> Kovalainen thrilled by podium

Heikki Kovalainen was delighted to give Renault its first podium of a difficult 2007 season in the appalling conditions at Fuji.

He had only qualified 12th after the team gambled on a dry set-up for qualifying and the race, but managed to stay on the road despite the rain intensifying on race day, and moved up to second thanks in part to a very long first stint.

The reigning champion team has struggled for much of the season and Kovalainen also had to rebuild his reputation after a poor debut race, so the Finn felt the Japanese result was a just reward for a year of hard work.

"What a rollercoaster year it's been for us - especially myself," he said.

"This weekend we made a little bit of a gamble with the car yesterday, hoping it would be dry today, and then this morning it was raining probably more than yesterday.

"So things didn't look fantastic at the start of the race, but you never give up, you always keep going and you never know what will happen.

"Our strategy worked out really well today.

"I think the team deserves one podium - at least - from this year."

Kovalainen held on to the position despite enormous pressure from Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in the closing laps.

"I couldn't see him, my mirrors were steamed up, but I saw my pit board and every lap he was a second closer to me, so I knew at some point he was going to attack," he said.

"I had no idea where he was quicker, he was probably a little bit quicker everywhere - the gap was coming down so fast.

"All I could do was just stay on the tracks that Lewis's car was leaving on the track.

"I was aquaplaning in many places but I really wanted the second place so I was willing to take a risk and go flat out through those aquaplaning moments and just hope that I didn't lose the car.

"I managed to keep it on the track, so that was the key."

The result was the first time in Formula 1 history that two Finns had finished on the podium, as Kovalainen held off his former karting rival by 1.1s after Raikkonen had briefly nosed ahead on the last lap.