Friday: Hamilton and Button are satisfied with their McLaren

Lewis Hamilton – 2nd and 2nd:

« I have the coolest job! Suzuka is a phenomenal track! On the first lap out of the pits, I already felt great. Just driving through the first corners, feeling the acceleration. It takes a few laps to warm up, but we go faster and faster as we gradually push the limits.

But you have to be careful. We’ve seen several drivers make mistakes in the Spoon curve today. If you put a wheel in the dirt, it’s very easy to lose the car.

As always, we will fine-tune the car tonight before tomorrow’s sessions, but it seems very close between us and Red Bull. I feel comfortable with our car – it’s the best we’ve had here – and I think I could have beaten Mark [Webber] with a perfect lap. It will be very tight for qualifying tomorrow.

Jenson Button – 1st and 7th:

« I love Japan. It’s a crazy race for me. The crowd is fantastic. They really support the riders and are very enthusiastic about this sport.

Also, there are so many turns on this track that you have to find the right gear ratios, you’re constantly shifting up and down.

I didn’t do too many laps in the second session: the balance wasn’t quite right and we knew we couldn’t revert the changes we had made until after the session, so there was no reason for us to do too many laps.

We still started setting up the car for tomorrow, and that’s the most important thing. The car was good this morning, so we’ll go back to something similar with just a few changes. Overall, the car is running well here. We will be competitive in qualifying and surely at the top of the table.