Formula One: Japanese Grand Prix – 1 race, 24 different reactions! (Part 4)
The feature moves onto Mercedes GP to hear what either driver had to say, and then the BMW Sauber team.
Mercedes GP
Michael Shumacher was reasonably pleased with his race and stated that the car felt extremely good and much more suited to his driving style. Seeing the events that unfolded on track, the opportunity to cash in and make up some places was always there. The
German felt that in the end, sixth place was the maximum that he and his Mercedes could achieve on the day. The 7 time champion and a record 6 time winner at Suzuka had fun coming back; not only track-wise, but also due to the crowd that cheered him as if
he had never left. Schumi concluded that as the team headed for Korea next, he hoped that his car were to behave similarly and expected for another promising race and heartening welcome.
Nico Rosberg had a disappointing end to what looked to be a potentially fruitful weekend. It was down to a clutch problem that the youngster had a slow start and subsequently lost a couple of places. However, thanks to the safety car, he was able to recover
some places and got up to sixth in the latter part of the race. Gambling with the harder compound and running a relatively long stint made it extremely difficult to maintain pace while struggling for grip at the same time – Either way, it paid off a little;
as he was able to stay ahead of his team mate Michael Schumacher. It was in the dying parts of the race when his luck completely ran out; ‘something broke on the rear of the car’ which resulted in Rosberg crashing his Mercedes into the tyre barrier which ultimately
ended his race.
BMW Sauber
Kamui Kobayashi claimed that he tried his best and was happy at the end of his home race. Seeing both cars scoring points, it turned out to be a good race for the team. The youngster was glad for the Japanese fans that came and had an incredible experience
bearing parties to such an exciting event. It was a special feeling for Kobayashi; racing in front of his native fans after seven years.
Realistically though, it turned out to be a tough race; both for driver and machine. Having Qualifying and the Race on the same day made it quite a busy affair. After seeing a lot of cars taking themselves out as early as turn 1, he deemed himself extremely
lucky not to hit anybody. It was a track that wasn’t all that open for overtaking which was the prime reason for the contact to his car as he tried to pull off an overtaking maneuver. However luckily, the extent of the damage wasn’t much severe which meant
avoiding an extra visit to the pit lane. In the end, the home town hero commended the team for the hard work they put in and the Japanese crowd for their fantastic support.
Nick Heidfeld, too, was quite happy with his performance – An overall good day at the office for BMW Sauber as it was the best result for the ‘team’ this season. The former Pirelli test driver felt that he could have made another place but since he was racing
with a different ‘tyre strategy’, it was an unrealistic target in the end. Starting on the option tyres, Heidfeld knew that he had to push hard and make use of the instant grip provided by his Bridgestones. However, the early safety car crashed his party and
he had to check his pace and ended up stuck behind the Williams of Rubens Barrichello.
The German was quick to recognise the quick thinking by his race engineer who made a bold call calling him early for the change to prime tyres. Comparing proceedings to the previous race in Singapore, the team did exceptionally well. The BMW driver still
felt that there was room for improvement as far as qualifying was concerned and looked forward to the remaining three races this season.
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