Cyril Dumont, Renault: "A fantastic result for Sebastian, but bad luck for Mark who had been having a strong race until his accident. It was a great team effort to keep us well in the hunt for both titles. Starting twice from effectively last position means you have everything to do, but everyone involved judged it right and we can look forward to even better next time out in Austin."

"Until that point, he'd had the race in the bag, and it goes without saying that the entire Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team is absolutely gutted that through no fault of his own he wasn't able to win here today. Lewis, too, is understandably disappointed - but he's also as keen as mustard to give it his very best shot to win the season's final two grands prix, at Austin and Sao Paulo.

"Jenson, too, drove a gutsy and spirited race, ending up fourth, having been overtaken at the end by Seb, who was on fresher tyres [than Jenson was] and whose car had been re-geared prior to the race for better top speed.

"To Kimi, who is of course an old friend of ours, having won nine grands prix for McLaren Mercedes during his time with us [2002-2006], I want to say 'Well done'. Today we saw a great drive by a great driver.

"Last, here are two brand-new McLaren-related milestones for all you train-spotters out there. First, until Lewis's race came to an end on lap 20, he'd taken McLaren's aggregate of kilometres spent in the lead of world championship grands prix past the 50,000km mark. And, second, in scoring 12 world championship points for fourth place, Jenson established a new benchmark in Formula 1: 56 points-scoring grands prix on the trot for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, eclipsing the previous record which had been held hitherto by Ferrari.

"Neither of those stats provides much comfort today for anyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, but they certainly both bear witness to a truly impressive magnum opus of on-track McLaren achievement in Formula 1, going back all the way to 1966, and I salute all the many men and women whose sterling efforts have contributed to that.

"Next we go to Austin, a new venue for our sport. Lewis won the last United States Grand Prix - at Indianapolis in 2007 - and you may be well sure that he, Jenson and everyone else in our team will be aiming to make it two United States Grand Prix victories on the trot for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes."

Stefano Domenicali: Yet another great race from Fernando in what is an amazing season for him. Today's second place came about mainly because of his ability to get the most and maybe even a bit more than that out of what we gave him to work with. The gap to the leader in the classification has come down to ten points and everything is still up for grabs. Of course, we must do something extra and better than what we have done to date to give him a more competitive car. If we had been offered this gap on leaving Abu Dhabi, immediately after qualifying yesterday evening, maybe we would have taken it, but it's also true that this afternoon, before the start, our prospects had changed. Definitely, the way the race played out and the incidents that occured, did not do us any favours in light of the championship, but these are circumstances over which we have no control. The important thing is we have reduced the gap in the Drivers' classification in a Grand Prix that was particularly difficult because, not only did our performance level not match that of our closest rivals, but it was actually worse than that of other teams. On top of that, we have increased our lead over our closest rival in the Constructors' championship, which is a good thing. Ten points is a lot but it can also be seen as very few. We have a duty to try right to the very last metre of the final Grand Prix and that's what we will do, you can be sure of it.

Pat Fry: It's been a difficult and intense weekend and coming out of it having improved our situation in both championships compared to the start of it is undoubtedly positive. There's no point brooding over what happened: the Safety Cars did not come at the best times for us, but there was nothing we could do about it. We had to do our utmost and, on that front, we've got nothing to reproach ourselves for. Once again, Fernando delivered an amazing performance, getting everything he could out of the car, both in qualifying and in the race. When strategy does not allow for many variables it's always difficult to make up places but this evening and eight days ago in India, he showed what he's made of. These two second places are worth much more than the 36 points they have brought him. Felipe had a more difficult race than his team-mate, losing precious time because of the spin, as it left him in a lot of traffic. However, his six points are valuable for the Constructors' classification. Once again in this Grand Prix, our race pace was better than in qualifying: we have to make a step forward in this area to try and be in with a chance in the last two Grands Prix of the season. We had various updates at this race which, to some extent, did not work as we had expected. We must understand why and do something quickly because we no longer have much time. Furthermore, these ten days prior to the final double header will be crucial to prepare for a Grand Prix that takes place on a track that is new for everyone. Whoever is quickest at adapting their car to it could have an advantage. None of us wants to give up and everything is still possible.

An incident on lap one which damaged his front wing caused Nico to box for a new nose dropping him to P21. He subsequently retired on lap eight after a heavy collision with the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan. Michael was going well on a one-stop prime/option strategy and was running in eighth place by lap 41. He picked up a puncture from debris and had to make an additional stop which dropped him out of the points.

