Heikki Kovalainen - Last year’s Japanese Grand Prix was the scene of one of your most impressive drives, are you looking forward to going back?
HK: “Absolutely. Last year was one of those races where everything went right for me, one of those races where you can perform to a higher level than the car. I didn’t qualify too well but kept my head, drove sensibly, didn’t make any mistakes and battled with Kimi to finish second – my first Formula 1 podium. It was the highlight of my season. Of course, I love Japan, I’m looking forward to visiting Tokyo and also getting back to a circuit where I’ve got plenty of good memories.”

What sort of set-up do you need for a lap of Fuji?
HK: “There is no single corner at Fuji that particularly contributes to your lap time. It’s relatively easy to understand the corners, and it’s not a particularly tricky circuit. So it’s a place where you can’t afford to make any mistakes, you have to be absolutely precise and extract the maximum from your car to be fast. And that’s not easy: you’ve still got to understand the car and find a good set-up: finding the ideal compromise is the tricky bit.”

Martin Whitmarsh, CEO - What sort of challenge does the Fuji circuit provide from an engineering point of view?
MW: “It’s not a particularly extreme circuit; it’s not a place that really places a premium on the car or the driver – unless it’s raining, of course. But, as a result, it’s a circuit where you really benefit from solid, clever engineering rather than raw power or efficient aerodynamics. This year, we’re bringing a number of smaller components to the car ahead of the race and will be working hard with our engineers to ensure that we can maximise our track time in order to get our cars well-balanced. Of course, we are reliant on good weather – and we learnt last year that this is not always forthcoming when you’re racing on the side of a mountain!”

Norbert Haug, Mercedes VP - Why did Lewis Hamilton not win after Felipe Massa’s refuelling problems? At the time he was second and the winner came from 15th on the grid, the runner-up from eighth – Lewis ended up third.
NH: “Up until his first pit stop, Lewis was in second position. The first Safety Car period beginning on lap 15, of course, brought forward those drivers who had pitted shortly before – like, for example, David, who was ahead of Lewis for 20 laps after his pitstop and who drove significantly more slowly than Lewis’s race speed would have allowed. Drivers who could race without traffic after the Safety Car deployment had an advantage, so, as a consequence, the current Safety Car rules came under criticism.”

What are the specific challenges for drivers and teams at Fuji?
NH: “The 4.5km track at Mount Fuji is quite a difficult task for drivers and engineers. The near-1.5km-long front straight is the longest of all circuits on the Formula 1 calendar; here the cars race at full throttle for 20 seconds. At Turn 10, the cars reach only about 70km/h. Therefore, it will be quite a challenge for drivers and engineers to find the best compromise for the set-up between the high-speed section and the slow corners. Last year’s data can only be used in a limited way due to the heavy rain encountered during that event.”

Prior to the final three Grand Prix of the season, Lewis leads the Drivers‘ Championship by seven points; in the constructors‘ rankings, McLaren Mercedes leads by a single point. How do you approach these three races?