Japan preview quotes: Williams

"At Fuji Speedway, we'll be on Toyota's home ground, so it would be great if we could do well there in front of the Japanese audience. I'll be flying out to Tokyo a week early for sponsor events and to recover from the jet lag. Dealing with the big time difference is not only about sleeping, but also about eating. You sometimes wake up at 4am and your body is screaming for a huge steak! Anyway, it's an unknown track, but again I am confident we can do well and continue our form of the last few races."

Alex Wurz: "I very much like going to oversees races and particularly to Japan because I love the culture there. This time, though, it will be a bit of an unknown trip for me, not because we're going to a new track, but because my wife Julia is expecting our third son and he's scheduled to arrive in the days between Japan and China. Naturally then, I'm leaving home with a bit of an uncomfortable feeling.

"As for the circuit, I always like driving new tracks and usually manage to learn them quite quickly. Fuji Speedway will certainly be a challenge when it comes to set-up and aero settings because the long fast straight, combined with the slow speed last sector, demands a big compromise. From a championship perspective, we will have to wait and see where we stand in comparison to the others, but I hope to be able to snatch some points."

Sam Michael, Technical Director: "Fuji is effectively a new circuit for Formula One as the circuit layout we will race on next weekend is quite different to what was used last time F1 raced there 30 years ago. The old track layout prompted higher speeds and had only three or four corners between the long straights. The new layout mainly consists of slow speed corners and has a lot of changes of direction. The one very long straight could influence the amount of rear wing that we run here. As it's a new layout, I'm sure there will be some changes needed after Friday's practice sessions. The only thing that hasn't changed is Mount Fuji itself which still provides a spectacular backdrop.

"Weather forecasts predict rain for most of the weekend. This can obviously always change, but we will expect it regardless. Fuji also has high altitudes; it's approximately 570m above sea level, which is close to that in Brazil. This causes a loss of downforce, drag and engine power because the air is not as dense."