Ross Brawn: We had a reasonable car today so it's disappointing not to have picked up any points. Nico's front wing was damaged on the first lap which meant an early stop but he was going well after that. His accident on lap seven was fairly dramatic and we obviously need to have a look at what happened. Karthikeyan reported a problem with his car and certainly it looked very unusual. Thankfully both drivers were fine afterwards. Michael drove a strong race and we had a good strategy but unfortunately he picked up a puncture in the debris left from the various accidents which made the end of his race very difficult. The dice just aren't falling for us at the moment but the positive is that the car was better this weekend so we just need to keep working hard.

Norbert Haug: Nico's race lasted only seven laps today, and thankfully his accident ended without any serious consequences. Before that, his front wing change on the first lap after a collision with another car put him back to the back of the field. Michael was in seventh position when he picked up debris, and subsequently a puncture, during the safety car period which dropped him back to 11th place after his additional pit stop which is where he finished.

Kimi maintains third position in the Drivers' Championship on 198 points; a diminished 47 shy of Fernando Alonso and an increased 31 ahead of Mark Webber. The team remains fourth in the Constructors' Championship on 288 points; a reduced 30 behind McLaren and an increased 152 in front of Mercedes.

Kimi started on soft tyres, pitting on lap 31 for a set of new medium compound rubber. Romain started on soft tyres, pitting on lap 1 for a set of new mediums then again on lap 9 under safety car conditions for a further set of scrubbed soft rubber.

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: "I have one word first of all: Great. Then there are many words such as 'relief' and 'deserved'. It's obviously a very well deserved result for the team. I'm pleased for Kimi and he did a very good job. We've been pushing very hard all season and we've nearly had it before. There's a little frustration not to have had a win sooner, and we have been waiting for it, but it's a fantastic feeling to finally take that victory and a superb reward for the team. It's great for Formula 1, it's great for Kimi and it's great for our team."

James Allison, Technical Director: "When you are as happy as this it is hard to avoid lapsing into cliché. Despite being tantalisingly close several times this year, we have waited a long time to return to the top step of the podium. It is a massive tribute both to a flawless drive from Kimi and to the tenacity of the entire Enstone team for never having taken their eye off the prize all year. With two races left in the season we go on to Austin with a spring in our step, invigorated to do it all over again and see what we can achieve."

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader: "It's just an awesome feeling to finally win a race; the first victory for the Enstone-Viry partnership in its present configuration. All season the chassis-engine package has been strong and everyone has worked incredibly hard in the last few weeks to successfully introduce new parts to get that last piece of performance. It all worked out beautifully today and hats off to Kimi for judging it perfectly."

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "I am very happy because these points are extremely valuable for us in the constructors' championship and they allow us to fight for a better position. Kamui put in a fantastic performance despite his issues. With Sergio it was unfortunate as we were in a very good position to score a lot of points today, but nevertheless we now look forward to the last two races and we shall do all we can to fight."

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "The race was shaping up to be an easy one, but eventually it wasn't. At the start both drivers got away well and were eighth and ninth at the end of lap one. Also some of our immediate opposition was behind us, so by lap ten we were looking good. Then we had the first safety car, which reset the gaps we had built up. We went for one stop, which was planned, and both drivers did a good job climbing up the field. Then there was Sergio's accident, but the upside was while we lost positions with one car we were able to gain some with the other. We did have some issues with Kamui, which cost a bit of performance, but we were in control. His problem was a downshift issue, which didn't allow the proper recharging of the KERS, so he could not use full boost. It is regrettable we have missed some points but that's racing and, as the pace of our cars was strong, we shall keep fighting."

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: Whilst we are very pleased to have brought both cars home in the points we know we could have had an even better result. Pastor lost KERS in the race which left him open to attack from the chasing pack. He kept focused and pushed hard to keep the gap from Kobayashi finishing in a hard earned fifth. Bruno also did well, following heavy contact from Hulkenberg. He also fought his way through the pack to end in eighth, with both drivers collecting a total of 14 valuable points for the team. We now go to Austin looking to capitalise on our continuing improved performance.

Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader: A great result for the team, particularly after such a tough middle part of the year. Pastor drove a fantastic race, despite having lost KERS, while Bruno did exceptionally well to finish in eighth. This carries forward the momentum of the last race and hopefully we can finish the season just as strongly.

The Championship takes a breather and returns to action in two weeks for the penultimate event of the season, the United States Grand Prix which returns to the calendar this year and will take place in Austin, Texas from the 16th to the 18th of November.

Luis Perez-Sala, Team Principal: "I would have liked for both cars to finish but an unfortunate mechanical failure meant that Narain lost his steering in the worst moment and he suffered an accident with Rosberg. Luckily both of them are well and we didn't have to regret anything greater. Pedro completed a good race and was able to finish after not doing so in two consecutive races. Now we have to look ahead and be ready to take on the last two races to finish in the best way possible."

