Ferrari: A fourth place in Suzuka with Kimi Raikkonen

Driver Position Time Detachment Chassis Revolutions
K. Raikkonen 4th 1:28.28.383 + 7.940 53 279
G. Fisichella 12th 1:28.35.039 +14.596 53 280

Weather: air temperature 28/27 °C, asphalt temperature 43/41 °C, sun.

Five points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in a Japanese Grand Prix which saw Kimi Raikkonen finish fourth and Giancarlo Fisichella finish the race in twelfth position. With two races to go the Scuderia continues to remain in third place in the Constructors' classification even if the margin of advantage over its closest pursuer has been reduced to just two points.

Stefano Domenicali: “All things considered, this is a positive result: I don't think we could have achieved more than this fourth place. We brought out all the current potential of the F60 and, thanks to yet another great race from Kimi, we managed to maintain third place in the Constructors' standings. Giancarlo also had a good performance, proving to be competitive both in terms of pace and performance, as confirmed by the eighth best time overall. In the central part, with the soft tyres, both our drivers were very fast, lapping at the times of the best. The team has worked well: we must continue like this in the last two races that remain to be played in this strange season to defend tooth and nail the objective that we have set ourselves from the middle of the championship onwards.”

Giancarlo Fisichella: “The feeling with the car improved this weekend and I think the results were visible, even if you wouldn't think so in terms of placing. Today I had a good pace, especially in the central part of the race. It's a shame for the position we lost to Kovalainen: we managed to pass him in the pit stop but then he threw himself on the inside in the only slightly open gap, leaned on me and managed to overtake me . In the final I had to defend myself from Sutil who was very fast and had soft tires while I was on the hard ones: KERS gave me a hand there. Now I'm looking at the Interlagos race with greater confidence: it will be important to be able to start a little further ahead and then finally try to finish the race in the points."

Kimi Raikkonen: “Today the car wasn't bad but we weren't fast enough to fight for the podium. This fourth place is useful to keep the team in third place in the Constructors' championship but it will be difficult to stay there in the last two races. We will certainly do our best to make it happen. At the start I wasn't able to gain positions especially because the first corner here is quite close to the start line and it's not possible to make the most of the KERS. In the first part, when I had the hard tyres, the situation was a bit difficult but then, once I switched to the soft tyres, things definitely improved. I managed to get close to Heidfeld and pass him at the pit stop despite finding myself in traffic behind Button upon exiting my stop. Then there wasn't much left to fight for until the end of the race.”

Chris Dyer: “After the disappointment in Singapore it was good to see Kimi finish the race in a good position. With hindsight there is also a hint of regret for a result that could have even been better: at the beginning we chose to start with the hard tires on Kimi's car because we were not sufficiently sure about the grip of the soft ones on the distance. Instead, the performance remained constant, as seen in the second part of the race when both drivers were very competitive. Furthermore, we were unable to gain positions at the start, as usually happens to us. We played with the stops a bit to try to pass Heidfeld and we succeeded. In the final part it seemed at a certain point that Hamilton was having problems and then the safety car regrouped the group. Kimi tried to see if there was space for an attack on the restart but there was no margin. Giancarlo had a good race and it is important for him and for the team to have seen him fight with Kovalainen and Alonso for a placing immediately close to the points zone. It was a shame for him to leave the pits during the second stop, where he lost a position to the McLaren driver.