Maranello - At the Japanese GP we’ve made a step forward compared to Singapore, where we weren’t even able to fight for a place in the points: the fourth place was the best result we could reach and we have to be satisfied with it.
When the car stays the same it’s all about the circuit, which makes the difference, together with how the tyres work.
Having said that in Suzuka we never had the right downforce, as you could see by our performance in the first sector, while we were competitive in the second and the third. In the second part of the race we were pretty strong when we were using the soft compound.
In theory a fourth place is a great result, but as a team we need these five points, which enabled us to keep the third place in the Constructors’ standings. There was no possibility to fight for a place on the podium. We decided to start on the hard compound and I had some problems during the first stint. Then, with the soft compound, the goal was to catch Heidfeld and I was convinced that we could make it. Then there was the safety car and that’s where you usually hope gaining some position. But in Suzuka it was really difficult staying in the slipstream and at the restart I tried to see the end of the main straight to check if it was possible to overtake Hamilton, but it wasn’t even realistic to try.
There were many accidents in this race, but I think that this is very frequent in Suzuka. When you’re driving at the limit there’s always the possibility to make mistakes. And this is a track where you have to pay a high price for a mistake, due to the high speed and the narrow run-off areas. Having said that I really like Suzuka’s challenge: I was really happy to come back after such a long time.
We have to give it everything in the last two races to stay on the third place even if McLaren is getting stronger. It will be difficult to keep them behind us in Interlagos and Abu Dhabi. It’s difficult to say how the F60 will run on these tracks: we’ve had several surprises throughout the season. Naturally I’d love to gain a place on the podium in Brazil, also because I’m celebrating my 30th birthday there. It would be a nice present!