The German’s pole was part facilitated by an aggressive three-stop strategy that meant Schumacher faced a tough task in his hopes of a podium finish on Toyota’s home ground.

“It was always going to be a difficult task,” Schumacher said, “and a fundamental part of the strategy was being able to run flat-out when the car was light at the beginning of the race. Unfortunately there was a Safety Car on the first lap after an incident involving Montoya’s McLaren. That meant all those cars with a heavier fuel load were able to run at the same pace as me. It took quite a long time to sort out the incident, which completely destroyed my strategy. It meant that when I made my first pit stop, I came out much further back in the traffic than I would have done otherwise. After that, it was a case of just salvaging everything I could. We got a point but it could have been so much better.”

Team mate Jarno Trulli did not have any better luck. The Italian was forced to start from 19th on the 20-car grid after spinning off in qualifying. He was then taken out by an optimistic move from Takuma Sato at the chicane.

Trulli explained: “I could see Sato behind me and I knew it was his home Grand Prix and he was keen to impress, but really his move at the chicane was not possible. He hit the side of my car pretty hard and that was the end of my race after just nine laps. The stewards are looking into the incident but it has been a race to forget for me and I look forward to finishing the season on a more positive note in China.”

A dramatic race, perhaps the most exciting of the season, was won by Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen, who passed long-time race leader Giancarlo Fisichella on the last lap. The Finn had started the race from 17th place after suffering a 10-place grid penalty for a changed engine. New world champion Fernando Alonso also finished a fine third from 16th on the grid with the second Renault. Mark Webber took fourth place for the BMW Williams F1 Team, ahead of Jenson Button’s Lucky Strike BAR Honda, David Coulthard’s Red Bull, Michael Schumacher’s Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and Ralf’s TF105B.

Toyota’s Technical Director, Chassis, Mike Gascoyne said: “We had good pace from the beginning of the weekend and we took the decision to go with the aggressive three-stop strategy. But when you have a long safety car period such as we saw, it completely undermines the strategy and so Ralf was very unlucky. Jarno found himself out of the race through no fault of his own and so we have to look back on a Japanese Grand Prix that at least gave us pole position and a promising debut for the TF105B, but could have given us so much more.”

The result means that with one race remaining, Mild Seven Renault has retaken the lead in the constructors’ championship with 176 points to the 174 of McLaren-Mercedes. Ferrari is third with 100 points, while Panasonic Toyota Racing is guaranteed fourth place in the championship with 82.