Today's Selected Quotes - Japanese GP

Ferrari

Jean Todt: "This is a joyous moment. This result was our objective from the start of the year, as it has also been in the past. I am happy and feel honoured to work with such a fantastic team and an exceptional driver like Michael. I am also very happy for the 550 people of the Gestione Sportiva who have worked intensively over the years to reach this goal. With all the attention focussed on Michael today, we must not forget the great contribution of Rubens Barrichello and Luca Badoer to the result. I thank President Montezemolo for having put the means at our disposal to achieve this result. Now we still need three points to win the Constructors‘ Championship again and that will be our target in two weeks time in Malaysia. Today's win came after an exciting fight with a worthy opponent. Hakkinen is a great driver and a champion, both as a man and as a professional. The race? After the start, Michael managed to make up ground on a track which was a bit slippery because of the light rain. At the second stop, we managed to get Michael out on the track ahead of Hakkinen, also making the most of the new set of tyres we had saved from yesterday's qualifying."

Michael Schumacher: "It's difficult to find the words to say how it feels. It is similar to Monza, but don't expect me to cry. I felt an oubreak of emotion as I crossed the line. The conditions were difficult today and the season has had its ups and downs. It was great to finish with a win after a fight to the last corner, thanks to Mika. We have been working for this for five years and three times we got close. This is simply outstanding and special because it is with Ferrari and means much more to me than my other titles. Imagine what is happening in Italy right now. It must be fantastic. As for the start, Mika was very quick and there was nothing I could do. We made some adjustments at the first stop and they helped. Then we saw Mika going in for his second stop and I still had two laps to go. That was the crucial time, but I had some traffic and a Benetton had spun and was moving backwards in front of me as I came into the pits. I did not think I had done enough. But as I went down the pit lane, Ross Brawn was saying 'it's looking good, it's looking good.' Then he said 'it's looking bloody good!' It was the most amazing moment of my racing career. Towards the end when I was out in front I was being careful not to go off and hoping nothing would break. We will have to improvise our celebration as I told everyone not to plan anything as I felt it would be unlucky."

Rubens Barrichello: "I am happy to be here and to be part of such a special moment. I am happy for the team but the happiest man in the world right now must be Michael. I feel that with all the work I have done at the races and in testing and in collaborating with the engineers, I have contributed my part to this great day for Ferrari. Now I will concentrate on helping the team to win the Constructors' Championship in Malaysia. The start was the crucial moment of my race. I got away well, but then Coulthard blocked me which allowed the others to get past and so I lost precious places. Then traffic made my life difficult. When I had a clear road ahead of me, I was able to push harder but not enough to get to the podium."

McLaren

Mika Hakkinen: "Obviously I'm disappointed, but I would still like to congratulate Michael. We have had a great battle this year with both ups and downs and it's been very exciting. Today I made a good start to take the lead and things were looking good until my second pitstop. The guys did a great stop, but unfortunately I lost valuable time on my out lap partly due to traffic but also it began to rain a bit more and as a result of the new tyres it was extremely slippery and I was sliding everywhere. Anyway I believe to be a good winner you have to be a good loser and now we are focusing on finishing the season on a high in Malaysia and on next year's Championship."

David Coulthard: "I had a fairly quiet race and was not really involved in any battles. I was just concentrating on keeping the car on the track as the conditions were difficult due to the track conditions changing all the time. One lap it was really damp and the next it wasn't. Anyway we look forward to next year where we will renew our Championship challenge."

Ron Dennis: "The intermittent rain and traffic after Mika's final pitstop were significant contributors to the outcome of today's race. The drivers and team as a whole have worked hard throughout the weekend and we must remember that World Championships come from points gained over 17 races so we can't look at this race in isolation. Its been a difficult year which has seen both our competitors and our fortunes swing in both directions - we have not had a perfect season but certainly not a bad one either. The points gap between the top two teams and the rest of the field demonstrates exactly how intense the battle has been this year. Its difficult to feel positive at this moment in time but the entire company has done a great job and we can all take some satisfaction from the seven victories and seven pole positions we have achieved so far this year."

Norbert Haug: "To finish runner up in the Drivers' World Championship after two consecutive title wins is nothing to be ashamed of. It was a close race today, which Mika had under control until the final pitstop when he lost time when he was out on new tyres in partly damp conditions. He was also unlucky to lose additional time due to backmarkers. We look forward to our next World Championship season, which for us already starts in Kuala Lumpur. Congratulations to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari."

