“It's a great result for the whole team at a time when it is not easy. We have been struggling a little bit recently and we were under pressure from some teams, so this second place is a real boost for our morale. Now we have nothing to lose, but everything is possible.”

Kubica's Japanese showing also drew high words of praise form both Theissen and the Bavarian concern's technical director Willy Rampf, who admitted that he had 'thought it would be a boring race, but that changed within the first ten seconds…'

“Contrary to all the prophecies, this was an exciting race,” the German acknowledged. “Robert had the best result at the start as he managed to take the lead, thanks to a little bit of luck and lots of guts. He was in the lead until the first pit-stops, but after that we weren't able to match the pace of Fernando Alonso, [who] was faster than us here.

“In the third stint Robert defended his position from the attacks by Kimi Raikkonen in a clever and fair way, and claimed his well-earned seventh podium of the season. That was really a brilliant performance by Robert.”

“This was a really strong performance from Robert,” agreed Theissen. “In the first corner chaos after the start he took the lead. Later in the race he had to let Fernando Alonso go, but defended successfully against Kimi Raikkonen. We are now looking forward to exciting final races in China and Brazil.”