The rest of the points getters were: JENSON BUTTON, KIMI RAIKKONEN;
Toyota drivers JARNO TRULLI and RALF SCHUMACHER; and NICK HEIDFELD winning the race with his
BMW team-mate ROBERT KUBICA, for the last point.
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER took the lead from his team-mate on the third lap and led for the next 34 laps before his engine failed. This handed the race and points lead to Alonso. It was Schumacher's first engine failure in six seasons. After he retired, Schumacher was most gracious, making the rounds in the garage, chatting and embracing many of the crew members. He said "We are a great team. Our guys are the best and I have a great affection for everyone at
Ferrari and am always more than satisfied in the way we work. Incidents like today's can happen and they are part of racing. You win together, but you also lose together."
Schumacher, seven-time
Formula One world champion, spoke of the Japanese race and the season's finale in Brazil in a fortnight, conceding his eighth championship. "Today we did our best, I was leading the race and then my engine broke. That's the simplest way to sum it up. That is
F1. We can be proud of what we have achieved since Canada: we were twenty five points behind and no one could have thought we would be back in the fight for the championship, but we did it. Now we are nine points behind in the constructors' classification and we will do all we can to win this title in Brazil. As for the drivers', it is lost. I don't want to head off for a race, hoping that my rival has to retire. That is not the way in which I want to win the title."
The new Japanese
Super Aguri team had a good weekend, with a fifteenth place finish for TAKUMA SATO. He was thrilled with the fan turn out, saying "And the fans were incredible! We had great support and at the end I could see all of the flags shining through the sunlight." His team-mate, SAKON YAMAMOTO, was pleased just to have finished his home race.
