2006 Japanese GP, Sunday
The Renault F1 Team took its second double podium finish
in seven days during this afternoon's Japanese Grand Prix,
the last to be held at the magnificent Suzuka circuit in the
immediate future.
In the space of that week, fortune's wheel has turned full
circle: Fernando Alonso's victory today, and Giancarlo Fisichella's
strong drive to third place from sixth on the grid, put the
Renault F1 Team back atop both world championships –
Fernando Alonso now has a ten point lead in the drivers' chase,
while Renault leads Ferrari by nine points in the Constructors'
title.
As predicted, the world championship battle will go down
to a thrilling deciding race in Brazil. In the intervening
fortnight, the team will continue to work flat out to ensure
it can race strongly and aggressively at Interlagos. As the
past week has shown, Formula 1 always has the potential to
surprise – and nobody can take anything for granted…
Fernando Alonso, Winner
This win is a surprise for us all, a beautiful surprise. After
qualifying, Ferrari seemed to be a long way in front, but
as soon as we started racing today, I could feel that the
car was well-balanced, and that we had the same speed as Ferrari.
I took a risk to pass Jarno at the start, because it was the
only chance, and then later in the stint I could see Ralf
was having problems – and I got a run on him into turn
1. After the second stops, I still thought I could win, because
the gap to Michael was only five seconds, so why not? Then
I saw the smoke coming into turn 8, and I was watching the
asphalt for oil. I thought it was a Spyker in front of me,
and only when I went past did I realise it was Michael. After
that, we turned the engine down, and just took things carefully
to the finish. This win means a lot to the Renault team, and
we have deserved it, and been waiting for it, ever since Hungary.
The guys at the track, at the factories in Viry and Enstone,
and at Michelin, have never given up all season. Now we feel
confident for Brazil – but we are taking nothing for
granted. The races are long, and you have to get everything
right to make sure you finish in front. We have a good situation
for the championship, but we will be racing the same way at
Interlagos, to win.
Giancarlo Fisichella, 3rd position
This was a great result for me, for Fernando and for the whole
team. But psychologically, this has been a hard weekend for
me. My best friend ever Tonino (Visciani) died last Thursday,
and it hasn't been easy for me. I just want to dedicate this
podium to him, and to say ‘ciao'. In terms of the race,
the car was not bad and we had a good strategy, because I
was able to pass the Toyotas at the stops. The Michelin tyres
worked perfectly as well, and we had the pace all the way
through the race. Now, we need to go to Brazil and be aggressive.
The team is determined to win the constructors' championship,
and I want to make sure I get third in the drivers' championship.
So we will be aggressive, be focused, and try to win.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
I want to say thank you to our team for this result. We have
had some difficult weeks, losing races we should have won,
but we stayed together, stayed close and stayed focused. This
is a success for everybody to enjoy. Fernando did an incredible
job, Fisico was perfect and made his strategy work for him,
and the pit-stops were faultless. We will enjoy our victory
this evening, but we haven't finished the job yet. That will
be our sole focus for Brazil.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
This 2006 world championship is building up to be even more
exciting than anybody had imagined! I am sure that last week
in China, on Saturday evening, Ferrari were wondering how
ever they could win. A similar thing was true of our team
yesterday. But this season is throwing up surprises week after
week, and we now go to Brazil with a statistically improved
situation and, more importantly, the full belief we can win
again. Fernando and Giancarlo managed their races perfectly
today, and the Michelin tyres came good at the right time.
We said yesterday that qualifying was only a means to an end
and, when it counted in this afternoon's race, the tyres were
perfect. This is not just a win for 80 people here at the
track, but 800 in Enstone and Viry – and for Michelin's
employees as well in Clermont-Ferrand. Everybody has worked
incredibly hard over the past months, and it only makes this
win all the sweeter.
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