"There is no better way to enter into the end of the season with two races to go than a victory. Two decisive races in the battle of the championship are still to go, but a victory like that counts twice." One shouldn't wonder why Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was in an excellent mood when leaving China for Japan, after the impressive win at the Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday.

"Obviously this success has given us all even more spur," explains Schumacher. "On Saturday it looked as if everything was against us, but in the end we could gain this dreamlike result. That was the reason why yesterday I was in such a good mood; after all the difficulties during the qualifying I didn't hope to win, but instead I thought how to limit the damage."

"I have often said that I consider Shanghai the most difficult of the last three races and I expected an intermediate result. Thus a similar result, to be honest, counts twice. The upcoming two races will be at two racetracks I really like a lot and they also should be favourable to us: Japan and Brazil. We are leaving Shanghai strengthened and ready for the decisive part of the championship. This victory did give us the right amount of motivation, even though we do not really need it."
 

"We are all really concentrated on winning both the titles and we are perfectly aware of the fact that it will be a tough fight. We also know what is waiting for us. I also have to say that I'm incredibly glad to take this challenge. To be in Japan with an even and promising result in the classification is something that we could not even dream of in Canada, when we were 25 points behind. Now the championships start anew from zero. And you cannot wish for more. It will be a fantastic battle, something really exciting."

Michael Schumacher is likely to stay in Tokyo until Thursday morning on Wednesday afternoon he will be guest at a very important press conference organized by Bridgestone. Then he will go to Suzuka where the next Grand Prix will be held on a track that is one of the favourite by the German champion, because more than anything else it is one of the technically most challenging and demanding of the whole championship.