Cyril Dumont, Renault: Of course I'm more than happy today! I think we've got a magic Vettel this year, last year was already fantastic, but this year he was simply incredible, this small guy! He really earned it; he just never stops working and is always pushing a lot - so it's richly and well deserved. I'm really happy for him and all the people that are at Renault. We just need to finish the job in the coming races by getting the Team Championship also.

"Obviously, those last few laps were extremely tense. We've been in the position of hunting for victory, but it's even more nerve-wracking when you're the car in front! It was a very tense but fantastic spectacle and Jenson didn't put a foot wrong. He drove with extraordinary calm, so today's victory is incredibly well deserved.

"Lewis had a more difficult afternoon. We weren't immediately aware that Lewis appeared to suffer a slow puncture to the right-rear in the first stint. That created a growing pressure differential across the rear axle, and potentially led us to add too much front wing to compensate for the lack of balance at the rear.

"In hindsight, that may have led to Lewis fighting to find a satisfactory balance for the next two stints as we attempted to restore the set-up he'd enjoyed during the previous two days. It was a challenging afternoon for Lewis, but he never gave up, kept pushing and scored some strong points for the team. He had the pace this weekend, so I'm sure he'll be as tough as ever in Korea next weekend.

"Finally, I would like to pass on congratulations to Sebastian from myself and the whole of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. He has driven a consistent and error-free season, and I only wish we could have delayed tonight's party for a little while longer! But big congratulations to him nonetheless.

"For all of us at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, our ambition is undimmed: we'll be aiming to win all the remaining races, starting with Korea next weekend."

Stefano Domenicali: First of all on behalf of the Scuderia, I wish to congratulate Sebastian Vettel on clinching his second Drivers' title: he has had an incredible season and this fantastic result is well deserved! As for us, I don't think it's out of place if, for the second time running, I use the adjective amazing, this time to describe Fernando Alonso's race today. Our driver was always on the attack and came very close to a win which would have been incredible, given our performance two weeks ago in Singapore. All these changes of fortune in terms of who is competitive, confirm once again how hard it is to understand as well as possible the real performance of the car-tyre packages at each track. Felipe was also having a very good race, at least until the contact with Hamilton: the damage his car suffered in this incident probably penalised him excessively in the second part of the race. There are still four races to go this season, in which we will do our utmost to achieve the objectives that are still within our reach: winning again, taking Fernando to second in the Drivers' classification and learning as much as possible from this car with a view to 2012.

Pat Fry: A great result today at Suzuka, especially in terms of how competitive we were on track. Fernando came very close to winning, getting the very most out of the equipment at his disposal, trying to attack at every conceivable opportunity. Felipe also drove a good race, but first he might have paid the price for a pit stop that was delayed by a few laps and then there was the contact with Hamilton: in the end he found himself in traffic and we have often seen this year how hard it is to pass a Mercedes, even if we have a better pace. We had a three stop strategy, aware that it would not be an easy one to manage given the rather high level of tyre degradation. The Safety Car period gave everyone a hand and, for once, even the traffic helped us a bit, at least with Fernando. We were not able to make the most of our pace in the final part of each stint with the Soft tyres, because in any case it always costs you a bit pitting early, at least until the point at which you don't lengthen the final stint of the race too much. Here too, the performance on the Mediums was not that bad, also because we suffered a lot less from our traditional problem of getting the harder compound up to temperature. Now we will try to do the same again next weekend in Korea: it would be nice to get another win before the end of the season, but we know it will be difficult!

Michael completed a three-stop strategy this afternoon, running option/option/option/prime. Nico also completed three stops from his P23 starting position, running prime/option/option/option. Of 65 total pit stops today, just nine were under 21 seconds - and five of those were by Mercedes GP Petronas.

In a race with only one retirement, Michael and Nico gained a total of 15 places from their grid positions. Today's race was the fourth consecutive Grand Prix which has featured a Safety Car deployment.

Ross Brawn: "We made the absolute most of the car and opportunities we had at our disposal today. The car performed well throughout the race, our strategies were right for both cars, and the pit crew produced fantastic stops - we have performed strongly all year in the pits, and today our stops won us places, particularly for Nico during the Safety Car period when he jumped two cars. Michael and Nico both delivered great performances in the cockpit, passing cleanly when they needed to and defending strongly. Overall, I think it was a very exciting race and a fitting Grand Prix in which to crown a new World Champion. Congratulations to Sebastian and Red Bull Racing on his second World Championship - he has driven impeccably all year, and together they have set the standards we must now aim for and exceed."

Norbert Haug: "Michael and Nico both delivered strong races this afternoon and quite competitive lap times. Michael raced and finished among the top three teams, leading laps during the pit stop cycles, and Nico drove strongly through the field into the points, as we believed he could after qualifying yesterday, even starting from P23. Compliments to our pit stop and strategy crew as well, who played a key role in our team result this afternoon. Congratulations to Jenson Button and McLaren-Mercedes on their victory over the World Champion but, most of all, we take our hats off to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing - not just for winning the title, but also for defending it with an exceptional level of performance throughout the season."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal and Managing Director: "First and foremost it was good to be back in the points. We had a different strategy to most of the teams and it worked reasonably well for Vitaly, but not so well for Bruno who struggled with a lot of traffic. Unfortunately the safety car did not help us either, but at least we have two more points to help us hold off the threat of Force India in the Constructors' Championship. Finally, on behalf of the whole team I would like to offer my congratulations to Sebastian Vettel for his second World Championship win."

