Rubens Barrichello may have benefited from the plan but nobody could deny he deserved the win, not so much for his race today, which was as good as Michael’s but for his commitment to the team and to the Schumacher title throughout the season. Barrichello was so happy to take to the top of the podium once more and he and Michael looked like two school children as they began the celebrations that will go long into the night. Barrichello admitted he had no idea what Michael had planned but he was most thankful of the gesture.

“The finish wasn’t planned before the race,” grinned Barrichello. “We were both having fun trying to be as fast as one another and I have to thank Michael for this and also the team for all their support through the year. The US is an important part of my life, which makes today special for me. At the last corner, I didn’t know what to do and Michael was very kind to let us finish equally. Both Michael and I know that Ferrari’s interests come first and it is with that in mind, we accept the various situations, which arise during the season. We have had a lot of fun, winning everything this year in the best car and I am a happy man right now.”

”There was a lot of work to do before the race deciding on strategy and also which car to use. I preferred the T car, but as we had a small uncertainty about the brakes on it in the warm-up we decided to use the race car, which ran perfectly. My only problem this afternoon was with some backmarkers who tried to let me pass by slowing a lot on the straight, which could have caused a crash. Now I am looking forward to the next race, where I have a lot of Japanese tifosi and where the most important thing will be to have a good race for Bridgestone.”

Michael Schumacher had driven the prefect race, always under pressure from Barrichello he never put a wheel wrong. But what goes around comes around says Michael and he had no problems in losing out to the staged finish. Schumacher found the traffic quite a chore today and it seemed the track was very busy as the battling Ferrari’s had to fight to pass so many other battles.

“The end of the race was not planned,” said Michael. “We tried to cross the line together but failed by a tiny bit and in fact we did not know who had won until we got out of the cars. I just felt Rubens deserved to win this race. He has made sacrifices for me at least twice this year and I guess that what goes around comes around. It is fair to say that both of us understood and accepted the decision in Austria, because we know that the interests of the team come first. I feel that today equalises what happened there, even though we were trying to finish side by side. We have set so many records this year and now we have one for the closest finish! As for the race, the car was perfect but we tried not to push too hard in the beginning. When I came out ahead of Coulthard after the pit stop and I knew it was okay, but it was quite close. I had some traffic problems with guys trying to be nice, but choosing the wrong place to let me pass.”

“To take our fourteenth win and eighth one-two finish of the season is a fantastic result,” concluded Jean Todt. “Now that Rubens has taken second place in the Drivers’ classification, we have reached all the goals we had set ourselves at the start of the year. Furthermore, we have become the first team to break the 200 points barrier from sixteen races. Once again today, we proved our motivation has not wavered. The team worked exceptionally well and in some ways, crossing the line side by side is a symbol for an incredible season. The happiness of our drivers and Paolo Martinelli on the podium demonstrates the harmony that exists in this team, which works with passion and determination. This one-two finish is down to the fact that the entire package-chassis, engine and Bridgestone tyres- all worked perfectly. Adding to our satisfaction is the fact that the United States is the most important market for Ferrari and Maserati.”