Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso may have beaten Sebastian Vettel in Japan but the German still won the World title...
McLaren:
Jenson Button: "This was a hard race - the last five or six laps were extremely tough, I had to really look after the tyres and try to save a bit of fuel to get the car home, but it was an amazing victory. Sebastian [Vettel] came across at me on the start - he kept coming and didn't stop, so I got on the grass and had to back out of the throttle, otherwise there would've been an almighty shunt into Turn One. He said he didn't see me until he saw me backing out, so that lost me a place. But fighting back was so, so satisfying: the performance has been in the car all weekend. It's such an emotional victory for me: there's so much history at this circuit, and the crowd here has been amazing, this is second only to a home victory for me. I want to thank every single person here in Japan who's supported us - hopefully we've planted a happy memory in their minds, because a lot of Japan has been through difficult times this year. We did our best and we put on a fantastic show. Seb has done a great job all season and he deserved the title. He was given the equipment and just got on and did what was required of him. But, for us, there's still more that we can achieve this year: I'd love to go out and fight to win the next few races, and I think we have the car and the team to go and do that. We'll keep pushing and hope to get some more wins this year, but we're also in a very good place right now - and I think that's key to success in 2012."
Lewis Hamilton: "This was a disappointing race for me, but it was a great day for Jenson and the whole team. Jenson did a remarkable job today - he really deserved this victory, but it wasn't a great one for me. Still, I'm going to keep my head up and look ahead to the next race where I'll hopefully have another chance. Clearly, our car has the pace to win, but I wasn't able to compete today so I'll go away and look at the data to work out how I can come back and be competitive in Korea next weekend. In the race, I don't really know what happened with Felipe - the car's mirrors vibrate at high-speed, so I couldn't see him pulling alongside me. I want to apologise for our cars' touching, but fortunately nothing happened to either of us. There was no bad intention towards Felipe; I've got the utmost respect for him, he's a fantastic driver and he was extremely quick today. Finally, big congratulations to Sebastian for winning the title. We all knew it was going to happen, but his season has really been flawless. It's a fantastic achievement for him."
Ferrari:
Fernando Alonso: "Congratulations to Sebastian! Winning two world titles at his age, in a season in which he has done it all - in qualifying, the races and every other way, so perfectly, is amazing and it is well deserved. For our part, we can do no more than try and do our utmost to try and beat him next year. Today, we did our best and we came close to winning the race. We know that in qualifying we are behind the Red Bulls and McLarens, but in the race, when there are variables like tyre degradation, then we can exploit some opportunities. Here, the others were very strong for the first five or six laps and then we closed up to them a lot. This podium is a great motivation for the final four races of the season. It was a fun race, in which the strategy was very important. Unlike recent races, today we had a pace that was good enough to fight for the win. We will try again in Korea, where we can go with our heads held high: we will try and win, or at least get on the podium again."
Felipe Massa: "Once again I finish a race with a very bitter taste in my mouth. Today, our pace was good enough to finish on the podium, as Fernando demonstrated, but instead I am here commenting on a seventh place. It's a real shame. The contact with Hamilton? My car was definitely damaged by it: when I looked at it after the race, I saw there was a bit of the front wing endplate missing and the floor was not on properly on the left hand side and I could feel it in the way my car was behaving. I think the footage speaks for itself: he was struggling with his tyres and I had almost come alongside him and for no reason, he moved over and hit me. I let you be the judge... It's pointless for me to say any more about it. However, I do want to congratulate Sebastian Vettel: he is a great guy and deserves this title and I am very happy for him."
Red Bull:
Sebastian Vettel: "A lot of people have been quite confident about the title, but one of the important things was that we didn't allow ourselves to drift away with the thought too much. Instead we concentrated on every single step and everything we have done this year and everything we have achieved - then wow. I want to thank all the guys and girls in the factory in Milton Keynes, as it's not just us here pushing very hard, it's them as well - from the post office to the design office to the engineering office here at the track, their effort is just incredible. It's hard to imagine you know, we have two cars and two drivers only and we carry that weight on our shoulders every time we go on track. Sometimes we don't treat the cars as good as we should, but we always try to get every single bit out of them every race weekend. But it's phenomenal what's happened - we set ourselves the target to win the Championship this year and so, to win it by Japan with four more races to go, is difficult to put into words - it's as confusing as the first one. I never imagined I would win one Championship and so to win this second one is amazing. I have a lot of good memories from Formula One, from watching it when I was young, to now and I feel fortunate and blessed to experience today. There were so many excited people when we did the drivers' parade today and that was my last thought when I put my helmet on. For drivers, it doesn't get much better than this, a sunny day and all the fans excited to see what you do - I think that's what life is about. And so, to wrap up the Championship here is difficult to put into words - it's more than fantastic."
Mark Webber: "Congratulations to Sebastian - to become a double World Championship is a very good job. All the overtaking during the race was in the pit stops today, with not much on track. We passed a Ferrari and a McLaren, but it was quite even between all of us. I had some contact with Michael Schumacher, which did some damage to my front wing at a crucial part of the race as I was trying to come back through the pack. We made contact, but he got away with it. The safety car didn't really come at the right time for me - as I was hoping to have a look at Fernando around the stops, but when the field bunches up you have to go through the Michael situation again and it's hard to undercut people. In the end it was a reasonable result; it was a great race for Jenson, it's his second home race in many ways, and congratulations to Seb for the title."
Mercedes GP:
Michael Schumacher: I'm very happy with what we achieved in Suzuka today as we maximised our potential of the car, and managed to put in a good race. The team did a great job the whole weekend in finding performance and transforming it into the race. I think there was not more to expect and achieve. The pit stops were perfectly timed and everything worked out according to plan. I would like to congratulate Sebastian and his team who have been exceptional the whole year. It is extremely emotional to see him win the Championship again - I am very happy for him and even a little bit proud."
Nico Rosberg: "I'm pleased to score a point today and had fun out there with a few nice overtaking manoeuvres. This is definitely one of the toughest tracks for overtaking so starting from the back of the grid meant that I had a pretty tough job. Before the race, I hoped to achieve between eighth and 10th places and, whilst it would have been nice to be a bit higher, it's still a decent result. Thanks to the team for a good strategy and great pit stops today. After this complicated weekend, I hope to have a more normal weekend in Korea and fight in our usual position. And finally, Sebastian, congratulations: you deserve the title."
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Button wins the race, Seb takes the title