Timo fought hard throughout the 55 lap race, contending with a damaged front wing for the first stint after contact on the opening lap. At the pitstop, where he switched from the Pirelli PZero Soft tyre to the Medium, the pit crew were able to 'correct' the aero balance with a wing flap adjustment and he fought back in the second stint.

The start did not pan out as Charles Pic had hoped, having lined up on the grid in 19th place. He traded places with Timo, who shot ahead to take up position between the two Caterhams where Charles had been sitting before dropping behind Petrov. He too drove a hard race, on a couple of occasions demonstrating his speed with flashes of purple in the S1 speed trap. On lap 41 Charles was forced to retire with an engine problem, bringing an otherwise very positive weekend to a frustrating conclusion.

John Booth, Team Principal: "A nail-biting race pretty much from start to finish, although it was in the final 10 laps that we really felt the pressure. We could do little about the retirements ahead of us, so we had to simply concentrate on our own very hard-fought race with Caterham. To see Timo pulling away from Petrov, and Charles pushing him hard, gives us further encouragement for the remaining two races. It was disappointing that Timo lost his left-hand front wing end-plate on the opening lap, as I really feel we could have been much closer to Heikki had this not been the case. Our S1 performance has been good all weekend and clearly the loss of this part hurt us there and allowed Heikki to build the gap. The engineers were in quite a dilemma as to whether to change the wing, but ultimately the loss of track position that the longer pitstop would have brought meant that we just had to rely on Timo to manage the problem, which of course he did beautifully. For Charles, again an unfortunate retirement due to an engine air system problem. We are sorry he has borne the brunt of these failures this year, however the engine we will fit for the remaining two races has not shown any signs of these problems. Today has reminded us that P10 is far from 'a given' - we have to keep fighting to keep it. However, all the way through the weekend we have shown just how hard we are fighting and given the very small pace difference that exists between us and Caterham now, I'm sure we can enjoy some great racing right up until the end of the season."

The majority of the 24 starters began the race on the soft compound, with the exception of Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher, the Williams of Bruno Senna and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel: who started from the pit lane after having his qualifying times disallowed.

The Red Bull driver used a different strategy to boost himself from last - having been released from the pit lane once the rest of the field was into turn one - to third at the finish. Despite some damage to his front wing endplate, Vettel was already up to 13th by lap seven, when he benefited from a safety car that closed up the field and altered the tyre strategy. Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne, Force India's Paul Di Resta and Lotus driver Romain Grosjean were the only drivers who changed their tyres during the safety car period. Vergne and Di Resta changed to the medium tyre while Grosjean changed to the soft tyre (having made his first pit stop on the opening lap from soft to medium tyres following an incident at the start).

Vettel also changed tyres from medium to soft on lap 13, when he came into the pits for a nose change, still under the safety car period. Vettel then used the extra speed of the soft compound - worth around half a second per lap - to climb up to second place and he pitted for his final set of softs on lap 37, rejoining in fourth just before a final three-lap safety car period that closed up the field once more.

Alonso was the first driver in the top six to make a scheduled stop on lap 28, moving from the soft to the medium compound, followed by McLaren's Jenson Button and Williams driver Pastor Maldonado on the following lap. The final one-stopper to pit was the other Williams of Bruno Senna, who went from the medium to the soft tyre on lap 32 and finished eighth.

The race started in track and ambient temperatures of around 30 degrees centigrade, which dropped slightly as the race continued, minimising tyre wear. The smooth track surface of Abu Dhabi also helped to contain the amount of tyre wear, as the teams made the most of their knowledge of Pirelli's compounds accumulated over the year. Most drivers were able to make a one-stop strategy work, while the highest-placed two-stopper was Vettel in third.

Paul Hembery: "Congratulations to Kimi for becoming the eighth different winner we've seen this year, and to Lotus and Eric Boullier, for his first win as team principal, after what was one of the most exciting grands prix of the year, which revolved around two safety car periods. The timing of the first safety car altered the race strategies for everyone, enabling the soft tyre runners to go even longer, while two drivers switched to the medium tyre and Sebastian Vettel went onto the soft: the start of an amazing run. It also meant that one stop was quite clearly the way to go for most competitors, as the five laps under the safety car reduced the overall amount of tyre wear during the race, which was already low. This enabled the drivers who stopped early to complete up to nearly 30 laps on the medium compound and make up places by undercutting those who stopped later. It was definitely a mixed-up race with several different strategies at work, which gave the fans some spectacular action to watch from start to finish."