Mercedes AMG Petronas
Michael Schumacher: “I have mixed feelings after the race here in Japan, because it’s obviously unfortunate to come so close to scoring points and not manage it, after a race which went better than we expected. In the final laps, I had a nice and interesting battle with Ricciardo, but in the end I couldn’t get past him because the Toro Rosso was so quick on the straights. That’s why we have to say we couldn’t have got much more out of it today. Now let’s see how things go in Korea.”
Nico Rosberg: “I had a good start to the race but unfortunately it ended fairly quickly today. In the first corner Grosjean spun into Webber and that also led to my accident. I began to brake but Senna crashed into me from behind which destroyed my rear tyre and meant that I had to retire. It’s a shame as I felt very comfortable with my car on the installation lap, and I was confident that we could score some decent points. I’ll now hope for a better weekend in Korea.”
Sauber F1 Team
Kamui Kobayashi: “It hasn’t sunk in yet, it is hard to believe – I achieved my first podium in Suzuka! It was a fantastic race and we have been working really hard to get to this point since we were lacking pace on Friday. But the Sauber F1 Team did a great job to recover from there. Starting from third obviously helped a lot and also the long run I did on Friday made me very confident for the race. The team has built a great car this year. You can tell this from the podium finishes my team-mate has had. At times I was close to that as well but I never had the luck. It means so much to me that it finally worked out. Maybe from now on things will be easier. I had a very long last stint today and Jenson (Button) changed for fresh tyres later. My rear tyres where really bad in the end and I had a lot of oversteer. But regardless of this I had to push to defend my podium place. Only during the final lap did I allow myself to really think I can keep him behind me, because then the best overtaking opportunity at the end of the straight was over, and then I saw all the fans and the raised hands. It meant a lot to me and I want to thank the Japanese fans.”
Sergio Perez: “I feel very sorry for the team. It worked well when I got passed Lewis Hamilton for the first time on lap six, but then it didn’t when I tried it again. Lewis went quite late to the inside and I had only room on the outside. But it certainly was my mistake. The race didn’t start too well for me either when Romain Grosjean caused a mess and I lost positions.”
Info & Images: Mercedes GP and Sauber F1 Team
Find us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for the F1 2012 season