Williams

Jenson Button: "My start wasn't one of the best - it was quite disastrous actually - as I dropped down to seventh having started fifth, but I kept pushing and got back to fifth by passing Ralf, who had a problem. The car was very well balanced, worked very well and I was putting in quite good times, although obviously not as good as McLaren and Ferrari! I think that it's fantastic Michael Schumacher is world champion because he deserves it and has for many years. I am sure he will be celebrating tonight so I'll try to be there!"

Ralf Schumacher: "I can barely tell how happy I feel for my brother. This year for sure the best driver in the best car and the best team has won. I had a very good start and at the beginning everything wasn't too bad. But as it started to rain and it became quite slippery I went off the track twice through my own fault. I then spun when a Minardi driver - again - decided to let me through at the very last moment. Gene braked unexpectedly and I had to brake suddenly myself, got on the kerb and went off. I appreciate that he came to apologise after the race."

Frank Williams: "A satisfying result today - we always get to the line hoping for more - but we're still grateful for two more points. I was astonished during the race at the pace of the two leaders, quite remarkable. The third place in the constructors' championship is very close. A fine championship, with thrilling championship finish. Less unfortunate traffic problems might have made a difference to the outcome."

Patrick Head, Technical Director: "First of all congratulations should go to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari for a job well done during the year. McLaren give them a great fight through the whole season and these two teams have been really class acts all the way through the year. For our race Jenson did an extraordinarily good job considering the conditions with the rain and he drove an absolutely brilliant, very mature race and thoroughly deserved his fifth position. Ralf made a very good start but unfortunately the race didn't work out for him and he finished it in a gravel trap."

Gerhard Berger, BMW Motorsport Director: "Congratulations to Michael and Mika â€" both have been excellent and fair sports. This weekend has been a super show for F1. The battle at the top has shown us once again the great level of the top teams. We still have a lot of work ahead. Today we collected two more points in a technically trouble-free race. The third place in the constructors' championship is now within our reach. We hope we are going to have something to celebrate ourselves in Malaysia."

BAR

Jacques Villeneuve: "We did some good work this weekend and the car was good enough in the middle and end of the race. I made a bad start and was caught up in a big battle with the Jaguars. I tried to stay close to Button, so we could try to overtake him in the pits, but I was losing too much time behind the other cars and it is very hard to pass here. At least we have scored a point to move into the top five of the Constructors' championship. We are only two points behind Benetton and I am three points behind Fisichella, so it's possible that we will be able to overtake them in the final race in Malaysia."

Ricardo Zonta: "The car was very good in the race; much better than in qualifying. We also had the new engine in today, but this circuit is so difficult to overtake on that even if you have the extra power, when you are stuck behind another car you cannot use it. But the engine was good and once I had a clear track I was able to do some very quick laps. Towards the end, I was hoping it would rain very hard. The track was slippery, but never wet and I hoped that we could make up some points if the rain became heavier, but it never did."

Takefumi Hosaka, Managing Director, Honda R&D: "I would like to offer my congratulations to Michael Schumacher for his world championship. The front two have been the fastest all season and were very quick again today. We tried to get the best from the car this weekend, but unfortunately it was not enough, although it was good to score a point today. I am sorry for the Honda fans who have given us excellent support and I promise them that we will be more competitive when we return to Suzuka next year."

Sauber

Pedro Diniz: "The car was pretty good today, but it's so hard to overtake anyone here. If I had started where I should have on the grid it would have been a good race. As it was I had another tough day and then lost the chance to stay ahead of Mika and Zonta during second pit stop."

Mika Salo: "I wish we had been able to qualify better here, because it's so tough to overtake at Suzuka. I made a good start and passed four cars in the opening laps, but the car lacked straightline speed today and as I was slow on the straight there was very little that I could do to make up further places."

Peter Sauber: "To start in 19th and 20th places is very tough, especially on a track such as Suzuka, and of course it was not representative of our true potential. But our customary excellent strategy and pit work, allied to strong drives by both Mika and Pedro, enabled us to move from the penultimate row of the grid to the respectability of the top 10."

Arrows

Pedro de la Rosa: "We made a mistake with the set-up for the race, as in the first two stints I had far too much understeer and the car was very hard to drive. In the second pit stop we changed the front nose which so that gave me more front wing and made the car much better. I lost the race really on the first two stints though, but the team did a really good job to improve the car during the race."

