Fernando Alonso Happy, Lewis Hamilton Not: Reaction From Japanese Grand Prix

After reporting on the action of the Japanese Grand Prix, in order to make that article not too long, I've decided to put the reaction part of my report in a new article.

Fernando Alonso

After winning his second successive Grand Prix this season, Renault's Fernando Alonso has admitted that it was "difficult to believe."

The Spaniard won his second Grand Prix out in the Far East with a combination of brilliant consistency and speed. And after winning in Japan, Alonso paid tribute to his team, who will surely be an important factor in where Alonso chooses to be next season.

"Obviously the Singapore win was completely unexpected after a very sad Saturday coming from retirement in qualifying.

"Okay I won with special conditions with the Safety Car, but today we had nothing and we won again and at a circuit that is not particularly good for our characteristics. I cannot believe it right now, back-to-back wins.

"The team did a great job to improve the car and we are right now behind Ferrari and McLaren and this is something is completely amazing."

Robert Kubica

After taking second at Fuji, BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica believes his second place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix was better than his win in the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

"I think this is much better than the Canada win," said Kubica.

"The car is not the one from the beginning of the season, we didn't improve a lot in the last two or three months.

"To be able to finish second in front of Ferrari and McLaren, it's amazing."

Kimi Raikkonen

The current WDC champion Kimi Raikkonen was disappointed after finishing third in the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji. The Finn was frustrated by the first corner incident at the start of the race.

Raikkonen fell down to eighth after being forced out wide by both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen in the two McLarens.

"I got a pretty good start, got into first place, but then braking into the first corner I was trying to turn in and there was first one McLaren, then the second one, and they both hit me," he said.

"I had nowhere to go and had to go straight and lost many places, and got some damage to the front.

"I managed to get back on the circuit but then I was all the way behind people.

"I think it was Heikki (Kovalainen) who hit me harder, and it didn't really feel the same as before, so maybe we damaged something.

"The car was okay, but for sure we were missing something and we were not able to be fast enough to hold on with the cars at the front."

Lewis Hamilton

"What can I say, it was a bad day." Indeed it was for the current WDC leader, Lewis Hamilton. After starting the race on pole position, the young Briton found himself down in sixth at the end of the first lap, and by the end of the second, was second to last down in 18th. He battled back to claim 12th, but saw his lead at the top of the WDC cut to just five points.

When talking about the incidents that cost him the race, Hamilton said: "I went wide at turn one and it was a mistake then Felipe hit me off. I went inside and he broke me left pretty hard. I went back into the pit and we both got a penalty.

"We both got the same penalty, but I didn't hit anyone and he [Massa] did. I guess that's just the name of the game.

"You can always look back and wish you'd done something differently.

"I made a mistake and I paid for it. That sort of thing happens, you've just got to keep your head up and keep going."

Felipe Massa

After a controversial incident between Massa and WDC rival Lewis Hamilton, the Brazilian was quick to defend himself, denying that he deliberately collided with Hamilton, saying the move was "hard but fair".

As a result of their collision, Hamilton eventually finished the race 12th, whereas Massa finished seventh and therefore cut Hamilton's lead in the WDC to just five points.

When talking about the incident, and the 10 second penalty he received for it, Massa said: "I have a good relationship with Lewis and would not do anything to destroy something on purpose. Definitely not."

"After turn 10 we both braked late and he pushed me a little. I had two wheels on the gravel because he pushed me. In my opinion it was just a racing accident.

"It was hard but fair. The drive-through really hurt my race."