Mixed fortunes for Red Bull drivers
Just like for the other Formula One teams, the Japanese Grand Prix was a difficult race for the Red Bull Racing Team. Mark Webber was having a great race and was in second position until he got hit from behind by Sebastian Vettel. The Aussie was forced to retire the race and was left behind very disappointed. Team mate David Coulthard finished in 4th position.
David Coulthard, (Finish Position 4th, Start Position: 12th)
"That was very, very difficult. It's a crazy thing to be a racing driver - on the one hand you're scared, but on the other, you're having the time of your life because every moment you're right on the edge, even on the straights. I'm happy to score points, but obviously I'm sorry for the team to lose what looked like some great points with Mark. I'm glad the race is over, but it was a lot of fun out there."
Mark Webber, (Finish Position DNF, Start Position: 7th)
"That was a completely disastrous finish. We were in very, very good shape to challenge Lewis for first today. We were strong and I didn't make any mistakes despite the tricky conditions, cars were aquaplaning and the visibility was very poor. Fernando's crash caused the second safety car stint, which bunched everyone back up again. That wasn't great; I would have liked to have continued to the end of the race. Vettel was a bit wild behind me during the first safety car period and then did a very good job of hitting me very hard under the second safety car. I think today he will have learnt a very valuable lesson."
Christian Horner: "In Formula One you face many emotions and today Mark was driving a fantastic race. He had food poisoning this morning, which he was battling with and he even threw up in the car during the initial pace-car period. In true Aussie fashion, he kept pushing and today he was quick enough to win the race. Obviously, it was very disappointing that an incident happened behind the pace car but, on days like today, I guess anything can happen. David used his experience and was competitive throughout the race. It's a shame as fourth would normally be a great result for us, but in today's circumstances it's frustrating as to have both drivers in the points would have elevated us in the Constructors Championship."
Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: "As we expected we had a strong package today and the opportunity to score a lot of points. We had a strong car, a strong engine and two performing drivers and we could have scored 11 points which would have been fantastic and put us in front of Williams. Unfortunately Mark was hit by Vettel under the safety car and we missed an important opportunity in our fight for the Championship. We got a strong result with David who scored 5 points, but it's still a frustrating result for the team as we know it could have been even better!"
