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WEATHER AND STEWARDS DECIDE JAPAN RESULT

Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa finished a fighting third and sixth in Sunday's packed Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, but felt that they had been robbed of a better result after having to make an extra pit stop to change to extreme wet tyres.

"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, explained Jean Todt, Ferrari Team Director. “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."

As Raikkonen explained, the weather decided everything in Japan.

"We raced with virtually zero visibility. 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,” said Raikkonen

The race started behind the safety car due to very wet weather; it controlled the race until lap 19 of the 67 lap race. Both Ferraris had started on wet rather than extreme wet tyres. However, the FIA had notified all teams by e-mail that cars should start on extreme tyres, an e-mail that Ferrari only received after the race had started.

The early extra pit stop relegated the Ferrari team to the back of the field under the safety car, and they made another pit stop after 14 and 15 laps. When the safety car finally a came in after 19 laps, Massa had to make another pit stop while Raikkonen was in 16th place.

With McLaren's Lewis Hamilton leading teammate Fernando Alonso out in front, Ferrari's situation looked bad, but then began the climb back up through the field. By half distance, Raikkonen was in tenth place, while Massa was 15th.

On lap 43, however, Alonso crashed out of fourth place have made his only pit stop, which brought out the safety car again. At this stage Massa was in sixth place and Raikkonen eleventh but with several pit stops and a further accident under the safety car, Massa was up to third and Raikkonen in fifth place when the safety car went in again with 18 laps to go.

Hamilton led at that stage by under three seconds from Heikki Kovalainen who in turn was being caught by Massa who was just 2.5s behind the Finn. Just a couple of seconds further back was David Coulthard's Red Bull Racing pushed hard by Raikkonen. The Ferrari driver overtook the Scot with just ten laps remaining - even though he had a brief off having done so but didn't lose his hard-won place.

A lap later Massa made a third pit stop for fuel, which dropped him back to ninth place, but elevated Raikkonen to third place - 2.1s behind Kovalainen. With four laps to go, Raikkonen was right on his compatriot's tail but try as he might in the closing stages, there he would stay until the chequered flag, having scored an excellent third place.

Massa picked up three places in the closing laps, one when Rubens Barrichello pitted, another when he overtook Heidfeld's stricken BMW Sauber, and the last one on the last lap when he got past Robert Kubica, eventually claiming sixth place.

Lewis Hamilton, however, picked up ten points in the championship and extended his lead over the rest of the field, now leading teammate Alonso by 12 points who in turn is five ahead of Raikkonen. Massa is a further ten points behind with two races to go and feels his title chances are now over.

"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. 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 penultimate race in the 2007 season is in China next weekend - when rain is again forecast.

(ends)

2007 Grand Prix of Japan
1 Lewis Hamilton Britain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes 02:00:34.579
2. Heikki Kovalainen Finland ING Renault F1 Team-Renault +8.3
3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro-Ferrari +9.4
4. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull Racing-Renault +20.2
5. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy ING Renault F1 Team-Renault +38.8
6. Felipe Massa Brazil Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro-Ferrari +49.0
7. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW +49.2
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker F1 Team-Ferrari +601
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari +80.6
10. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda Racing F1 Team-Honda +88.3
11. Jenson Button Britain Honda Racing F1 Team-Honda +1 lap
12. Sakon Yamamoto Japan Spyker F1 Team-Ferrari +1 lap
13. Jarno Trulli Italy Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota +1 lap
14. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW +2 laps
15. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda +2 laps
16. Ralf Schumacher Germany Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota 55 laps completed
17. Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda 54 laps completed
18. Nico Rosberg Germany AT&T Williams-Toyota 49 laps completed
19. Sebastian Vettel Germany Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 46 laps completed
20. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull Racing-Renault 45 laps completed
21. Fernando Alonso Spain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes 42 laps completed
22. Alexander Wurz Austria AT&T Williams-Toyota 19 laps completed

F1 DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP (AFTER ROUND 15 OF 17)
POSITION DRIVER TEAM POINTS
1. LEWIS HAMILTON VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES 107
2. FERNANDO ALONSO VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES 95
3. KIMI RAIKKONEN SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO 90
4. FELIPE MASSA SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO 80
5. NICK HEIDFELD BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM 56
6. ROBERT KUBICA BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM 35
7. HEIKKI KOVALAINEN ING RENAULT F1 TEAM 30
8. GIANCARLO FISICHELLA ING RENAULT F1 TEAM 21
9. NICO ROSBERG AT&T WILLIAMS 15
10. DAVID COULTHARD RED BULL RACING 13
= ALEXANDER WURZ AT&T WILLIAMS 13
12. MARK WEBBER RED BULL RACING 10
13. JARNO TRULLI PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING 7
14. RALF SCHUMACHER PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING 5
15. TAKUMA SATO SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM 4
16. JENSON BUTTON HONDA RACING F1 TEAM 2
17. ADRIAN SUTIL SPYKER F1 TEAM 1
= SEBASTIAN VETTEL BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM 1

F1 CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP (AFTER ROUND 15 OF 17)
POSITION TEAM POINTS
1. SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO 170
2. BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM 92
3. ING RENAULT F1 TEAM 51
4. AT&T WILLIAMS 28
5. RED BULL RACING 23
6. PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING 12
7. SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM 4
8. HONDA RACING F1 TEAM 2
9. SPYKER F1 TEAM 1
10. SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO 0

ENDS

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