Japanese GP Race

Race Notes:

Valtteri Bottas finished sixth and Felipe Massa seventh as the Japanese Grand Prix started, and ended, behind the safety car.
As the track conditions improved the race began but both drivers struggled on the intermediate tyres in tricky conditions.
The race ended early due to an accident involving Jules Bianchi, and the team’s thoughts and hopes are with him and the Marussia team.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: Our first concern is for the wellbeing of Jules, we hope that everything is ok. In the race we made some good strategy calls and as a result we extracted what we could and finished in a decent position. The conditions were difficult at the start and equally at the end as it got dark. However, our thoughts and hopes are with Jules, his family and friends, and the Marussia team.

Valtteri Bottas: It was not an easy race for us today, however we still got some points which is good. The car wasn’t great in the wet but we made the most of the strategy and extracted what we could. We are missing pace in the corners and so conceded a lot of time. It was a surprise to see the Red Bull so quick, in the dry we would have fared better. I really hope Jules is ok after the incident and that it is nothing serious.

Felipe Massa: The race was very difficult today, I suffered at the start with aquaplaning and towards the end it started to get dark as the rain fell again. The Red Bulls were too fast for us today, especially on the intermediate tyre, so there was no chance we could defend. My main focus at the moment is that Jules is ok though.