The return to Suzuka marked a return to form for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, after the disappointment of Singapore. But a return to form only within the modest targets the team can now set itself for the final part of the season, as all technical effort is focussed on next year’s car. Once again, Kimi Raikkonen produced a very strong drive to come home in fourth place, while Giancarlo Fisichella’s twelfth place finish is not an accurate reflection of how much progress he made this weekend in terms of getting to grips with the F60.

The race was won, with an impressive lights to flag performance by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, the German’s third victory of the season. Joining him on the podium in second place, to the delight of the Japanese crowd, was the Toyota, driven by Jarno Trulli, while third spot went to reigning champion, Lewis Hamilton. With the McLaren man picking up six points compared to Kimi’s five, the Scuderia’s lead over the English team in the battle for third place in the Constructors’ Championship is now down to just two points, the Scuderia on 67 and McLaren on 65. It’s going to be a tough battle over the remaining two races and as Team Principal Stefano Domenicali said after the race, Ferrari will be fighting "tooth and nail" to maintain the advantage.

With five drivers being given penalties, Timo Glock not taking part after his qualifying accident and Mark Webber starting from pit lane, the actual grid bore little relation to the actual times set on Saturday afternoon. Kimi Raikkonen, having qualified eighth was now on the third row in fifth place, with his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella moving up a row to fourteenth place.

As the lights went out on the downward sloping grid all but Buemi got away, with Vettel pulling out a big lead from pole after fighting off Hamilton at the first corner, who had gone from third to second ahead of Trulli, Heidfeld and Kimi fifth, with Giancarlo moving up to 12th. The gaps grow quickly at this long track and after just two laps, Vettel had a lead of 1.9 over his pursuers, with Kimi already 5.3 down. The tightest battles on around lap 6 were Sutil sitting on the gearbox of Kovalainen in eighth place and Giancarlo getting ever closer to Kubica who was eleventh. The positions remained unchanged for several laps after this. On lap 15, Hamilton was the first to put, followed by Sutil next time round.

On 17, Trulli came in from second, then came Button and Giancarlo. The leader Vettel came in on lap 18, followed by Heidfeld, Kimi and Barrichello. So by lap 20, Vettel still led from Rosberg, Hamilton, Trulli, Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Kubica, Kimi at 17.7 and Barrichello. Rosberg and Kovalainen came in on laps 23 and 25 respectively. By lap 30, Kimi was now up to fifth and one lap later, Alonso made his only pit stop. Five laps later, Kimi made his second stop, remaining on the soft tyre and this was enough for him to get ahead of Heidfeld. Lap 39 saw some action as Trulli pitted from second and managed to come out ahead of Hamilton to keep the same position. Kovalainen and Giancarlo came in together and although the Ferrari man got out slightly ahead, as the came past the end of the white line at the pit lane exit, the McLaren dived inside and just squeezed the F60 wide enough to get ahead of the Roman driver.

Lap 45 featured a huge crash for Alguersuari, who demolished his Toro Rosso at the 130R, which brought out the car and the field bunched up. At the restart, Kimi thought about making a move on Hamilton who was having a technical problem with KERS, but there was never a real opportunity. With only a few laps remaining after the SC pulled in, the order remained unchanged, so the podium places went to winner, Vettel, second placed Trulli and third man Hamilton. Behind them came Kimi in fourth, with the rest of the points going to Rosberg, Heidfeld, Barrichello and Button.

Stefano Domenicali: “All things considered, this is a positive result: I don’t think we could have done any more than this fourth place. We got the most out of the F60 as it stands today and, thanks to yet another great drive from Kimi, we also managed to stay third in the Constructors’ classification. Giancarlo also drove a good race, driving competitively in terms of pace and performance, as can be seen from the fact he set the eighth best lap time. In the middle stint, on the soft tyre, both our drivers were very quick, their lap times matching those of the best. The team worked well and we must continue to do so for the final two races left to run in this strange season, fighting tooth and nail to reach the target we set ourselves from the mid-season onwards.”

Giancarlo Fisichella: “I had a better feel for the car this weekend and I think the effect from that could be seen, although maybe not in terms of the results. Today, I could run at a good pace, especially in the middle part of the race. It’s a shame I lost a place in my battle with Kovalainen. We managed to get ahead of him in the pit stop, but then he swerved across to the inside at the only point where I left the door slightly open and he leaned on me, managing to get by. Towards the end, I had to fight off Sutil who was very quick and was on the soft tyre, while I was on the hard: at this point the KERS came in handy. Now I am looking forward to Interlagos in a more confident mood: it will be important to get a slightly better start position to try and finally make it into the points.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Today the car wasn’t bad, but it was not quick enough to fight for the podium. This fourth place is useful in terms of keeping the team in third place in the Constructors’ championship, but it will be hard to hang onto it over the final two races. I will definitely do everything I can though. I was unable to make up places at the start, especially as the first corner is not that far from the start line and so I was unable to make the most of the KERS. In the first stint, when I was on hard tyres, the situation was a bit difficult, but then, once on the softs, things improved considerably. I managed to close on Heidfeld and pass him at the pit stop, even though, coming away from my stop, I found myself in traffic behind Button. Then there was not much to fight for to the end of the race.”

Chris Dyer: “After the disappointment of Singapore, it’s nice to see Kimi again finish a race in a good position. With hindsight, there’s some disappointment with a result that could have been even better: we opted to start on the hard tyres on Kimi’s car, because we weren’t entirely sure about how the soft ones would work over a distance. In fact, their performance stayed consistent, as we saw in the second part of the race, when both our drivers were very competitive. On top of that, we failed to make up places at the start, which is what we usually manage. We played about a bit with the stops to try and pass Heidfeld and we managed it. In the final stint, it seemed at one point that Hamilton had a problem and then the Safety Car closed everyone up. Kimi tried to see if there was room to attack him at the re-start but there was not. Giancarlo drove a good race and it was important for him and for the team to see him fighting with Kovalainen and Alonso for a place just outside the points. It’s a shame that, coming out of pit lane after his second stop, he lost a place in his battle with the McLaren driver.”

Source  - Ferrari Media