| Japanese GP Suzuka
- comments
Sunday
Jean Alesi:
"This is fantastic! The car was strong today and my second pit stop was as
beautiful as The Madonna.
When Johnny came out of the pits after his stop we were so close, side by side in the
first corner, but we were both correct. After that I worked hard to stay in front even
though the grip of the rear tyres degraded massively in the final laps. I also lost time
letting Mika and Eddie by, because I had to slow down too much. But we scored a point, and
that is a fabulous way for me to say goodbye to the Red Bull Sauber Petronas team."
Pedro Diniz:
"Because the balance of my car was not so good it was a difficult race for me, but I
am happy to finish in P11."
Peter Sauber:
"Jean drove a strong race without any mistakes and this, combined with
perfect work by our pit crew. meant that the point we scored today was earned on merit. It
was a nice present from Jean to the whole team at the end of the season. Pedro brought his
car home 11th, the best he could do wth the handling problems he experienced."
Saturday
Jean Alesi:
"The FIA really should look very closely at what is happening on the track.
Hakkinen had already blocked me during my third run, and then on the last one he kept me
behind him all the way from the hairpin down to the chicane, even though I was on a quick
lap and he wasn't. It was absolutely unbelievable, especially in this championship
situation where McLaren should be so careful.
My time was for sure going to be quicker, but when we got to the chicane Hakkinen suddenly
slowed, and to avoid going under his wing I had to miss the chicane completely. My tyres
got dirty, so I spun when I got back on the track. My lap was over, just the chicane to
go. I probably lost sixth place."
Pedro Diniz:
"We discovered that there was a
problem with the undertray fixing on my car yesterday, and certainly it was better today.
But it was still very difficult for me to find a set-up, and I had too much oversteer in
the fast corners. I'm disappointed, to be honest."
Peter Sauber:
"Today wasn't Pedro's day and problems with his car didn't make his life easier.
Congratulations to Jean, who managed to run in the top 10 on this challenging track. If he
had not twice come upon a slower car he would have been able to reach sixth place, because
as it was he was only nine hundredth of a second slower."
Friday
Jean Alesi:
"This is a difficult circuit for our car, but the balance isnīt far off. Itīs
tricky to make the right tyre choice, too, and the slippery state of the track has made it
harder still."
Pedro Diniz:
"I had a problem with excessive oversteer all day, and we are looking closely to try
and determine whether anything is actually wrong. As Jean says, itīs hard to make the
tyre choice here, and my problem didnīt make that any easier."
Peter Sauber:
"There is a gap between our performance today and the carīs optimum, and we hope
that we can close this tomorrow. In Pedroīs case he had a serious problem with his car,
which was reflected in his lap times. We will conduct a detailed examination to rectify
it."
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