tomorrow.

You did some running in the morning. How much were you plunging into the dark in the qualifying lap, you said the handling was not good, how do you live with that problem in the lap?
JB: Well, it's the first time we ran this tyre because we ran a different tyre this morning. It was very difficult. On the out lap I knew I had some big issues, I had massive understeer, I couldn’t get my front tyres to work, I don’t know if it was temperature or just not enough wing in the car, but it just felt like a very, very slow lap, so to be P2 I am reasonably happy. I am sure all of us have set the car up for tomorrow in the race but for us we are very positive and think we can have a very good home race for the team.

And what are your thoughts for the race in terms of your potential for winning tomorrow, bearing in mind the shape of the grid?
JB: It is never going to be easy even if the McLarens are so far back, we also have got Giancarlo here at the front with us. It is going to be an exciting race and I think we have a better car here in race trim than we have had at the last couple of races, we have solved a few of the problems we have had so we think it will be a strong race for us.

Giancarlo, the rain was falling when you were out there, very difficult conditions, talk us through that.
Giancarlo Fisichella: It is true I have been lucky but unlucky because when I was out for my qualifying lap it started raining quite heavily in the last part of the circuit. I was really confident because his morning after the second free practice I was the quickest and the car balance was really good, so I was confident to do well. Considering the last part of the circuit was a bit too wet for the intermediate tyres I am really happy for today and looking forward to tomorrow.

And of course, the last qualifying with similar conditions was Australia and it worked very well for you there. What are your thoughts on tomorrow?
GF: I am obviously looking forward to it. We have the two McLarens on the back of the grid which is good for us and for the Constructors’ Championship and for the race tomorrow and it is going to be an interesting race.

Press Conference

Ralf, do you remember the last pole?
RS: No, when was it? I have no clue. Last year in Canada?

In a way this is Toyota’s first real pole because they did admit to running light at Indianapolis. What are your feelings on that, I guess you weren’t running light this time?
RS: I guess so, we will find out tomorrow, won’t we! No, certainly not. But at the same time we have been lucky as well. I think we had particularly difficult circumstances but we saw there was not so much between DC and us, although he was out there first, but I was certainly lucky because Giancarlo would have gone a lot faster anyway. We could see that. But it feels great, I mean, being in Japan, on a circuit I like, with Toyota, the first time here on pole and it is a great result for the team.

You mentioned you got the forecast right, did you know it was going to ease up for the first little batch of rain?
RS: Well, actually, usually it never works to my advantage so that is why we were laughing amongst the mechanics and I said ‘okay, once Jarno is done it is fine but then it is going to start as usual!’ But just the prediction was simply great, I don’t know how it happened but it did happen.