A good day at the office as Mark extends lead to 14 points

Mark took his ninth podium of the season at Suzuka when he came home in second place, just 0.9s behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel. The result extended Mark’s lead in the world championship to 14 points.

“It was a good day at the office,” says Mark. “You always want to win, but second was okay. The difference between Seb and I this weekend was the half-tenth that separated us in qualifying; that gave him track position at the start of the race, on a circuit where it’s very difficult to overtake.”

The Suzuka weekend was an extraordinary one from start-to-finish for Red Bull Racing. The performance of the team’s RB6 was peerless; the performances of Mark and Sebastian were superb and even the weather took its toll. There was sun on Friday, a tropical rainstorm on Saturday – resulting in all track activity being abandoned – and then more sun on Sunday.

“I completed one installation lap on Saturday,” says Mark. “It was immediately apparent that the track conditions were too treacherous for F1 cars. To do nothing for a whole day of a grand prix weekend felt a bit odd; it reminded me of testing in the early ’00s and it made me quite glad that we’re no longer allowed to test during the season!”

At the start of the race, Mark made an average getaway from the dirty side of the grid. There was nothing he could do to stop Robert Kubica, starting third, from taking second on the approach to Turn One.

“Robert made an absolute scorcher of a start,” says Mark. “He cannoned out of the blocks and was through. Luckily he retired a few laps later, while we were behind the Safety Car. His Renault was very quick in a straight-line and it would have been difficult to pass him on the track.”

For the remainder of the race, Mark and Sebastian were never more than a couple of seconds apart and they traded fastest laps – a battle that Mark won on the final lap (“I couldn’t let Seb take the triple crown, could I?”). In the closing laps they were able to wind down their engines, but both drivers had to keep pushing to remain clear of Alonso.

“Fernando got a bit closer in the last few laps,” says Mark, “but I had him covered. To be honest, it was a formation finish for Red Bull Racing from about lap nine. We pushed all the way, but Seb and I were so evenly matched that I needed him to make a mistake in order to pass. He didn’t give me that opportunity.”

Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s chief technical officer, was attending the Japanese Grand Prix for the first time in 10 years and he accepted the winning constructors’ trophy on the podium on behalf of the team.

“The RB6 is the best racing car I’ve ever driven,” says Mark. “It was nice to celebrate Red Bull’s third one-two of the season with Adrian. I hope he felt the trip here was worthwhile!”

Mark now heads to Queensland, Australia, where he will prepare for the next race on the calendar at the all-new Yeongam Circuit in South Korea.

“It’s always fun to go to a new track,” says Mark. “It’s something different for everyone, but don’t expect its newness to shake up the order. The drivers in F1 are all very good and it will take only a few laps to learn.”