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "We're happy to get Vitaly in the points. Our car was very severe on the soft tyre here which dictated our strategy to an extent. We had reasonable medium tyre performance so we ran a medium-medium-soft strategy. The soft tyre was faster than the medium in the race to a greater margin than we predicted. This made for a fraught time on the pit wall, however we were committed to the strategy. Our approach did work against Force India and Kamui (Kobayashi) however Sergio (Perez) was able to run two reasonably long stints on option tyres which beat us. Bruno was compromised at the start and he had a particularly poor first pit stop. He didn't have the pace of Vitaly when he was on the soft tyres so we will work to understand why. Vitaly's softs held on well, whereas Bruno appeared to have huge degradation. The safety car certainly didn't help us as it came when we were early in the second stint on the medium tyres. Our overall sum up for the day: reasonable, but could have done better."

Ricardo Penteado, LRGP Engine Support Leader, Renault Sport F1: "This weekend has seen the team get back to form in qualifying and to get a points finish is good news for the Constructors' Championship. We knew Suzuka would suit us a lot better as it is much more high speed and requires good driveability from the engine, which we know that the RS27 delivers. We were particularly pleased that the package tried out in Singapore worked very well; we had no issues with the cooling. Korea is in just a few days so we'll get our heads down and try to keep this form going. Congratulations to Sebastian for his second title today."

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: We split the strategy today with Rubens starting on the option tyre on a three stop and Pastor on a two stop on primes. When the safety car was deployed, we switched Pastor onto a three stop strategy. Both drivers fought hard throughout the race but unfortunately we didn't have the pace to make it into the points. We will continue to develop the car and look ahead to Korea and India.

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "We went into today's race believing we could fight for points, but ultimately the circumstances of the race just denied us in the final stages. In terms of strategy we definitely had our bases covered and the excellent starts for both cars played into our hands nicely. We knew we were on the limit with tyre wear, but we were showing good race pace and pulling a gap to the cars running on the medium tyres at the start of the race. Our undoing proved to be the safety car, which negated all our advantage and brought the two-stopping cars right into contention. We tried to hold on for some points, but it was impossible to defend against cars running soft tyres in the final laps. So we leave Suzuka a little disappointed, but we will focus on the positives and look to realise our potential in Korea."

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: "Everybody in the team hoped Kamui could score a good result in his home Grand Prix. He would have deserved that after his strong qualifying performance, but then things went wrong at the start. He lost a lot of positions, and his aggressive strategy didn't work as a result of that. Sergio drove a brilliant race. Starting from 17th and finishing eighth says it all. He was aggressive and consistent at the same time. His result also proves that we made a clear step forward with our car, which is important for the upcoming races. Congratulations to Sebastian for a well-deserved world championship title after an outstanding season"

James Key, Technical Director: "It was a tough race, very close and competitive. It was great to bring some points back, as we needed them. The whole team worked very hard and deserved them. It was a great shame for Kamui, who got an anti-stall at the start and lost several places. We had him on an aggressive strategy with the soft tyres to begin with, but he ended up in traffic, and also the safety car came out at the wrong time for him. He did a great job to hang on to his tyres at the end, but the start compromised him. We have to look at why he had that problem. Sergio drove a really strong race, and his pace was very good. His strategy was the opposite to Kamui's, and it seems that this was the right way to go. He wasn't helped by the safety car either, but his pace first on the medium tyre and then the soft tyres towards the end was very consistent, and it allowed him to make up many positions from P17 to P8. He really did a fantastic job. We can be pleased after a long, hard weekend coming home with four points."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a really pleasing race weekend for the whole team. For the first time both cars finished on the lead lap and even though we were helped by the safety car our level of performance was still the best we have ever seen relative to cars around us. Both drivers pushed throughout the whole race, right up until the last lap and I think we managed to extract every ounce of performance we could from the cars. Heikki made an amazing start, by some way the best of the year and that made a three stop strategy the obvious choice, running the option for the first three stints, and that worked out pretty well. With Jarno we managed an issue he had in the first stint, and to see him pushing Heikki hard at the end of the race was exactly what we wanted from him and his team mate. They were also both helped by some tremendous pitstops from the guys in the garage so all in all this was a very professional job right across the board and I want to thank the whole team for the work they have put in here, and give my congratulations to everyone."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "Firstly I'd like to wish Sebastian and all our friends at Red Bull Racing huge congratulations for an incredible job this season. They still have a job to do, and I know from firsthand experience that they will not let up in their pursuit of the constructors' title this year, and many more titles in the future. They set the standards that we must aspire to and I am very proud that we are part of their extended family and can keep being inspired by them as we grow to, one day, take the fight to them on track.

