Toyota hobbled by low temperature

Despite leading the race twice during the two pitstop windows, Trulli was unable to replicate the TF108's pace of Friday and Saturday and eventually was forced to give up fourth place to the hard-charging Renault of Nelson Piquet.

"We have to be happy with that today but honestly I wanted to give a bit more both to the team and to all the Japanese fans who cheered us on," said Trulli. "I was really hoping that we could make the podium but this fifth place was all that we could have done this afternoon.

"I gave everything from start to finish but we could not do any better today.

"We've been competitive all weekend and the car was good again in the race but the lower temperatures didn't help us. That meant that the car was slightly unbalanced. I tried to keep Piquet's Renault behind me but they were very quick today."

Teammate Timo Glock, who set the fastest time during Friday's free practice, was forced to retire early in the race, after his seat fixings became loose when he ran over a kerb at Turn 6.

"Following David Coulthard's accident it felt like I drove over some of the debris," said the German. "After that the car felt strange and in the end I lost the car on the kerb at the exit of turn six.

"I went over the grass and the car launched through the air. When I landed it felt like something broke."