Jos Verstappen: "I think I made a fantastic start, and up until the moment I had a problem the car was running well. I was in front of the Jordans and could hold my pace so it was a shame I had an electrical problem with the car as I think I could have finished in the top eight, but then that doesn't mean anything for me as it's not in the points. I'm disappointed that I didn't finish the race, but I am very happy for Michael (Schumacher) as he has worked hard for this result and I think he really deserves it."

Tom Walkinshaw, Team Principal: "After a good start it proved to be a difficult race for us which is disappointing. Jos was very strong in the opening laps until he retired and Pedro could only show what he could achieve when we had sorted out his car's handling. We made up some places but ran out of laps at the end".

Jordan

Jarno Trulli: "We started on a three-stop strategy in the hope that it would help me improve on my low grid position,' said Trulli. 'I got up to 10th place before making an early first stop but it was then decided to switch to a two-stop. When I came in for a second time on lap 28, the weight of the extra fuel on board made the car bottom out in places and it was difficult to drive. I just had to hang on the best I could to the finish."

Benetton

Giancarlo Fisichella: "My start of the race was bad as the anti stall came on, I managed to start anyway, but I don't understand what caused the problem. Then it was a hard race and almost impossible to overtake. The team changed the strategy during the race to only one stop, but it didn't help to improve our competitiveness."

Alexander Wurz: "The start was not so great and I lost two positions. Then I found the race rhythm and I was quick, just held up behind De La Rosa. Then in my pit-stop the team told me they had changed to one- stop strategy and when I came out of the pits my car was almost impossible to drive, it was extremely heavy with a lot of understeer. Then I made a driving mistake and spun in the chicane and the anti-stall didn't work."

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: "It was important for us to maintain our fourth position in the Championship here. Luckily we managed this but we need to work hard now to retain it in Malaysia."

Pat Symonds, Technical Director: "Obviously our aim today was to maintain our championship position and our only consideration therefore was our rivals. After the starts went badly we felt that if we maintained our strategy there was no opportunity to achieve our aim. It was time to take a risk and the risk we decided on was to convert to a one-stop strategy. In the end this was not enough to make us competitive."

Minardi

Gaston Mazzacane: "I did a good start but later on I was unable to keep the same pace as the other drivers ahead of me. I had a very few grip when I was wearing the first set of tyres: things got better only after my first pit stop. I had a lot of over-steer and it was difficult to drive on the exit of the slow corners. My car suffered even a lot of wheel spin and when it started to rain it was even more difficult to drive. However the important thing to me was to see the finish line and that is what I made today. Despite this morning's incident, during the warm up, the car behaved very well mechanically and I, therefore, wish to thank the Team for the excellent job done over the weekend."

Marc Gene: "We already knew that today's would have been a hard race because we were not using the new hydraulic differential that usually allows us to gain about 2 tenths of a sec. per lap. Anyway I managed to keep the same pace as the midfield cars, struggling with the Benetton's and one Sauber. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to overtake them but keeping their rhythm was positive and really exciting. My two pit-stops were very quick but later I was forced to retire owing to an engine problem. It is a pity for my stop, however I am pretty satisfied with today's performance. Once more we proved that in the race we can be match for many other cars."

Gian Carlo Minardi: "Despite his position Marc secured a respectful performance setting some good lap times. Sadly he was betrayed by the engine with only seven laps left to the end. Gaston drove also a good race. In the closing stages, on the slippery track, his times matched that of the other midfield drivers. Nevertheless we are satisfied with our tenth position in the world championship and we still will continue to defend it in Malaysia. We also wish to congratulate the whole Scuderia Ferrari because they really deserve this victory after months of hard work."

Prost

Jean Alesi: "I don't know what to say since I have not seen much of this race. It ended prematurely on lap 20 because of an engine failure."

Nick Heidfeld: "First of all, I want to congratulate Michael Schumacher for winning both the Grand Prix and the World Championship today. As for my race, the start was sort of OK, but I lost a few places before coming back in a few laps to 17th position, where I remained a long time. After my first pit-stop, I lost some time when the leading cars started overtaking me, because there was a bit of confusion between blue flags and yellow flags signalling, by mistake, the safety car, after Jean's problem. I did not know what to do as they were waved at the same time along the track! For the rest, the car behaved well, but I was quite on my own since it was just not quick enough to progress further towards the front. Besides, something failed in the left rear suspension and, shortly after my second pit-stop, I was forced to retire."

Alain Prost: "We would have needed exceptional circumstances to be in a position to gain a good result today and this did not happen. Unfortunately, our two cars retired with reliability problems. There is still one more race to give us a chance to score points even if, clearly, we are already thinking about next year."