Sebastien Bourdais drove a strong race at Fuji Speedway from tenth position on the grid to take the chequered flag in sixth position. However, after the race the Toro Rosso Ferrari driver was handed a 25 second penalty dropping him to a minute behind the race leader and out of the points.
Battling with Felipe Massa, Bourdais exited the pit and defended his position into the first turn. Massa, who would make his own stop a few laps later, battled alongside Bourdais but turned into the corner and contact was made. The stewards surprisingly determined that the incident was the fault of Bourdais. Sebastian Vettel finished the race in seventh position, but gains one place at the expense of his team-mate.
Sebastien Bourdais“The start seemed like a big mess, but fortunately I survived it. The incident with Massa? I was coming out of the pits, he turned in, I was on the kerb and there was nowhere else I could go and I was racing him for position. It was a good showing today for me, running consistently in the top five with only one mistake in what was a tough race. All in all, a very eventful race and I am happy to have scored three points.
Sebastian Vettel“At the first corner, I was forced to run wide as there was an incident on the inside, losing a lot of places. After that it was difficult to fight my way back. Nevertheless, getting both cars in the points is a strong showing from us, even if we could have been looking for a few more points today. Two more races to go: I hope to add to our total in both of them.”
Franz Tost“Another really good race for one of the Red Bull teams. Bourdais had a very good start and was a front runner right from the beginning, going on to have his best ever race for us. Vettel struggled a bit at the start, completing the opening lap eleventh. Then he put in a strong performance so that in total we have picked up another five points which strengthens our position in the Constructors’ championship. Now we are looking forward to racing in China in a week’s time, where we will do our best to continue this positive trend.”
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