Kimi Raikkonen finished this afternoon’s somewhat chaotic and confusing rain sodden Japanese Grand Prix with a podium position, crossing the finish line in third place despite other factors attempting to hold the Finn back. Starting the race behind the safety car, Kimi was forced to pit due to the fact he wasn’t running on extreme wets, putting him at the back of the pack.

From there he fought his way back through the field but as Lewis Hamilton won, he has a further four point deficit in the championship with just two races remaining.

“We raced with virtually zero visibility,” he said. “The hardest thing to work out was where the other drivers were and what they were doing. My race was ruined by the enforced pit stop on lap three. We had chosen to start on standard rain tyres but we will never know now if this decision would have paid off. Once I was back at the pack we tried our best to move back up. All in all, third place is not a result to complain about. I did a lot of overtaking always in very difficult conditions. Our set up might have been more competitive in the dry, but all the same the car was very quick and I certainly didn’t lose any time because of this choice. Clearly the situation in the championship is now much more difficult, but I will still give it my all right to the end of the season as usual.”

Meanwhile, teammate Felipe Massa, who also endured a forced pitstop early in the race, had several mishaps throughout the afternoon and eventually crossed the line in sixth place. Sadly, this result puts an end to any of the Brazilian’s hopes of winning the drivers crown, however a last lap battle with the BMW of Robert Kubica did manage to put a smile on his face….

“The result of this race has put an end to my chances of fighting for the title, but over the whole of the championship, I think I have always been competitive,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes the reliability was not there and that cost me valuable points. As for today’s race, I knew that, given the championship positions, I could take the risk of running different tyres to our rivals, but it was not the right choice, on top of which there was the decision of the Stewards that we were unaware of and which is nevertheless serious. Then I tried to do my best. I managed to get up to the front places again but I had to pit again because I did not have enough fuel to get to the end. Winning the duel with Kubica on the final lap was the best moment of this race.”

“The race was held in weather conditions so extreme that the start had to be given behind the safety car and it stayed on track for no less than 19 laps,” added Jean Todt. “In light of the weather forecast we had obtained, we chose to start on standard wet tyres but, after a few laps, we were informed of a decision of the stewards that demanded the use of extreme wets. The team had not been informed and only after the race, did we find that an e-mail had been sent to Stefano Domenicali which arrived after the start of the race. We were amazed and had to immediately call in the drivers to the pits to change tyres. From then on, our target was to make up for lost ground in a manner that was somewhat perplexing. After a strong climb up the order both drivers managed to get back into the points, with Kimi ending up on the podium in third place. Clearly, given the result, the situation in the Drivers’ Championship is now compromised with only Kimi still in the hunt. It will need a miracle, but what is certain is that we will do our utmost to win the final two races of the season.”

“Our race was ruined by the stop both drivers had to make to switch from standard wets to the extreme ones, which came as a result of a decision of the Stewards of which we were unaware,” added Luca Baldisserri. “We had specifically chosen to start on those tyres because the start was behind the safety car and we though that weather would improve. Stuck at the back of the pack, we tried to save what we could from the situation. Both drivers drove a great race in virtually zero visibility, given they were always behind other cars. The cars, despite being set up with a dry weather bias, worked well.”