"For us, I know I keep saying it at every race but this really was the best race we have ever had. As soon as I came in this morning I had a feeling that everything in the team is beginning to come together as we had planned, and to finish on the same lap as the world champion is a huge step forward for us. The drivers both drove their hearts out today and the pitstops were excellent all afternoon. Our race pace was strong and we were bold with the strategies on both cars and that gave us the reward of not seeing a blue flag throughout the whole race. A great team effort.

"I think that this is a turning point for us. Suzuka is a quick circuit, not an easy place to take steps forward, so to have performed as well as we have done all weekend means I leave here absolutely thrilled, knowing our hard work is starting to pay off. The strategy that we have employed, of being patient and not rushing into the wrong decisions is paying dividends, and this is a clear sign that next year, and especially the year after, we are going to see more big steps forwards from our team."

Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "Overall, today's race has been what we were hoping for: a race without major problems and fighting the Virgins, which we did. Daniel kept a good pace from the beginning and fought both D'Ambrosio and especially Glock throughout the race. With the blue flags and traffic we ended up behind them but all in all Daniel did a very good race and took another step forward. After a difficult weekend, Tonio and his crew went to the race with very little information and track time and he did his best to push the car lap by lap and get to the end. There isn't much else he could do. This race is over and Korea is coming right next week and I hope that we won't have any of the problems we faced this weekend".

It was a clean start to the race and both Timo and Jerome got away from the line well. Timo was first into the pits on lap 13, putting another set of Pirelli P-Zero Soft tyres on his MVR-02. Jerome came in a lap later, and in an action-packed day for the pit crew, it was only seven laps later when Timo completed his second pit-stop, with the team again fitting the Soft tyre.

Timo and Jerome were running in 22nd and 20th positions respectively and just after Jerome pitted for another set of Soft tyres, the Safety Car was deployed due to debris on track at Turn 7 and near the final chicane.

The action restarted on lap 28. Timo and Jerome pitted for a third and final time for Medium tyres on laps 36 and 37. Jerome joined the track behind Timo in 22nd position and that was the order until the end of the race.

John Booth, Team Principal: "This hasn't been the most straightforward of weekends for us and today's race continued in much the same vein. Our strategy didn't play out in the way that we had hoped and we lost some time with our pitstops as well. Early in the race we suffered a problem with our timing information on the pitwall and unfortunately this was at a critical time in the tyre lifecycle, so we really had to think on our feet. Despite all of these problems, we were still able to finish ahead of our nearest competitor and with both cars, which are positives to take away from the race. We'll be back on track in Korea in just a few days' time so we will regroup quickly and implement the necessary improvements.

"It has been extremely heart-warming to return to Japan and receive such a typically warm reception from the fans here. They deserved a great race and they got one - the Championship decider to boot. Congratulations to Sebastian on his second world title. For us, we now head to Yeongam with quite a tough turnaround ahead but hopefully a positive weekend."

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, which has now crowned 11 world champions in the last 24 years, was won by McLaren driver Jenson Button, claiming his third victory of the season with Pirelli and bringing McLaren's total of wins in Suzuka up to nine. The British team has reinforced its status as the most successful manufacturer on this track, while Button consolidates his second place in this year's drivers' championship.

Vettel needed only one point to be crowned champion for the second time. Having qualified on pole position he finished third to continue Red Bull Racing's pattern of having at least one car on the podium at every race this year. Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was second.

With tyre wear a crucial factor in Japan, due to the flowing nature of the track and high lateral loads, the top three drivers all stopped three times. Their first three stints were on the P Zero Yellow soft tyre, followed by a much longer stint on the P Zero White medium tyre to take advantage of the extra durability of the harder compound on a lighter fuel load.

Button used the second round of pit stops to claim the lead after Vettel pitted on lap 19. Vettel was the first driver to switch to the medium tyres with a final stop on lap 33, running the harder compound for 20 laps to the finish. Four laps later Ferrari's Fernando Alonso also pitted for the medium tyre, jumping Vettel to claim the runner-up spot.

With five laps to go the top four were separated by less than six seconds, ensuring a spectacular finish to the grand prix as Alonso closed up to Button. The pair was separated by just 1.1 seconds at the finish, both on the medium tyre.

As well as Button and Vettel, the other big winner from the Japanese Grand Prix was Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. A hydraulic problem during qualifying meant that he was forced to start from last, but he used the medium tyre followed by three stints on the soft tyre to make up 14 places and finish 10th, claiming a point. The highest-placed drivers to use a two-stop strategy were Sauber's Sergio Perez and Lotus Renault's Vitaly Petrov, who were eight and ninth respectively, having also started on the medium tyres.

Paul Hembery: "First and foremost I'd like to congratulate Sebastian Vettel on becoming the first world champion on Pirelli tyres on our return to Formula One. He's been on unstoppable form all year and it comes as no surprise to see him achieve his second world title here today. We'd also like to congratulate Jenson Button for a well-deserved victory against very tough competition. The drivers should take all the credit today for putting on a fantastic race but from our point of view we're happy with the way that the tyres stood up to an extremely demanding circuit, with two to three pit stops as we expected and degradation within the usual limits."